Citation Style Guides & Management Software

Plagiarism is presenting someone else's ideas or works as your own. It is important to acknowledge and credit their work when referencing it in your work. This is why citations are important.

Min SK. Plagiarism in Medical Scientific Research: Can Continuing Education and Alarming Prevent This Misconduct?. Vasc Specialist Int. 2020;36(2):53-56. doi:10.5758/vsi.203621

CrisN-2024. Plagiarism in Healthcare Education - A Critical Concern. American Healthcare Institute. Published September 18, 2024. https://amhealthinstitute.com/blog/plagiarism-in-healthcare-education-a-critical-concern/

Avoiding Plagiarism, Self-plagiarism, and Other Questionable Writing Practices: A Guide to Ethical Writing from the Office of Research Integrity of the Department of Health and Human Services

Plagiarism in Academic Writing: How to Identify and Avoid It Plagiarism in Academic Writing: from AJE (American Journal Experts) Scholar

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is the process of synthesizing and restating the ideas or findings of another author in your own words.  While not directly quoting the source material, it is important you cite the material you are paraphrasing.

Direct Quotes

Direct quotations an identical reproduction of another work or your own previous works.

Short

Short quotes (under 40 words) should be placed within the body of your text, enclosed in quotation marks, and accompanied by the appropriate in-text citation.

Long or Block Quotations

Long or block quotes (over 40 words) are formatted as freestanding blocks of text. These are typically indented and do not use quotation marks. The specific formatting depends on the citation style being used.

General Formatting

Works Cited

• Number references should be listed in the order they appear in the text. Do not alphabetize.
• Do not indent the citation if it extends past the first line.
• Authors are listed with the last name first followed by the first and middle initials without periods.
• Up to 6 author names should be listed.  Over 6 authors, list only the first 3, followed by "et al."
• Journals should be abbreviated using PubMed abbreviations and italicized.
• Capitalize all major words in journal and book titles.
• Ensure all URLs link to the source as directly as possible. 

In-Text Citations

References should be cited in the text, figures, tables, or boxes in consecutive order by means of superscript Arabic numbers.

Use superscript numerals outside periods and commas, but inside colons and semicolons. When more than 2 references are cited, use a hyphen to join the first and last numbers of a closed sequence. Use commas without space to separate the other parts of a multiple
citation

If you want to cite different page numbers from a single reference source at different places in the text, the page numbers are included in the superscript citation and the source appears only once in the list of references. Note that the superscript may include more than 1 page number, citation of more than 1 reference, or both, with no spaces.

Entire Book—Single Author

Author. Book Title. Edition number (2nd edition or above). Name of Publisher; copyright year.

Entire Book—Multiple Authors

First Author, Second Author [if there are more than six authors, use “et al” after the third author]. Book Title. Edition number [2nd edition or above]. Name of Publisher; copyright year.

Entire Book—Editor as Author

Author(s), eds. Book Title. Edition number [2nd edition or above]. Name of Publisher; copyright year.

Chapter or Article within a Book

Author(s) of Article. Title of chapter or article. In: Editor’s name(s), ed(s). Book Title. Edition number [2nd edition or above]. Name of Publisher; copyright year:Inclusive chapter page range.

**If the author of the chapter is also the editor of the book then the name goes in both places.**

Entire eBooks/Books Online

Author(s) (up to six authors. If more than six, write out the first three followed by et al). Book Title. Edition number. Book medium. Publisher; Year. Accessed [date]. URL

Chapter in an eBook

Author(s). Chapter title. In: Editor(s), eds. Book Title. Edition number. Book medium. Publisher; Year:Chapter number or pages. Accessed [date]. URL

Article from a Print Journal—One Author

Author. Title of article. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;Volume(Issue number):Inclusive page numbers.

Article from a Print Journal—Multiple Authors

First Author, Second Author [if there are more than six authors, use “et al” after the third author]. Title of article. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;Volume(Issue number):Inclusive page numbers.

Article from an Online Journal—DOI (digital object identifier) available

Author. Title of article. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;vol(issue):pages or e-Locator. doi:xx.xx.xx

Article from an Online Journal—no DOI available

Author. Title of article. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;vol(issue):pages or e-Locator. Accessed date (will often be the only date available). URL

Databases

Author (if given)*. Title of database. Publisher or database owner; Year (if given). Updated [date]. Accessed [date]. URL

** If the database is identified with an acronym, the standard approach in AMA is to write out the full name followed by the acronym in parentheses **

Drug Monograph (Online)

Author(s). Monograph Title. Publisher. URL. Update date. Accessed date.

