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Writing Guides and Style Manuals in the Biological and Health Sciences |
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On This Page
Writing Guides
- Books
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Catalog search results on the topic of medical/healthcare writing
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Catalog search results on the topic of medical/healthcare publishing
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Catalog search results on the topic of medical/healthcare authorship
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Catalog search results on the topic of data display
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catalog search results on the topic of research methods or methodology.
- Internet Resources
- Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
This popular book is an indispensable and entertaining guide for writers, proofreaders, editors, managers, clerical staff, teachers, and students. Use this site to find the answers to your questions concerning proper English grammar and punctuation.
- Elements of Style
The electronic version of the classic work by William Strunk, Jr. that includes rules of grammar and usage, principles of composition, and commonly misused and misspelled words.
- Grammar, punctuation, and capitalization: a handbook for technical writers and editors.
Mary K. McCaskill, Langley Research Center.
- Guide to grammar & writing
Maintained by Charles Darling, Professor of English at Capital Community College, Hartford CT. Includes sections on words & sentences; paragraphs; essays & research papers; peripheral & PowerPoint. Check the Index to find more "online resources."
- How to publish in top journals
This brief manual provides useful suggestions for today’s authors. By Kwan Choi, Editor, RIE.
- Internet Grammar of English
An online course in English grammar.
- Mayfield Handbook of Technical & Scientific Writing
Authors: Leslie C. Perelman, Edward Barrett, and James Paradis ; ESL Consultant: Erika Mitchell
The Web-based version of The Mayfield Handbook of Scientific and Technical Writing is the result of more than ten years of collaborative development at MIT. The Handbook is the first hypertextual reference work designed specifically for technical and scientific writing. MIT authors Leslie Perelman, James Paradis, and Edward Barrett offer information and advice on grammar and usage, strategies for planning and producing documents, and common document formats and citation styles.
- The nuts and bolts of college writing
Covers the dynamic process of thinking; structure; evidence; mechanics of writing and finishing. By Professor Michael Hackett of Washington College, MD
- Online Grammar Handbook
"21 chapters of web links to writing, grammar, punctuation & research inclucing links to arguments, literature & sample student papers of many types."
- Primary, secondary, and tertiary sources in the health sciences
Handout from the Bio-Medical Library
- Sentence sence: a writers guide
From the Guide to Grammar & Writing. An online textbook on basic writing
- Student Writing Guide: University of Minnesota
Center for Writing.
-Reading, research & writing strategies; - U Writing requirements; - Writins resources & more ...
- The Unofficial guide for authors (or how to produce research articles worth citing)
guide by Tomislav Hengl & Mike Gould (2006). Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.
Freely downloadable guide that covers in 54 pages all aspects of scientific writing.
- Writing and presenting your thesis or dissertation
guide by S. Joseph Levine, Michigan State University
- Writing Guides
From Colorado State University. Covers the writing process, types of documents, researching sources and using sources.
- Writing with sources: a guide for Harvard students.
From the Expository Writing Program. Covers integrating sources into a paper; misuse of sources and when/when not to cite.
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Checklists and Other Tools
- Equator Network :Enhancing the Quality and Transparency of Health Research
The EQUATOR Network is an international initiative that seeks to enhance reliability of medical research literature by promoting transparent and accurate reporting of research studies.
Library for health research reporting contains a comprehensive list of the available report guidelines, listed by study type:
- Experimental studies
- Observational studies
- Diagnostic accuracy studies
- Systematic reviews
- Qualitative research
- Economic evaluations
- Quality improvement studies
- Other reporting guidelines
- and other guideline/reporting topics
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- ASSERT: A Standard for the Scientific and Ethical Review of Trials
Proposes a structured approach whereby research ethics committees review proposals for, and monitor the conduct of, randomized controlled clinical trials
- CONSORT Statement
"CONSORT comprises a checklist and flow diagram to help improve the quality of reports of randomized controlled trials. It offers a standard way for researchers to report trials. The checklist includes items, based on evidence, that need to be addressed in the report; the flow diagram provides readers with a clear picture of the progress of all participants in the trial, from the time they are randomized until the end of their involvement. The intent is to make the experimental process more clear, flawed or not, so that users of the data can more appropriately evaluate its validity for their purposes."
