In this section: Standard | Both personal authors and an organization or group as an author | Organization or group as an author | Personal authors writing on behalf of an organization or group  | No named author | Not in English | In volume with supplement | In issue with supplement | In volume with part | In issue with part | In issue with no volume | In press and submitted | Electronic publication ahead of print | Preprint | Copublished articles

Standard

Example with page numbers: Osrin D, Vaidya A, Shrestha Y, Baniya RB, Manandhar DS, Adhikari RK, et al. Effects of antenatal multiple micronutrient supplementation on birthweight and gestational duration in Nepal: double-blind, randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2005;365(9463):955-62.

Example with article number: Chadwick G, Varagunam M, Brand C, Riley SA, Maynard N, Crosby T, et al. Coding of Barrett’s oesophagus with high-grade dysplasia in national administrative databases: a population-based cohort study. BMJ Open 2017;7:e014281.

Both personal authors and an organization or group as an author

Example: Brodie MJ, Perucca E, Ryvlin P, Ben-Menachem E, Meencke HJ; Levetiracetam Monotherapy Study Group. Comparison of levetiracetam and controlled-release carbamazepine in newly diagnosed epilepsy. Neurology 2007;68(6):402-8.

Personal authors writing on behalf of an organization or group

Example: Zhang W-H, Deneux-Tharaux C, Brocklehurst P, Juszczak E, Joslin M, Alexander S, on behalf of the EUPHRATES Group. Effect of a collector bag for measurement of postpartum blood loss after vaginal delivery: cluster randomised trial in 13 European countries. BMJ 2010;340:c293.

Organization or group as an author

Example: GRADE Working Group. Grading quality of evidence and strength of recommendations. BMJ 2004; 328:1490-4.

No named author

Example: Naltrexone: new preparation. Transient preventive efficacy on alcoholic relapse. Prescrire International 1999;8(39):9-11.

Not in English (Latin alphabet)

Example: Abadie V, Depondt E, Bresson JL, Vidailhet M. Recommended dietary allowances for pregnant women affected with phenylketonuria [Recommandations diététiques pour les femmes enceintes atteintes de phénylcétonurie]. Archives de Pédiatrie 2001;8(4):397-406.

Not in English (non-Latin alphabet)

NOTE: the guidance below is for references in languages that use a non-Latin alphabet. We use Chinese as the example language below, but the guidance is valid for any language that does not use the Latin alphabet.

Authors should provide as much information as possible, provided that they can be sure it is correct.

Article title: authors should add the English article title (in the English title field) if it is available, or if they have a Chinese-speakng author on the team who can translate it to English (this is especially relevant for primary references, less so for other reports), otherwise they should leave it blank. Authors should provide the original article title used in the report (in the Original title field). Thus, if the article title is provided in the Chinese language, the authors should provide that. Alternatively, if it is transliterated (written in Chinese but using the Latin alphabet not Chinese characters), they should add that, but they should not try to convert one to the other.  

Journal title: where possible, authors should provide the original journal title in Chinese and then the translated (English) name in square brackets. They may provide the English or transliterated title, but only if available. If there is a Chinese-speaking author on the team, they may translate the original title to English but not transliterate.

Example: Jia CL, Jiang GS, Yang XX, Dou HQ, Li CR. Effects on Helicobacter pylori reinfection in gastric mucosa by two oral plaque control methods. Huaxi Kongqiang Yixue Zazhi [West China Journal of Stomatology] 2009;27(2):172-4.

In volume with supplement

Example: Bowman CM. The long-term use of inhaled tobramycin in patients with cystic fibrosis. Journal of Cystic Fibrosis 2002; 1 Suppl 2:194-8.

In issue with supplement

Example: Oertel J, Gaab MR, Runge U, Schroeder HW, Piek J. Waterjet dissection versus ultrasonic aspiration in epilepsy surgery. Neurology 2005;56(1 Suppl 1):142-6.

In volume with part

Example: Hanly C. Metaphysics and innateness: a psycho-analytic perspective. International Journal of Psychoanalysis 1988;69(Pt 3):389-99.

In issue with part

Example: Edwards L, Meyskens F, Levine N. Effect of oral iso-tretinoin on dysplastic nevi. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology 1989;20(2 Pt 1):257-60.

In issue with no volume

Example: Panjwani U, Selvamurthy W, Singh SH, Gupta HL, Thakur L, Rai UC. Effect of Sahaja yoga practice on seizure control & EEG changes in patients of epilepsy. Indian Journal of Medical Research 1996;(103):165-72.

In press or submitted to a journal

Articles that have been accepted for publication can be cited as 'in press' articles. Articles that have been submitted to a journal, but not yet accepted for publication, must not be cited in that form. Instead they are cited as unpublished data.

Example: Johnson AB, Smith CD. A review of treatments for chronic disorders. Journal of Medicine (in press).

Electronic publication ahead of print

Example: Feldman RD, Zou GY, Vandervoort MK, Wong CJ, Nelson SA, Feagan BG. A simplified approach to the treatment of uncomplicated hypertension. A cluster randomized, controlled trial. Hypertension 2009 Feb 23 [Epub ahead of print]. [DOI: https://doi.org/10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.108.123455]

Preprint

Example: Blanchard AC, Desforges M, Labbé AC, Nguyen CT, Petit Y, Besner D, et al. Evaluation of real-life use of Point-of-Care Rapid Antigen TEsting for SARS-CoV-2 in schools (EPOCRATES). MedRxiv 2022 [Preprint]. [DOI:  https://doi.org/10.1101/2021/10.13.21264960]

Copublished articles

Some journal articles are published in two or more journals simultaneously, usually to reach a particular audiences or to publicize cross-journal initiatives. If such articles are included as studies, then all references should be added under the study ID. If such articles are additional references, then cite one only of them.