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NLM Style Guide

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) documentation style is used for writing and citing works in the field of medicine.

The current 2nd edition of the NLM style guide Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers is available online.

Also Helpful:

Formatting Elements

Date formats

Journal article dates are listed as [year][month][date]. Months are abbreviated using the first three letters (Jan, Feb, Mar, etc.).

Example: 2017 Oct 17

Volume/Issue numbers

If there is a volume or issue number following the date, end it with a semicolon. Put the issue number in parentheses; end issue information with a colon.

Example: 2017 Oct 17; 47(4):

Page Numbers

Write the beginning and end page numbers of the article. Do not include the letter “p”. Page numbers should be abbreviated (i.e., 200-9 instead of 200-209).

Example: 2017 Oct 17;47(4): 599-603.

Authors

  • List all authors, regardless of the number.
  • Names are listed as last, first initial and middle initial with no periods.
  • Separate author names using a comma and a space.
  • End the author list with a period.

Example: Paules CI, Marston HD, Eisinger RW, Baltimore D, Fauci AS. The pathway to a universal influenza vaccine. Immunity. 2017 Oct 17;47(4):599-603.

Titles

Journal Titles

NLM style uses journal abbreviations in a citation instead of a full journal title. Search PubMed to find the accepted journal abbreviation. Single word journal titles are not abbreviated.

Example: “Int J Oncol” is the abbreviation for the International Journal of Oncology.

Article Titles

  • Capitalize only the first word of a title, then any proper nouns, proper adjectives, acronyms and initials.
  • Use a colon followed by a space to separate a title from a subtitle, unless there is some other form of punctuation such as a question mark or exclamation point.

Online Sources

  • Use [Internet] in square brackets following the title.
  • Include a date of citation in square brackets after the publication date.
  • Include the source’s URL after the citation date.
  • If a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), PubMed ID (PMID), or PubMed Central ID(PMCID) is available, include this as the last citation element.

In-Text Citations

There are three different methods for formatting in-text citations in NLM style. See The Council of Science Editor’s Scientific Style and Format for details of each system and check with your professor or publisher to see which style is most appropriate for your assignment or paper.

Citation-Sequence

In-text

Use a superscript number immediately following cited material to refer to the source listed in the reference list. If used at end of a sentence, superscript number should go after the period.

Example: The investigational drug was approved as an experimental treatment for patients.1 Though the drug had not been tested over a long period, the review board approved its emergency use.2

Reference List

Number references in the order they first appear in the text.

Example:

  1. Zimmerman AB…
  2. Brown CD…

Citation-Name Sequence

IN TEXT

Use a superscript number immediately following cited material to refer to the reference list. If used at the end of a sentence, the superscript number should go after the period.

Example: The investigational drug was approved as an experimental treatment for patients.2  Though the drug had not been tested over a long period, the review board approved its emergency use.1

REFERENCE LIST

References are numbered in alphabetical order by the first author’s last name, rather than by order of appearance in the paper.

Example:

  1. Brown CD…
  2. Zimmerman AB…

Name-Year

In Text

Include the last name of the author and the year of publication in parentheses.

Example: The investigational drug was approved as an experimental treatment for patients (Zimmerman 2015). Though the drug had not been tested over a long period, the review board approved its emergency use (Brown 2017).

Reference List

List references in alphabetical order by first author’s last name. If you are citing more than one source by authors of the same name, list in order of publication.

Example:

  1. Brown CD…
  2. Zimmerman AB…

Reference List Examples

The sources you cite in your paper should be listed on a separate numbered page with the heading, “REFERENCES,” centered at the top of the page.

Articles

See Citing Medicine chapter 1 for print journal articles and chapter 23 for online articles.

Print Journal Article

Petitti DB, Crooks VC, Buckwalter JG, Chiu V. Blood pressure levels before dementia. Arch Neurol. 2005 Jan;62(1):112-6.

