The 'Right' Reference Style for Medical Journal Articles

Welcome back!

I happened to read Barbara Gastel's post titled 'What is the Right Reference Format?'. Interesting read.

"Different journals have different formats for citing references in text," she writes. Read her blog to get an idea of what she means.

She understands that it might have been easier to use one standard referencing format across different journals. But in reality, different journals use different styles. So what do you do as an author?

Read the instructions to authors carefully. Read some examples from the journal to get a hang of it.

Another thing you could try is this. Use a referencing library software for your next project. You can then change the referencing style with just a click of a button.

When you submit to the journal, you may have to send a document in plain text format. But you can always save a copy with the hyperlinks intact and change the style using the software if you ever need to submit the same article to another journal.

Tip #1 Use a Citation Manager Software

In April this year, I am speaking to a group of oncologists in Mumbai about using reference software for their articles. Very few people in India currently use a reference software to manage their citations. But the trend is changing.

Last September I attended my first workshop on referencing software. Everyone present really loved the idea of having to do away with manual referencing.

Does working with reference and citations manually give you a headache? 

I use the EndNote library (ENL) citation manager. The price of the current X6 version is around 250 USD. It may sound like too much for a writer in India. But once you use it you will absolutely love it. You will forget manual referencing forever. That's for sure.

Some friends of mine use RefMan. They find that really helpful.

A friend of mine uses the free software Zotero and says it is equally good. I haven't used Zotero. Cannot comment on it.

Here's a tutorial about ENL that I found awesome. This is just a 7 min video. There are longer ones available on YouTube for those interested in the details.

Here's my medical writing tip #1. Use a citation manager and know the difference. If you cannot afford a paid software right away, start with a free software. Once you get the hang of it, you might want to use a paid one for the additional support it provides.

How do you manage your citations? Have you switched to a software or do you find manual referencing comfortable? What software do you use? If you are using a software to manage references, we would love to hear your experiences.