These guidelines are based on the “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals”, developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. You can also read COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines, WAME (World Association of Medical Editors) recomendations, ORI (the Office of Research Integrity), CSE (Council of Science Editors), and EASE (European Association of Science Editors) guidelines.

General guideline

  1. References should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals in the order in which they are cited in the text, NOT in alphabetical order.
  2. The quantity of cited sources should be limited to 30 in original articles, and 60  – in reviews;
  3. Each reference should be cited in the text, tables, or figures in consecutive numerical order by means of Arabic numerals appeared in square brackets.
  4. List up ALL the authors or editors in reference list. If there are more than four, list the first three, plus et al. Invert all names –authors, editors, translators, compilers – first & middle initials trailing without periods.
  5. The names of journals are set in italics and abbreviated according to the List of NLM Catalog by the National Library of Medicine. If a journal is not indexed for Medline, you should use its full title. It is unacceptable to reduce the name of the article or abbreviate the title of the national journal (if it does not have NLM Title Abbreviation or ISO Abbreviation).
  6. A complete print journal reference includes the following: Authors' surnames and initials; Title of article and subtitle, if any; Abbreviated name of journal; Year; Volume number; Issue number; Part or supplement number, when pertinent; Inclusive page numbers.
  7. Reference list should be presented in Vancouver as published AMA reference style (AMA style).
  8. References to non-Latin sources (Russian, Chinese) should be given in Latin script. If an article has the translated title, you should provide an English translation instead of Latin script transliteration [in square brackets].
  9. If a reference source has the Digital Object Identifier -DOI, it should be provided in the end of the reference. To check if DOI is valid, visit http://search.crossref.org/ or https://www.citethisforme.com. Example:  
  • Zhang M, Holman CD, Price SD. Comorbidity and repeat admission to hospital for adverse drug reactions in older adults: retrospective cohort study. New Engl J Med. 2009;338:a2752. doi: 10.1136/bmj.a2752

Guidelines for presenting references to non-English and non-Latin sources

If an article is presented in Latin script language (German, French, Finnish, Danish, Italian, etc.), it should be cited in original language:

  • Ellingsen AE, Wilhelmsen I. Sykdomsangst blant medisin- og jusstudenter. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2002;122(8):785-787. (In Norwegian).

If an article is presented in non-Latin script – in Cyrillics (Russian), Chinese, etc., you must transliterate the reference into the English alphabet. Transliteration in BSI standard is given in accordance with original stylistic. If an article has the translated title, you should provide an English translation instead of Latin script transliteration [in square brackets]. For journal articles, you need not translate the journal title: give the transliterated title in BSI standard ((if it does not have NLM Title Abbreviation or ISO Abbreviation), then – imprint details: year;volume(issue):pages. In the end, you should indicate the original language of an article (in round brackets), e.g.:  (In Russ.). Afterward, provide DOI, if available. Example:

  • Grigoryan OR, Sheremet'eva EV, Andreeva EN, Dedov II. Planirovanie beremennosti u zhenshchin s sakharnym diabetom. Vestnik reproduktivnogo zdorov'ya. 2011;(1):23-31. (In Russ). 
  • Belaia ZE, Rozhinskaia LY, Mel'nichenko GA, et al. [The role of prolactin gradient and normalized ACTH/prolactin ratio in the improvement of sensitivity and specificity of selective blood sampling from inferior petrosal sinuses for differential diagnostics of ACTH-dependent hypercorticism.] Problemy endokrinologii. 2013;59(4):3-10. (In Russ). doi: 10.14341/probl20135943-10.

Examples of AMA style citing

Articles in Periodicals

1. Complete Data

  • Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. New Engl J Med. 2002;347(4):284-287.

2. Group/Corporate Author

  • Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. Hypertension, insulin, and proinsulin in participants with impaired glucose tolerance. Hypertension. 2002;40(5):679-686.

