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Citation & Writing: NLM Style

Resources and samples for creating the reference page of your research paper with NLM, APA, or AMA Style, plus books, articles, and websites for improving writing skills.

Citing Medicine

In-Text Citation

NLM Style offers a bit of flexibility on how to cite in-text.  You may choose from the following three styles:

  • Author-Year system (Items in order alphabetically by author’s last name, then year of publication)
    • Example at end of sentence: (Johnson 2011)
  • Sequence system (Items in order of appearance in text)
    • […] last day¹.
  • Author-sequence system (Items in order alphabetically by author’s last name, then year of publication)
    • […] last day¹.

NLM Style - Citation Format - ARTICLES

JOURNAL ARTICLES

Sample Article Citations:

Benny BV, Nagpal AS, Singh P, Smuck M. Vascular causes of radiculopathy: a literature review. Spine J. 2011 Jan;11(1):73-85.

Brantingham JW, Bonnefin D, Perle SM, Cassa TK, Globe G, Pribicevic M, Hicks M, Korporaal C. Manipulative therapy for lower extremity conditions: update of a literature review. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2012 Feb;35(2):127-66.

Daniels CJ, Morrell AP. Chiropractic management of pediatric plantar fasciitis: a case report. J Chiropr Med. 2012 Mar;11(1):58-63.

Brief Guidelines:

  • List all authors, last name first, then first initial and middle initial, if available, separate each author by a comma.
  • List full article title, capitalize only first word and any proper nouns.
  • Abbreviate journal title according to NLM Catalog of Journals.
  • Put year first, followed by month and date, if listed.  End with semicolon.
  • Put volume and issue (optionally, issue may be omitted if pagination continues for each issue). Do not add space after semicolon.  End with colon.
  • Indicate page number range.  Do not repeat numbers or put a space after colon.  i.e. if date range is 1235 through 1237, record as 1235-7.

NLM Style - Citation Format - BOOKS

BOOKS

Sample Book Citations:

France RC. Introduction to sports medicine and athletic training. 2nd ed. Clifton Park (NY): Delmar Cengage Learning; 2011. 695 p.

Kendall FP, McCreary EK, Provance PG, Rodgers MM, Romani WA. Muscles: testing and function with posture and pain. 5th ed. Baltimore (MD): Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2005. 480 p.

Book with Editor and No Author:

Davis NJ, editor. Chiropractic pediatrics: a clinical handbook. 2nd ed. New York: Elsevier/Churchill Livingstone; 2010. 414 p.

Brief Guidelines:

  • List all authors, last name first, then first initial and middle initial, if available, separate each author by a comma.
  • List full book title, capitalize only first word and any proper nouns.
  • List edition next, abbreviating edition as ed.
  • Indicate the place of publication, followed by a colon and then the publisher, followed by a semi-colon.
  • Add the year of publication, followed by a period.
  • Put in the pagination, followed by a p and then a period.

NLM Style - Citation Format - WEBSITES

WEBSITES

Sample Website Citations:

American Medical Association [Internet]. Chicago: The Association; c1995-2002 [updated 2001 Aug 23; cited 2002 Aug 12]. AMA Office of Group Practice Liaison; [about 2 screens]. Available from: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/1736.html

A.D.A.M. medical encyclopedia [Internet]. Atlanta: A.D.A.M., Inc.; c2005 [cited 2007 Mar 26]. Available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/encyclopedia.html

Complementary/Integrative Medicine [Internet]. Houston: University of Texas, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center; c2007 [cited 2007 Feb 21]. Available from: http://www.mdanderson.org/departments/CIMER/.

NLM Style - Citation Format - SENIOR RESEARCH PROJECTS

Senior Research Projects - Treat the same as a dissertation for format.

Sample Citation:

Hubbard FP, Levy SG, Osten JR. Changes in thermographic patterns in response to a chiropractic reflex technique [senior research project]. Chesterfield (MO): Logan College of Chiropractic; 1995.

Brief Guidelines:

  • List all authors, last name first, then first initial and middle initial, if available, separate each author by a comma. Do not list faculty advisor as an author.
  • List full project title, capitalize only first word and any proper nouns.
  • Add [senior research project] after the title, followed by a period.
  • Indicate the place of publication, followed by a colon and then the institution, followed by a semi-colon.
  • Add the year of publication, followed by a period.

Websites

WHERE TO GO FOR MORE INFORMATION