With Multiple Authors (include all)

Rastan S, Hough T, Kierman A, Hardisty R, Erven A, Gray IC, Voeling S, Isaacs A, Tsai H, Strivens M, Washbourne R, Thornton C, Greenaway S, Hewitt M, McCormick S, Selley R, Wells C, Tymowska-Lalanne Z, Roby P, Mburu P, Rogers D, Hagan J, Reavill C, Davies K, Glenister P, Fisher EM, Martin J, Vizor L, Bouzyk M, Kelsell D, Guenet JL, Steel KP, Sheardown S, Spurr N, Gray I, Peters J, Nolan PM, Hunter AJ, Brown SD. Towards a mutant map of the mouse–new models of neurological, behavioural, deafness, bone, renal and blood disorders. Genetica. 2004 Sep;122(1):47-9.

Online journal article

Polgreen PM, Diekema DJ, Vandeberg J, Wiblin RT, Chen YY, David S, Rasmus D, Gerdts N, Ross A, Katz L, Herwaldt LA. Risk factors for groin wound infection after femoral artery catheterization: a case-control study. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol [Internet]. 2006 Jan [cited 2007 Jan 5];27(1):34-7. Available from: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/ICHE/journal/issues/v27n1/2004069/2004069.web.pdf

With DOI provided

Harrison JJ, Ceri H, Yerly J, Stremick CA, Hu Y, Martinuzzi R, Turner RJ. The use of microscopy and three-dimensional visualization to evaluate the structure of microbial biofilms cultivated in the Calgary Biofilm Device. Biol Proc Online [Internet]. 2006 [cited 2007 Jan 8];8(1):194-215. Available from: http://www.biologicalprocedures.com/bpo/arts/1/127/m127.pdf doi: 10.1251/bpo127

From PubMed Central

Le L, Lee E, Schulten K, Truong TN. Molecular modeling of swine influenza A/H1N1, Spanish H1N1, and avian H5N1 flu N1 neuraminidases bound to Tamiflu and Relenza. Version 4. PLoS Curr [Internet]. 2009 Aug 27 [revised 2011 Mar 14; cited 2011 Jun 8];3:RRN1015. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2762416/?tool=pubmed PubMed PMID: 20029609; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC2762416.

Newspaper Article

See Citing Medicine chapter 8

Gaul G. When geography influences treatment options. Washington Post (Maryland Ed.). 2005 Jul 24;Sect. A:12 (col. 1).

Online newspaper article

Carey B. Psychiatrists revise the book of human troubles. New York Times [Internet]. 2008 Dec 17 [cited 2008 Dec 19];Health:[about 3 p.]. Available from: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/health/18psych.html?_r=1&em

Books

See Citing Medicine chapter 2

Jenkins PF. Making sense of the chest x-ray: a hands-on guide. New York: Oxford University Press; 2005. 194 p.

Book Chapter

Riffenburgh RH. Statistics in medicine. 2nd ed. Amsterdam (Netherlands): Elsevier Academic Press; c2006. Chapter 24, Regression and correlation methods; p. 447-86.

e-Books

Also applies to other individual online titles. See Citing Medicine chapter 22

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/.

Websites

See Citing Medicine chapter 25

Include:

  • [Internet] to indicate format a date cited
  • A date cited (the date you accessed the webpage)
  • In place of page numbers, list the document length as viewed on a screen in square brackets.
  • Website URL or other internet address

Chlamy Center: an Online Informatics Resource for Chlamydomonas [Internet]. Durham (NC): Duke University, Department of Biology; [modified 2007 Mar 8]. Core collections; [modified 2006 Jan 25; cited 2007 Mar 27]; [about 3 screens]. Available from: http://jupiter.biology.duke.edu/strains.html

Images

See Citing Medicine chapter 17

Friedman AC. Acute pancreatitis [film image]. Bethesda (MD): Uniformed Services University; 2001. 1 film image: black and white. Available from: https://medpix.nlm.nih.gov/case?id=4eb5daeb-5b52-475e-8a89-815c2b263839 

Conference Publications

See Citing Medicine chapter 3

van Pelt J, Kamermans M, Levelt CN, van Ooyen A, Ramakers GJA, Roelfsema PR, editors. Development, dynamics, and pathology of neuronal networks: from molecules to functional circuits. Proceedings of the 23rd International Summer School of Brain Research; 2003 Aug 25-29; Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 2005. 385 p. (Progress in brain research; vol. 147).

Questions & Help

If you have questions on this, or another topic, contact a librarian for help!