- MOOSE Checklist
Meta-analysis of Observational Studies (MOOSE)
- QUOROM Statement Checklist
Quality Of Reporting Of Meta-analyses [QUOROM]
- STARD Initiative
Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy (STARD)
- STROBE
"STROBE stands for an international, collaborative initiative of epidemiologists, methodologists, statisticians, researchers and editors involved in the conduct and dissemination of observational studies, with the common aim of STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology."
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Style Manuals - Health Sciences
- ACS Style (American Chemical Society)
- Books
- ACS Style Guide: a manual for authors and editors
Describes the writing and citation style recommended by the American Chemical Society. A selection of sample references for more common types of citations is available online.
• Location(s): QD8.5 .A25 1997 WALTER Sci/Eng Reference; MAGRATH Reference;Bio-Med Reference WZ345 A187 1997• Check MNCAT Record for Location and Availability
- Internet Resources
- ACS guidelines for documenting sources
CORE : Chemistry/OhioLink Resource Explorer
- Writing a scientific paper.
Chapter one from The ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors and Editors Second Edition Janet S. Dodd, Editor
- AMA Style (American Medical Association)
- Books
- AMA manual of style: a guide for authors and editorsSect. 1. Preparing an article for publication. Types of articles -- Manuscript preparation -- References -- Visual presentation of data -- Ethical and legal considerations -- Editorial assessment and processing -- Sect. 2. Grammar -- Punctuation -- Plurals -- Capitalization -- Correct and preferred usage -- Non-english words, phrases, and accent marks -- Medical indexes -- Sect. 3. Terminology. Abbreviations -- Nomenclature -- Eponyms -- Greek letters --Sect. 4. Measurement and Quantitation. Units of measure -- Numbers and percentages -- Study design and statistics -- Mathematical composition -- Sect. 5. Technical information. Typography -- Manuscript editing and proofreading -- Glossary of publishing terms -- Resources. Rev. ed. of: American Medical Association manual of style. 9th ed. c1998.
• Location(s): TC Bio-Medical Library Reference WZ345 A511 2007• Check MNCAT Record for Location and Availability
- Internet Resources
- AMA citation style
Long Island University
- AMA style guide
University of Evansville
- APA Style (American Psychological Association)
- Books
- Concise rules of APA style1. Concise and bias-free writing -- 2. Punctuation, spelling, and capitalization -- 3. Italicizing and abbreviating -- 4. Numbers, metrication, and statistics -- 5. Tables -- 6. Figures -- 7. Footnotes and appendixes -- 8. Quotations, reference citations in text, and reference list -- 9. Reference examples.
• Location(s): TC Bio-Medical Library Reference WZ345 C743 2005; Magrath Library Reference BF76.7 .C66 2005• Check MNCAT Record for Location and Availability
- Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
- Writing with style: APA style made easyIntroduction: the laypeople and you -- Some generalizations about how psychologists write -- Preparing the introduction section and the literature review paper -- Preparing the method section -- Preparing the results section -- Preparing the discussion section -- Preparing the abstract -- Preparing the references section -- Preparing a title page and formatting your manuscript -- Grooming tips for psychology papers -- Preparing a presentation -- Wrapping it up.
• Location(s): TC Bio-Medical Library BF76.8 S998w 2008• Check MNCAT Record for Location and Availability
- Internet Resources
- APA Research style crib sheet
By Russ Dewey, Georgia Southern University.
- APA Style
From the Lydia M. Olson Library, Northern Michigan University
Covers all reference formats. Includes new 2007 Electronic Reference formats: " Referencing online journal articles and some other materials has changed to emphasize using an assigned DOI (digital object identifier). Date of retrieval is no longer included for materials that are unlikely to be changed or updated (PDF/page images). "
- APA Tutorial
A tutorial of APA style, 5th ed., from the University of Southern Mississippi
- APA Style.org: Electronic References
From the American Psychological Association.
The following web pages are excerpted from the APA Style Guide to Electronic References (© 2007) and the fifth edition of the Publication Manual (© 2001).
The material provided covers commonly asked questions regarding how to cite electronic media.
Please note that there have been changes in APA’s style guidelines for electronic resources with the release of the APA Style Guide to Electronic References.
Because electronic media change rapidly, we will update this page regularly as there are additions, changes, or clarifications to APA style.
