Welcome to the Bellack Library’s Citations + Writing Guide! This resource is designed specifically to support the needs of the IHP’s students, faculty, and staff.
In healthcare, clear and accurate communication is crucial. Whether you’re writing a research paper, clinical report, or case study, adhering to proper citation styles and writing standards not only enhances the quality of your work, but also ensures academic integrity and professionalism. This guide provides practical tools and examples to help you:
By mastering these skills, you’ll be prepared to communicate effectively, whether you are engaging with peers, healthcare professionals, or patients. This guide will also help you in synthesizing evidence-based research, contributing to the advancement of patient care and clinical practice.
We encourage you to explore this guide, use it throughout your academic journey, and reach out to library staff if you need further assistance. Let’s get started on building the foundations for your success in the health sciences!
APA style is commonly used in health and social sciences. We have a complete guide dedicated to APA 7th Edition formatting, which you can access along the menu on the left side of the page or in the link below. You can also check out the APA’s website, the APA Style Guide, that has tips for tricky citations and sample papers. We have a print copy of the official APA Publication Manual available to reference in the Course Reserves section in the Library & Study Commons on the 4th floor of Building 38.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed. [print] by AMA style is often used in medical fields and also preferred by certain health science journals. Check out our AMA Guide that's linked to the column on the left or visit the online Manual of Style for more in depth explanations. We also have a print copy of the AMA Manual of Style that you can reference in the Course Reserves section in the Library & Study Commons on the 4th floor of Building 38.
As a quick note, when submitting to JAMA Network journals, you’ll likely use AMA style citations.
NLM (sometimes called Vancouver) Style is frequently used in clinical and research settings, especially in journals. We’ll also give you some tips to get started using this citation style. Like APA and AMA, there is also a book available to guide you through all of the details needed for this style. We do not have a print copy in the library, but there is a freely available eBook available online for you to reference.
Citing Medicine, 2nd ed.: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers by | APA | AMA | NLM | |
| Field of Use | Social sciences, including health sciences | Medicine, health sciences, and clinical research | Biomedical, clinical medicine, and research |
| In-text citations | Author-date format (Smith, 2020) |
Superscript numbers Smith1 |
This depends - check out the full NLM Guide for more details. |
| Reference List Order | Alphabetical by author’s last name | Numerical order based on in-text citation | This depends - check out the full NLM Guide for more details. |
| Author Names | List up to 20 authors; use initials for first names. After the first 19 authors' names, use an ellipsis in place of the remaining author names. Then, end with the final author 's name (do not place an ampersand before it). There should be no more than twenty names in the citation in total. (from Purdue OWL) | List all authors; if more than 6, list the first 3 followed by "et al." | List all authors; if more than 6 authors, you can list the first 6 followed by "et al." or "and others." |
| Title Capitalization | Sentence case (capitalize only the first word and proper nouns) | Title Case (capitalize major words) | Sentence case (capitalize only the first word and proper nouns) |
| Journal Titles | Italicized and in full Journal of Health |
Abbreviated J Health |
Abbreviated J Health |
| DOI/URL Format | Include DOI as a URL https://doi.org/10.1000/abc123 |
DOI may be listed without the URL doi:10.1000/abc123 |
Use DOI or URL, if available formatted without the https:// doi.org/10.1000/abc123 |
| Date of Access | Not required, unless citing a webpage that frequently changes | Required for websites Accessed March 1, 2024 |
Required for websites Accessed March 1, 2024 |
| Book Citation Format | Last Name, First Initial. (Year). Title of book. Publisher. | Last Name First Initial. Title of Book. Edition. Publisher; Year. | Last Name First Initial. Title of Book. Edition. Publisher; Year. |
| Journal Article Citation Format | Author(s). (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), Pages. https://doi.org/... | Author(s). Title of article. Journal Name. Year;Volume(Issue). doi:... | Author(s). Title of article. Journal Name. Year;Volume(Issue) |
A solution? Use a citation manager like Zotero that can help keep track of all your references and can automatically insert and format in-text citations. Both Microsoft Word and Google Docs have Zotero plug ins that allow users to insert citations directly into a document, updating both the in-text numbers and reference list automatically when changes are made.
