AMA
Referencing
Most Medical
Engineering journals use what is called the AMA (American
Medical Association) style of referencing. This is
a difficult but important skill to learn.
Without this
skill, you run the risk of being accused of plagiarism.
The consequences of this can be very serious, such as failure
of the course and even expulsion from the
university.
Learn
more about what plagiarism is and how to avoid it.
When you come
to a place in your writing where you are using information
you have learnt from another source, you MUST
acknowledge this. This is called a citation.
You show the citation by putting a number in square brackets
at the end of the information you are citing. The next time
you use information from a source, you should use 2 if it
is a different source or 1 if it is the same source. The next
time you should use a 3 and so on. At the end of your assignment
you will need to give a reference list in
order of your numbering.
Your writing
will then look something like this:
| “The
function of tendons is the transmission of muscle contraction
forces to bone in order to cause joint movement. Tendons
are structures characterized by a prevalent unidimensional
fibre orientation with a greater stiffness and resistance
in the axial direction due to the presence of axially
oriented collagen fibre bundles embedded in a ground substance
[1]. The morphometric and histological characteristics
of tendons vary considerably along this axis, in particular
at the muscle–tendon and bone–tendon junctions.
Those junctions can be identified as the main areas where
injuries occur, although trauma to the central region
of tendons are not rare events [2, 3] and….” |
| References
[1] W. Maurel, Y. Wu,
N. Magnenat Thalmann and D. Thalmann, Biomechanical
models for soft tissue simulation, Springer, New
York (1997).
[2] D.N.M. Caborn and
D.W. Boyd, Tendon ruptures. In: F.H. Fu, C.D. Harner,
K.G. Vince and M.C. Miller, Editors, Knee surgery,
Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore (1991) pp. 911–25.
[3]W.B. Kibler, Diagnosis,
treatment and rehabilitation principles in complete
tendon ruptures in sports, Scand J Med Sci Sports
7 (1997), pp. 119–129. |
Each type of
reference needs to include different information.
The following are some examples of common types of references
and the type of information that needs to be included.
Book
Cantor CR,
Smith CL. Genomics: The Science and Technology behind
the Human Genome Project. New York, NY: John Wiley
& Sons; 1999.
Book
with more than 7 authors / editors
Aronoff
GR, Berns JS, Brier ME, et al. Drug Prescribing
in Renal Failure. 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA: American
College of Physicians; 1999:39.
Chapter
in a book
Reilly PR.
Laws to regulate the use of genetic information. In:
Rothstein MA, ed. Genetic Secrets: Protecting Privacy
and Confidentiality in the Genetic Era. New Haven:
Yale University Press; 1997:369-391.
Journal
article
George AL
Jr, Neilson EG. Genetics of kidney disease. Am J
Kidney Dis. 2000;35(4 Suppl 1):S160-169.
Article
without an author
Alcohol
most common `date-rape' drug: Study. Alcoholism Report.
March 1998;26:6-8.
Online
Journal
Ferrell
BG. Critical elements approach to developing checklists
for a clinical performance examination. Med Edn
Online [serial online]. 1996;1(3):1-7. Available
at: http://www.med-ed-online.org/res00001.html. Accessed
7 March, 2000.
General
interest websites
Clinical
Pharmacology Web site. Available at: http://cpip.gsm.com/.
Accessed June 16, 2004 |
More help on AMA referencing
http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citama.htm
A good simple introduction
to AMA referencing, colour coded for ease of understanding.
http://www.samford.edu/schools/pharmacy/dic/amaquickref.pdf
This is a more complex
list of ways to reference using AMA.
Learn about information
searching skills and poster
layout.
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