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College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM)

Library and related resources to support the College of Osteopathic Medicine

Citing Your Research

The AMA (American Medical Association) Style is most commonly used to format writing in academic Medicine.  Basic style rules and principles are outlined here and links to various guides are provided.  The Library also provides a print copy of the AMA Manual of Style for use in the COM library space.  

Basic Rules and Principles

  • In-text Citations

  • In-text citations are used when a source is referred to in the body of a paper.  AMA uses a superscript number format.

Example:

91% of participants reported that they had eaten at least one meal prepared away from home in locations such as restaurants, fast-food places, grocery stores, cafeterias, or from vending machines during the past 7 days.1

  • Reference List

A list of sources cited is included at the end of a paper on a separate page.  Title the page "References" (top, center).  Arrange sources in numerical order.  

  • The basic format for an article in an online journal with a doi:
  • Author(s).Title. Journal Name. Year;volume(issue No.):inclusive pages. URL. Published [date]. Updated [date]. doi:.
  • The basic format for an article in an online journal without a doi:
  • Author(s).Title. Journal Name. Year;volume(issue No.):inclusive pages. URL. Published [date]. Updated [date]. Accessed [date].
  • The basic format for a book:
  • Author(s) or editors. Book Title. Edition (if not first). Publisher; copyright year. URL (if electronic).
  • The basic format for a book chapter:
  • Author(s). Chapter title. Editor, eds. In: Author, Book Title. edition. Publisher; Year: pages. URL (if electronic).

Examples:

Garza KB, Ding M, Owensby JK, Zizza CA. Impulsivity and fast-food consumption: A cross-sectional study among working adults. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2016;116(1):61-68. doi:10.1016/j.jand.2015.05.003.

Klaassen CD, Watkins JB III, eds. Casarett & Doull’s Essentials of Toxicology. 3rd ed. McGraw-Hill; 2015. https://accesspharmacy.mhmedical.com/book.aspx?bookid=1540.  

Bliss CM, Wolfe M. Chapter 34: Common clinical manifestations of gastrointestinal disease. In: Andreoli TE, Cecil RL, eds. Andreoli and Carpenter's Cecil Essentials of Medicine. 8th ed. Saunders/Elsevier; 2010:382-400.

Notes: 

  • Invert authors' names [last name initials] with no comma between last name and initials, and no period between initials

  • Do not use "and" or "&" between authors' names

  • Abbreviate journal names (locate abbreviations at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals

  • If no doi (digital object identifier) is available, use the URL that will take the reader most directly to the article and the date it was accessed.

Please be aware that many of the web-based citation generators (e.g., EasyBib) do not format citations properly - use these tools with caution. 

The citation tools linked here are highly reliable and are among the most commonly used for academic writing and citing.  The University Library provides free access to EndNote Web and offers some support in using and troubleshooting this tool.       

Free Tools

Pay Tools

EndNote Web

EndNote software

Zotero

 

Mendeley

 

For consistency, SHSU-COM syllabi should list course textbooks and resources in AMA Style.

The basic format for a textbook (if 6 or more authors list the first 3 followed by et al.):

Author AA, Author BB, Author CC. Title of book. Edition number (if beyond first). Publisher name; year of publication.

Editor AA, Editor BB, Editor CC, et al. eds. Title of book. Edition number (if beyond first). Publisher name; year of publication.

Example:

Klaassen CD, Watkins JB III, eds. Casarett & Doull’s Essentials of Toxicology. 3rd ed. McGraw-Hill; 2015.

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The basic format for an electronic journal article:

Author AA, Author BB, Author CC. Title of article. NLM Abbreviated Title of Journal. Year of publication;volume(issue):complete page numbers or e-locator. doi: (if not provided, omit and replace with an accessed date and a URL)

Example:

Towfighi A, Markovic D, Ovbiagele B. Utility of Framingham coronary disease risk score for predicting cardiac risk after stroke. Stroke. 2012;43(11):2942-2947. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.112.668319

ICMJE Recommendations

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) developed a set of recommendations (Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly work in Medical Journals) to review best practice and ethical standards in the conduct and reporting of research and other material published in medical journals, and to help authors, editors, and others involved in peer review and biomedical publishing create and distribute accurate, clear, reproducible, unbiased medical journal articles. The recommendations may also provide useful insights into the medical editing and publishing process for the media, patients and their families, and general readers. 

The full text report is available at: https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/

 

 

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