Point of Care Tool (POCT)

Author(s). Article Title. In: Author(s), ed. Database Name. Publisher City, State: Publisher; Year. URL. Accessed date.

Website

Author(s). Page Title. URL. Published date. Accessed date. 

Website (No Author)

Page Title. Website Title. URL. Accessed date.

In-text citations should immediately follow the citable content. APA using author's last name and year of publication: (Benton, 2020) For direct quotations, include the page number: (Benton, 2020, p.236). For websites or other resources without page numbers use paragraph numbers: (Benton, 2020, para. 189).

***Citations with more than one line should have a hanging indent of 1/2in.***

General Guidelines:

• Author (last name first, initials for first and middle)
• Dates of publication of article (year and month for monthly publications)
• Titles of articles (capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle and proper nouns)
• Title of Publication (italicize)
• Volume and issue numbers in italics (if provided)
• Page numbers
• Online articles: Provide DOI, if available. Include URLs that will work for readers. Do not include the database information or database specific URL in the reference.
   

Journal Article

Online

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages. http://dx.doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyyy

Print

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages.

Guidelines

Guidelines with named Authors

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of guideline. Publisher. URL

Guidelines with Institution as author

Name of the organization. (Year). Title of guideline. Publisher. URL

Guidelines published in journal

Name of the organization. (Year). Title of guideline. Title of Journal, volume(issue), pages. http://dx.doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyyy

Books

Print book

Author, A. A. (Copyright year). Title of Book. Publisher.

Electronic book

Author, A. A. (Copyright year). Title of Book. Publisher. URL  

Electronic book chapter

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Copyright year). Chapter title. In: A. A. Editor & B. B. Editor (Eds.). Book title (pp. #-#). Publisher. DOI or URL

Edited book without author

EditorName, B. B. & EditorName, C. (Eds.). (Copyright year). Title of book. Publisher. DOI or URL

Edited book with author

Author, A. A. (Copyright year). Title of book. B.B. EditorName (Ed.). Publisher. DOI or URL

General Format

The entire paper, including the works cited page is double spaced. 

Works Cited

1. The works cited page should have page numbers.
2. Continue the double spacing. No extra spaces between citations.
3. Citations should be listed in alphabetical order by the first word of the citation.
4. If there are multiple works by the same author put them in alphabetical order by name of the title.
5. Use a hanging indent if the citation is longer than one line. Indent remaining lines(s) approximately one-half inch from the left margin.

Print Book

Works Cited Page 

Author Last Name, First Name. Title. Publisher, Year.

In-Text

(Author Last Name Page Number)

Online Book

Works Cited Page

Author's Last Name, First Name. Title. Edition if given and is not first edition, Publisher Name often shortened, Year of publication. Name of Database, Permalink URL.

In-Text

(Author Last Name Page Number)

Print Articles

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle if Any." Name of Journal, vol. Volume Number, no. Issue Number, Date of Publication, pp. First Page Number- Last Page Number.

Online Articles - Direct from Publisher Site

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle if Any." Name of Journal, vol. Volume Number, no. Issue Number, Date of Publication, pp. First Page Number- Last Page Number if available, DOI, permalink or URL.

Online Article - From Database

Author's Last Name, First Name. "Title of Article: Subtitle if Any." Name of Journal, Volume Number, Issue Number, Date of Publication, First Page Number-Last Page Number. Name of Database, DOI, Permalink or URL.

Citation generators are a helpful tool for correctly citing your resources. Make sure to verify the citation is correct before using.

ZoteroBib helps you create a citation instantly. It does not require an account to use.

AMA Generator - Purdue's AMA generator as well as examples of citations.

APA Generator - Purdue's APA generator as well as examples of citations.

MLA Generator - Purdue's MLA generator as well as examples of citations.

Mike Schroeder's Citation Generator - User friendly and available via the web. Allows PMID input for fast citations.

Library Database - The library literature search database can also function as a citation generator. Records in the database contain an option to export citations.

PubMed - PubMed records have citation generators available for records.

Zotero is a free and open-source reference management software to manage bibliographic data and related research materials.

• Links to compatible web browsers
• Multiple organization methods
• Integrates into Word, LibreOffice, and Google Docs
• Syncs across devices
• Collaborate freely
   

​Mendeley is a free reference manager and academic social network that can help you organize your research, collaborate with others online, and discover the latest research:

• Automatically generate bibliographies
• Collaborate easily with other researchers online
• Easily import papers from other research software
• Find relevant papers based on what you're reading
• Access your papers from anywhere online