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Pharmacy Subject Guide: Citation Help

Why we should cite and how to make it easier!

Why is citing important?


Avoids plagiarism

Plagiarism is using another person’s ideas, processes, results, text, or illustration/clinical photographs, etc. without their acknowledgment. There are academic consequences if you use someone else's work, or even small parts of it, without citing the source and giving the author credit for their work.


Shows that you have done your research

Citing your sources shows that you have done your research and are not making things up. It helps illustrate that your research is building off the research that has come before it. When you cite your sources, it helps build your credibility as a scholar.


Citing leads back to the original source

Citations are very helpful in allowing others to find the original source. When citations are incomplete or done incorrectly, it can be difficult or impossible to locate the resource.

Endnote or Zotero

EndNote and Zotero are both bibliographic management applications that helps collect and manage citations for your research or coursework. Use either one to automatically format your reference list and share your citations with other users of the same application. Both work with Microsoft Word to automatically insert and format your citations and reference list according to the citation style you choose.

All MBKU students and faculty can install EndNote for free on their PC or Mac. Downloads are available on  USB drive in the library, or you can contact the library staff for instructions on downloading a copy. The EndNote download includes a plugin for the Pages application. If you have any questions or run into problems with Endnote, please stop by the library and ask the librarians.

Zotero is free to the public. Because you can download the extension in Chrome, you can also use it with Google Docs.

How to Cite?

There are many different ways to cite your work. The tabs in this box are a starting point for AMA and ACS styles, as well as information.  If you need to cite in a different style, or have any questions and need further help, please contact the library.

If you need help using the citation management software EndNote or Zotero, check out the guides below.

The following are selected examples of how to cite using ACS style.

 

General ACS Rules

Journal Articles

Books

Websites


General ACS Rules

  • References should be numbered consecutively in either superscript numerals ¹, Italic numbers (1), or the Author name and year of publication (Wong, 2017) in the order in which they are cited in the text.
    • For two authors, use "and":
      • Stec and Wong.
    • For more than two authors, use "et al."
      • Stec et al.
  • The bibliography, or reference list, appears at the end of the paper in alphabetical order if cited by author and date or in numerical order if cited by numbers.
  • Different reference formats (book vs journal vs website) have different rules for citation. See below for some common format examples.

Journal Articles

 

Journal article specifics

  • Only the author's initials are given, regardless of the presentation of the author's name on the journal article.
  • Include the names of all authors given.
  • The titles of journals should be abbreviated as they appear in the CAplus Core Journal Coverage List.
  • All titles are given maximal capitalization.
  • The year of publication is given in bold.
  • Volume and page numbers are given but not bolded or labeled. Volume numbers are italicized.

 

General format

Print: Author of article, A. A.; Author of article, B. B.; Author of article, C.C. Title of Article. Abbreviated Title of JournalYearVolume (issue), page number(s).


Online: Author, A. A.; Author, B. B. Title of Article. Abbreviated Title of Journal [Online] YearVolume (issue if appropriate), pages. URL (Accessed Date).


Database: Author, A. A.; Author, B. B. Title of Article. Abbreviated Title of Journal [Online] YearVolume (issue if appropriate), pages. Database. URL (Accessed Date).

 

Examples

Article from a Print Journal Compan, V.; Aguilella-Arzo, M.; Weissman, B. A., Corneal equilibrium flux as a function of corneal surface oxygen tension. Optom. Vis. Sci201794 (6), 672-679.
Article from an Online Journal Marucho, M.; Kelley, C. T.; Montgomery Pettitt, B. Solutions of the Optimized Closure Integral Equation Theory: Heteronuclear Polyatomic Fluids. J. Chem. Theory Comput. [Online] 20084 (3), 385-396. http://0-pubs.acs.org.prospero.murdoch.edu.au/journals/jctcce/index.html (accessed Apr 24, 2008).
Article from a Full Text Database Laskey D, Vadlapatla R, Hart K. Stability of high-dose insulin in normal saline bags for treatment of calcium channel blocker and beta blocker overdose. Clinical Toxicology (Philadelphia)201654 (9):829-832. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27432286 (accessed July 3, 2017).

Books

 

Book specifics

  • Only the author's initials are given, regardless of the presentation of the author's name in the source document.
  • All authors or editors are listed unless the source document lists only primary authors followed by et al.
  • Titles and subtitles of books are given maximal capitalization and italicized.
  • Capitalize "Volume" when appropriate.

 

General formats

Entire Book: Author, A. A.; Author, B. B. Title: Subtitle, Edition (if not the first); Series; Publisher: Place of publication, Year; Vol. (if a multivolume work), pp page number(s) (if appropriate).


Book Chapter: Author of Part, A. A.; Author of Part, B. B. Title of Chapter or Part. In Title: Subtitle of Book, Edition (if not the first); Editor, A.A., Editor, B. B., Eds.; Publisher: Place of publication,Year; pp page numbers.


Edited Work: Editor, A. A., Editor, B. B., Eds. Title: Subtitle, Edition (if not the first); Series; Publisher: Place of publication, Year; Vol. (if a multivolume work), pp page number(s) (if appropriate).


eBook: Author, A. A.; Author, B. B. Title of E-book [Online]; Series (if applicable); Publisher: Place, Year; Volume, Page(s). URL (Accessed Date).

 

Examples

Entire Book: In Print Sutton, R.S.; Rockett, B.; Swindells, P. G. Chemistry for the Life Sciences, 2nd ed.; CRC: Baton Roca, FL, 2009.
Book Chapters: In Print Ford H. L.; Sclafani R. A.; Degregori J. Cell Cycle Regulatory Cascades. In Cell Cycle and Growth Control: Biomolecular Regulation and Cancer, 2nd ed.; Stein G. S., Pardee A. B., Eds.; Wiley-Liss: Hoboken, NJ, 2004; pp 42-67.
Entire Book w/Editors: In Print Beale, J. M. Jr., Wilson, C. O., Eds. Wilson and Gisvold's Textbook of Organic Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, 12th ed.; Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins: Philadelphia, PA, 2011.
eBook Mikkelsen, S. R.; Cortón, E. Bioanalytical Chemistry [Online]; Wiley: Hoboken, NJ, 2004. http://0-www3.interscience.wiley.com.prospero.murdoch.edu.au/cgi-bin/bookhome/107628804 (accessed July 5, 2017).

Websites

 

General website format

Author, A. (if available). Site Title. URL (Accessed Date).

 

Example

ACS Publications Home Page. http://pubs.acs.org (accessed July 5, 2017).

AMA (JAMA) Style

AMA is the citation style created by the American Medical Association. AMA is also referred to as JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), and is the same style as AMA.

The following are selected examples of how to cite using AMA style. If you cannot find an example that's for the type of publication you would like to cite, consult the AMA Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors, 11e.


 

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