If you’re choosing to manage your citations manually, write citations out as you go and double check them before final submission. It’s easy to lose track of numbering AMA and NLM when editing content.
A solution? You guessed it - citation managers like Zotero can help keep track of author names and the proper formatting. It’s recommended for articles with large author lists, look at the citations in the databases to get the proper format. However, it’s always a good idea to double-check these citations for accuracy, as databases can make mistakes when formatting. Some citation managers, like Zotero and Endnote, will automatically truncate author lists according to the style rules (like adding et al for AMA and NLM.)
APA requires full journal titles in italics (Journal of Health), but AMA and NLM use abbreviated journal titles (*J Health*). Some may find it challenging to track down correct abbreviations, especially for lesser known journals.
A solution? Use a tool like the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Catalog to find the correct abbreviations. If you’re pulling citations from PubMed, they should also be in the correct format as well. As a reminder, if you’re using APA, titles should be written in full, title case capitalized, and italicized.
A solution? Zotero allows users to quickly change the capitalization of article titles and journal titles by right clicking on the title in the editing pane (see tip 5 on the Tips and Tricks page).
In APA, the access date is only required for websites with content that changes over time, whereas AMA and NLM always require access dates for online sources.
A solution? Whenever you’re citing anything from the web, always write down the access date, just in case. It’s better to have more information saved in your citation manager, than not enough!
APA requires that the DOI is included as a URL (https://doi.org/…), while AMA and NLM have you present the DOI as doi: followed by the number. This can be easily get mixed up if you’re switching between styles and if you’re used to the APA fromat.
A solution? Always copy the DOI directly from the article or from databases like CrossRef to ensure it is accurate. Zotero can format DOIs/URLs according to the chosen style, which can help reduce errors. As always, before submitting, double check for accuracy of the citations!
APA uses parentheses for the year of publication and the publisher name comes at the end ((Year). *Title of book.* Publisher.).
In AMA and NLM, the year follows the title and the edition number is more emphasized (*Title of Book*. Edition. Publisher; Year.). This can be confusing when switching between styles. We have examples of different citation styles listed in the above table, and also in the dedicated pages for the different style manuals.
APA is alphabetical, while AMA and NLM are in numerical order. This becomes tricky when switching between styles, as you will have to reorganize your reference list depending on which style is required.
A solution? Use a citation manager like Zotero that can automatically change the formatting to fit the different styles with minimal headache.
| APA | AMA | NLM | |
| In-text citations | Author’s last name and year of publication included? (Smith, 2020) |
Superscript numbers are used for citations Smith1 |
This can vary, but typically, numbers in parentheses are used: Smith (1) |
| If quoting directly, is the page number included? (Smith, 2020, p. 15) |
Numbers are placed outside punctuation marks.1 | Numbers are placed inside punctuation marks (10). | |
| For multiple authors: Two authors are written as (Smith & Jones, 2020). Three or more authors are written as (Smith et al., 2020) | Multiple citations are separated by commas Smith1,2 |
||
| Reference List | References are listed alphabetically by the author’s last name. | References are listed numerically in the order they appear in the text. | References are listed numerically in the order they appear in the text. |
| For up to 20 authors: list all authors. For more than 20 authors, list | For up to 6 authors: list all authors. For more than 6 authors, list the first 3, followed by et al. | For up to 6 authors: list all authors. For more than 6 authors, list the first 6, followed by et al. | |
| Sentence case (capitalize only the first word and proper nouns) | Title Case (capitalize major words) | Sentence case (capitalize only the first word and proper nouns) | |
| Italicized and in full Journal of Health |
Abbreviated J Health |
Abbreviated J Health |
|
| For books: Title in italics, edition in parenthesis, and publisher listed at the end: Title (3rd ed.). Publisher |
For books: include edition and publisher. Title of Book. 3rd ed. Publisher; Year. |
For books: include edition and publisher. Title of Book. 3rd ed. Publisher; Year. |
|
| DOI formatted as a URL https://doi.org/10.1000/abc123 |
DOI formatted without the URL doi:10.1000/abc123 |
DOI formatted without the URL doi:10.1000/abc123 |
Enroll in Bellack Library's short, self-paced online course on Academic Integrity that uses videos and written materials to help you learn to avoid plagiarism.
Here are a few additional guides and tools that can help you avoid plagiarizing.