3. Authors are both individuals and a Group

  • Vallancien G, Emberton M, Harving N, van Moorselaar RJ; Alf-One Study Group. Sexual dysfunction in 1,274 European men suffering from lower urinary tract symptoms. J Urol. 2003;169(6):2257-2261.

4. No Author is listed

  • 21st century heart solution may have a sting in the tail. BMJ. 2002;325(7357):184.

5. Supplements

  • Geraud G, Spierings EL, Keywood C. Tolerability and safety of frovatriptan with short- and long-term use for treatment of migraine and in comparison with sumatriptan. Headache. 2002;42 Suppl 2:S93-99.

6. Special issue or Issue on the topic

  • Glauser TA. Integrating clinical trial data into clinical practice. Neurology. 2002;58(12 Suppl 7):S6-12.

7. Parts of a Volume

  • Abend SM, Kulish N. The psychoanalytic method from an epistemological viewpoint. Int J Psychoanal. 2002;83(Pt 2):491-495.

8. Parts of an Issue

  • Ahrar K, Madoff DC, Gupta S, Wallace MJ, Price RE, Wright KC. Development of a large animal model for lung tumors. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2002;13(9 Pt 1):923-928.

9. Journals without a Volume Number

  • Banit DM, Kaufer H, Hartford JM. Intraoperative frozen section analysis in revision total joint arthroplasty. Clinical Orthopaedics. 2002;(401):230-238.

10. Journals without a Volume or an Issue Number

  • Outreach: bringing HIV-positive individuals into care. HRSA Careaction. 2002:1-6.

11. Non-Latin page numbers

  • Chadwick R, Schuklenk U. The politics of ethical consensus finding. Bioethics. 2002;16(2):III-V.

12. Letters, abstracts, review to an article

  • Tor M, Turker H. International approaches to the prescription of long-term oxygen therapy [letter]. Eur Respir J.2002;20(1):242.
  • Lofwall MR, Strain EC, Brooner RK, Kindbom KA, Bigelow GE. Characteristics of older methadone maintenance (MM) patients [abstract]. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2002;66 Suppl 1:S105.

13. Corrections

  • Mansharamani M, Chilton BS. The reproductive importance of P-type ATPases. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2002;188(1-2):22-52. Corrected and republished from: Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2001;183(1-2):123-126.

14. Commentary

  • Malinowski JM, Bolesta S. Rosiglitazone in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus: a critical review. Clinical Therapeutics. 2000;22(10):1151-1168; discussion 1149-1150. Erratum in: Clin Ther. 2001;23(2):309.

Print Books and Monographs

15. One or several Authors are listed (Complete Data)

  • Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Kobayashi GS, Pfaller MA. Medical microbiology. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2002.
  • Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd ed. Albany, NY: Delmar Publishers; 1996.

16. One or several Editors are listed

  • Gilstrap LC 3rd, Cunningham FG, Van Dorsten JP, editors. Operative obstetrics. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002.
  • Norman IJ, Redfern SJ, editors. Mental health care for elderly people. New York: Churchill Livingstone; 1996.

17. Both Authors and Editors are listed

  • Breedlove GK, Schorfheide AM. Adolescent pregnancy. 2nd ed. Wieczorek RR, editor. White Plains (NY): March of Dimes Education Services; 2001.

18. Group/Corporate Author

  • Advanced Life Support Group. Acute medical emergencies: the practical approach. London: BMJ Books; 2001. 454 p.
  • American Occupational Therapy Association, Ad Hoc Committee on Occupational Therapy Manpower. Occupational therapy manpower: a plan for progress. Rockville (MD): The Association; 1985 Apr. 84 p.
  • National Lawyer's Guild AIDs Network (US); National Gay Rights Advocates (US). AIDS practice manual: a legal and educational guide. 2nd ed. San Francisco: The Network; 1988.

19. Chapter in a Book

  • Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, editors. The genetic basis of human cancer. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002. p. 93-113.

20. Conference proceedings

  • Harnden P, Joffe JK, Jones WG, editors. Germ cell tumours V. Proceedings of the 5th Germ Cell Tumour Conference; 2001 Sep 13-15; Leeds, UK. New York: Springer; 2002.

