A citation is a formal reference to source of publication that you have consulted and obtained information from while writing a paper. Citation shows the reader where to find more information incase they need to expand their knowledge beyond your writings and increases your credibility as an author. Citation illustrates the non-linear and contested nature of knowledge creation and reinforces your arguments by demonstrating that you consulted relevant and knowledgeable sources before engaging on what you are saying.
Citation refers to a source of information that supports a factual statement, proposition, argument, or assertion or any quoted text obtained from a book, article, web site, or any other type of material. Materials cited at the end of a paper may be listed under the heading like References, Sources, Works Cited, or Bibliography. Rules on how to properly cite a source depends on the type of writing style you have adopted and your target audience as per the subject matter in your writing.
Citations helps the reader understand the contextual aspects of your research by highlighting what sources that were most important to you while you were writing your paper and also helps you honour other people that have contributed to the knowledge and information you want to share.
Citation Styles
Popular citation styles includes:
- American Medical Association (AMA)
- American Psychological Association (APA)
- American Sociological Association (ASA)
- chicago manual style
- Modern language association
- Turabian styles
- Science & Engineering Styles
American Medical Association (AMA)
It specifies writing and citation styles for scholarly works in medicine and was created by editors of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Rules used in this citation styles includes:
- We list authors last name and initials of their first and middle names.
- separate author names with commas
- do not use periods between initials
- if authors are less than or equal to six, list their names in the given style.
- if authors more than six, list the fist three and then write “et al” to show there are more authors
- follow the same rule as that of listing authors but include “ed.” at the end of the editors lists.
- for Items without authors or editors,begin the citation with the title of the item
- must be abbreviated using national Library of medicine abbreviations
The formats for specific type of writing includes:
Journal Article
List of Authors First Name initial, middle Name initial. Title of article.Abbreviated title of Journal. Year of publication; volume; complete page numbers.
example:
Caballero D, Bedalanga DM, singh VA. Studying the Puzzle of the Pion Nucleon Sigma Term.SJP.2017; 6(3):1-10.
Online Journal Article
list of Authors First Name initial, middle Name initial.Title of the article.Abbreviated Title of the journal.Year of publication;volume(issue):page numbers/article number.Date of Issue.
if Digital object Identifier is not available, use:
list of Authors First Name initial, middle Name initial. Title of article. Abbreviated Title of Journal. Year of publication;volume(issue):page
numbers or article number. URL of page where you accessed the article. Published date. Updated date.Accessed date.
Example:
- Huang W, Lee SL, Lu LX. Mechanistic approaches to predicting oral drug absorption. AAPS J. 2009;11(2):217-24.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1208%2Fs12248-009-9098-z. Published April 21, 2009. Accessed August 5, 2018.
Entire book
Author First Name initial, middle Name initial or Editor First Name initial, middle Name initial, ed. Title of Book. Edition number (only include if beyond first). City, state of publication: publisher name; year of publication.
e.g
- Dorland WAN. Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary. 31st ed.
Philadelphia, PA: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. - Alldredge BK, Corelli RL, Ernst ME, et al., eds. Koda-Kimble and
Young’s Applied Therapeutics: The Clinical Use of Drugs. 10th ed.
Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins; 2013.
Chapter in an edited book
Author(s) of chapter. Title of Chapter. Editor(s) of chapter, eds. Title of Book. Edition number (onlyinclude if beyond first). City, state of publication: publisher name; year of publication:pages
for example a Chapter that has 2 authors in a book with 3 editors will be like:
Relling MV, Giacomini KM. Pharmacogenomics. In: Brunton LL,
Chabner BA, Knollmann BC, eds. Goodman and Gilman’s The
Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics. 12th ed. New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill; 2011: 145-168.
Entire Online Book
Editors or authors. Title of Book. Edition number(only include if beyond first). City, state of publication: publisher name; year of publication. URL. Published date. Updated date.Accessed date.
example:
DiPiro JT, Talbert RL, Yee GC, Matzke GR, Wells BG, Posey LM,
eds. Pharmacotherapy: A Pathophysiologic Approach. 9th ed.
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill; 2014.http://accesspharmacy.mhmedical.com/book.aspx?bookid=689.
Accessed April 3, 2016.
Website
Author(s). Title of the specific item cited (if none is given, use the name of the organization responsible for the site). Name of the website. URL. Published date. Updated date. Accessed date.
You MUST include the date you accessed the site.
Examples:
Models of communication. Easy simple learning. Published February 16, 2024. Accessed April 20, 2024. http://precisestudy.online/2024/02/16/models-of-communication/
- Website with no named author; no publication or update dates:
Compound summary for CID 146571: Escitalopram Oxalate.
PubChem Compound Database. https://pubchem.ncbi
.nlm.nih.gov/compound/146571. Accessed April 16, 2016.
- A website with group author and publication date:
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Diabetic foot problems: prevention and management. National Guideline Clearinghouse.http://www.guideline.gov/content.aspx
?id=49566&search=diabetes. Published August 26, 2015.
Accessed April 25, 2016
Related Topics
- Elements of communications
- Introduction to Communication
- Communication Models
- Non-Verbal Communications
- Persuasive Communication
- The art of listening
- Levels of Listening
- The art of note taking
- The art of public speaking
- Organizing a speech
- supporting your speech
- Understanding team dynamics
- Information Literacy