- Citing sources using the APA citation style
From the University of Minnesota QuickStudy library research guide tutorial.
- Using American Psychological Association (APA) format (Updated to 5th edition)
OWL Online Writing Lab, Purdue University.
- Using the principles of APA style to cite and document sources
Chapter 6 from Online! A reference guide to using Internet resources by Andrew Harnack, Eugene Kleppinger, 2003.
- CBE Style (Council of Biological Editors)
- Books
- Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, 7th ed.Published by the Style Manual Committee, Council of Biology Editors.
• Location(s): T11 .S386 1994 MAGRATH; MAGRATH Reference; WALTER Sci/Eng Reference; Ent/Fish/Wild Library Reference; FORESTRY Ref (Secured); PLANT PATHOLOGY Reference; VETERINARY MEDICINE Reference; BIO-MED Reference WZ345 C386s 1994• Check MNCAT Record for Location and Availability
- Internet Resources
- CBE Citation Guide
Ohio State University
- The Council of Biology Editors (CBE) Style of Documentation in Science and Mathematics
Monroe Community College
- Using CBE style to cite and document sources.
Chapter 8 from Online! A reference guide to using Internet resources by Andrew Harnack, Eugene Kleppinger, 2003.
- Sciences: documenting sources
From Research & Documentation Online. This section covers CBE number system, reference list, manuscript format and samples pages.
- Harvard Style
- Citing your sources - Harvard style
University of Western Australia
- Harvard style: Reference online sources
University of Southern Queensland
- Harvard citation style.
Australian National University
- Harvard Style
Unversity of Queensland
- Quote, unquote: the Harvard style of referencing published material, including electronic information.
Leeds Metropolitan University. Quote Unquote is a Leeds Metropolitan University booklet giving Guidelines on Harvard referencing.
- NLM Style (National Library of Medicine)
- Books
- National Library of Medicine Recommended Formats for Bibliographic Citation
Includes recommended citation format styles for journals, books, conference publications, patents, audio visuals, electronic information, maps, legal materials, newspaper articles, bibliographies, dissertations, and scientific reports. "Internet formats" supplement available at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/formats/internet.pdf
• Location(s): BIO-MED Reference WZ345 P314n 1991 • Check MNCAT Record for Location and Availability
- Internet Resources
- Citing Medicine: the NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers.
2nd ed., 2007
"Citing Medicine gives information on constructing citations at three levels:
- 1. Diagrammed Citation - Many people need to format a non-complex citation and want to know how to format a citation, without learning why it should be structured that way. The picture of the sample citation and the broad guidelines (what we’re calling the Introduction) will be enough for many people in this group.
- 2. General Rules and Examples - A smaller number of people will need to view the General Rules and Examples sections to get more information. They either will have a specific problem to solve or their work requires them to build a general knowledge of citation that they can later apply to specific cases. For this group we lay out why citations are structured the way they are and show them what types of citations exist (Examples) and what special, difficult cases they may encounter (Specific Rules).
- 3. Specific Rules - A yet smaller number of people will need to enter the Specific Rules section to solve a specific problem, such as handling non-English citations.
- National Library of Medicine recommended formats for bibliographic citation: supplement: Internet formats [.pdf]
Supplement to: National Library of Medicine recommended formats for bibliographic citation. 1991. Basis for electronic citation section in the upcoming 7th edition of the CBE Scientific style and format.
- NLM Style guide
HealthLinks, University of Washington
- Vancouver Style (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors)
- Books
- Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: and supplemental statements from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.
Covers guidelines for the format of manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. In addition, discusses retraction of research findings, order of authorship, definition of a peer-reviewed journal, and conflict of interest
• Location(s): Bio-Medical Library WZ345 U58 1994 • Check MNCAT Record for Location and Availability
- Internet Resources
- How to acknowledge what you've read - Vancouver style
Monash University Library
- Vancouver Style : Quck Guide - How to Use it.
Extensive guide from the University of Queensland.
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Other Citation Guides & Styles
- Citing OMIM
How to cite Onine Mendelian Inheritance in Man references.
- Chicago Manual of Style Online (15th Edition)
The standard work and most comprehensive of the style manuals. All chapters are written for the electronic age, with advice on how to prepare and edit manuscripts online, handle copyright and permissions issues raised by new technologies, use the latest methods of preparing mathematical copy, and cite electronic and online sources.