21. Abstracts in Conference proceedings

  • Christensen S, Oppacher F. An analysis of Koza's computational effort statistic for genetic programming. In: Foster JA, Lutton E, Miller J, Ryan C, Tettamanzi AG, editors. Genetic programming. EuroGP 2002: Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Genetic Programming; 2002 Apr 3-5; Kinsdale, Ireland. Berlin: Springer; 2002. p. 182-91.

22. Scientific or Technical Reports

  • Yen GG (Oklahoma State University, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Stillwater, OK). Health monitoring on vibration signatures. Final report. Arlington (VA): Air Force Office of Scientific Research (US), Air Force Research Laboratory; 2002 Feb. Report No.: AFRLSRBLTR020123. Contract No.: F496209810049.
  • Russell ML, Goth-Goldstein R, Apte MG, Fisk WJ. Method for measuring the size distribution of airborne Rhinovirus. Berkeley (CA): Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Environmental Energy Technologies Division; 2002 Jan. Report No.: LBNL49574. Contract No.: DEAC0376SF00098. Sponsored by the Department of Energy.

23. Dissertations

  • Borkowski MM. Infant sleep and feeding: a telephone survey of Hispanic Americans [dissertation]. Mount Pleasant (MI): Central Michigan University; 2002.

24. Patents

  • Pagedas AC, inventor; Ancel Surgical R&D Inc., assignee. Flexible endoscopic grasping and cutting device and positioning tool assembly. United States patent US 20020103498. 2002 Aug 1.

Other Print Materials

25. Newspaper articles

  • Tynan T. Medical improvements lower homicide rate: study sees drop in assault rate. The Washington Post. 2002 Aug 12;Sect. A:2 (col. 4).

26. Other Media [Audiotapes, Videotapes, DVDs (Digital Video Disks)]

  • Chason KW, Sallustio S. Hospital preparedness for bioterrorism [videocassette]. Secaucus (NJ): Network for Continuing Medical Education; 2002.
  • Hormone replacement therapy [audio]. National Public Radio. August 5, 2002. Available at: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1147833. Accessed March 4, 2004.

27. Legislative Materials

  • Veterans Hearing Loss Compensation Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-9, 115 Stat. 11 (May 24, 2001).
  • Healthy Children Learn Act, S. 1012, 107th Cong., 1st Sess. (2001).
  • Cardiopulmonary Bypass Intracardiac Suction Control, 21 C.F.R. Sect. 870.4430 (2002).
  • Arsenic in Drinking Water: An Update on the Science, Benefits and Cost: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Environment, Technology and Standards of the House Comm. on Science, 107th Cong., 1st Sess. (Oct. 4, 2001).

28. Maps

  • Pratt B, Flick P, Vynne C, cartographers. Biodiversity hotspots [map]. Washington: Conservation International; 2000.

29. Dictionaries and reference materials

  • Dorland's illustrated medical dictionary. 29th ed. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders; 2000. Filamin; p. 675.

Unpublished Material

30. Articles in press

  • Tian D, Araki H, Stahl E, Bergelson J, Kreitman M. Signature of balancing selection in Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Forthcoming 2002.

Electronic References

31. CD-ROM

  • Anderson SC, Poulsen KB. Anderson's electronic atlas of hematology [CD-ROM]. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2002.

32. Online Journals

References with Digital Object Identifier - DOI:

  • Zhang M, Holman CD, Price SD, Sanfilippo FM, Preen DB, Bulsara MK. Comorbidity and repeat admission to hospital for adverse drug reactions in older adults: retrospective cohort study. BMJ. 2009;338:a2752. doi: 10.1136/bmj.a2752.

33. Monographs published online

34. Internet pages

  • Cancer-Pain.org [Internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources, Inc.; c2000-01 [updated 2002 May 16; cited 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: http://www.cancer-pain.org/.

35. Page screen

36. Databases

37. Page from database

38. Blog

39. Blog post


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