Writing for the subject

Citing references

It is important to reference any sources of information you use in your work in order to avoid plagiarism. The Library's Plagiarism information and advice pages give guidance on what plagiarism is, its consequences and how to avoid it.

You should cite references in a consistent style.  Biomedical journals mostly use either the Harvard or Vancouver formats for citing references.

The Vancouver Group - now known as the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors - first published its Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals in 1979. The current version of Uniform requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals is available online. For samples of reference citation formats, consult the National Library of Medicine.

There are many guides to the Harvard style of referencing available on the web, for example at Leeds University or University of Sussex.

Other useful resources include:

• Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors and Publishers. 2nd ed. - an eBook published by the National Library of Medicine.
• The website for the book Online: a reference guide to using Internet sources covers citing online sources and compares the MLA, APA, Chicago and CBE guidelines.
• Instructions to authors in the health sciences, from the Ramon H. Mulford Library, gives instructions to authors for a large number of biomedical journals. These usually include citation formats.
• Neville, C. (2007) The complete guide to referencing and avoiding plagiarism. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Shelved in the Medical Library at AA6c NEV.
• Pears, R. and Shields, G. (2006) Cite them right: the essential guide to referencing and plagiarism. Newcastle upon Tyne: Pear Tree Books. Shelved in the Medical Library at AA6c PEA.

Writing

Various guides to scientific writing and essay writing are available at classmark AA6c in the Medical Library.