• Location(s): Bio-Medical Library Reference Z253 U58c 2003 ; Walter Sci/Eng Library Reference (Rm 206) Z253 .U69 2003 ; Wilson Reference (Desk) Z253 .U69 2003 • Check MNCAT Record for Location and Availability
- DocsCite
DocsCite is a step-by-step guide to putting government publication citations into proper APA or MLA style format. From the Arizona State University Libraries.
- Guide for the use of the International System of Units (SI)
NIST Special Publication 811 1995 edition.
- Guidelines for Scientific Publishing
International Council for Science (ICSU). Committee on Dissemination of Scientific Information. 3rd ed. 1999
- ISO 690:1987 Information and documentation -- Bibliographic references - Content, form and structureContains excerpts to the International Standard that specifies the elements to be included in bibliographic references to published monographs and serials, to chapters, articles, etc. in such publications and to patent documents. ISO 690-2 covers electronic resources.
- National Center for Health Statistics
- Style manualThis manual was written to foster consistency in University publications. It is intended not to dictate, but rather to suggest solutions to common writing and editing problems. It includes a body of rules that reflect current usage, plus a number of rules that pertain specifically to the University of Minnesota
• Location(s): Wilson Reference Z253 .S92x 2002
- Suggested citation styles for our Internet information
U.S. Census Bureau
- Uncle Sam: Brief Guide to Citing Government Publications
Creating by the Government Publications Department. Regional Depository Library. University of Memphis. Provides examples of the most common examples of government documentation.
- U.S. Government Printing Office Style Manual
29th edition, 2000.
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Instructions for Authors
- Academic Journal Policy Database
The University of Cincinnati has developed a database of links to publishers’ journal policies called the Academic Journal Policy Database (AJPD).
- Author's handbook of styles for life science journalsEach journal entry contains publisher’s address, aim and scope, and information on manuscript information and format. Includes instructions for authors for submission of articles to English-language life sciences journals.
• Location(s): Bio-Medical Library Reference WZ345 A881a 1996; Ent/Fish/Wild Library Reference R119 .A85 1995; Magrath Library Reference R119 .A85 1995; Veterinary Medical Library Reference R119 .A85 1995• Check MNCAT Record for Location and Availability
- Author's Addendum
"The SPARC Author’s Addendum is a form you use to amend the document that your publisher asks you to sign. Developed for SPARC by Michael Carroll of the Villanova University School of Law, the addendum is designed to be filled out and attached to the agreement supplied by the journal publisher. By using the SPARC Author’s Addendum you will, for example, retain the right to make your article available in a non-commercial open digital archive on the Web (such as the National Institutes of Health’s PubMed Central or your institution’s open digital archive) or to make copies of your article for use in the classes you teach."
- BioMedCentral: For authors
Instructions for authors for manuscript submission
- Instructions to Authors in the Health Sciences.
These pages provide links to Web sites which provide instructions to authors for over 3,500 journals in the health and life sciences. All links are to "primary sources" - that is, to publishers and organizations with editorial responsibilities for the titles. Maintained by the Raymon H. Mulford Library, Medical College of Ohio.
- SHERPA/RoMEO
Publisher copyright policies and self-archiving.
This site can be used to find a summary of permissions that are normally given as part of each publisher’s copyright transfer agreement. Searchable by journal title or publisher name. Can also be browsed by RoMEO colors, which differentiate between different archiving policies.
- green: can archive pre-print and post-print
- blue: can archive post-print
- yellow: can archive pre-print
- white: archiving not formally supported
- University of Minnesota: Authorship
Office of the Vice President for Research. University Policies
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NIH Public Access Policy
- NIH Public Access Policy
Information on
- Journals that [automatically]submit to PubMed Central
- submission policies
- frequently asked questions
- policy details
- NIH Manuscript Submission System
Entry page for manuscript submission to PubMed Central
- NIH Manuscript Submission Help
Available as Quicktime videos, html slides or pdf downloads
- PMID : PMCID Converter
If an article is in PubMed and in PMC, it will have both a PubMed ID (PMID) and a PMC ID. Use this converter to translate one type of ID to the other.
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Open Access Publishing
- Open Access Overview
by Peter Suber
- PubMed Central
PubMed Central (PMC) is the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) free digital archive of biomedical and life sciences journal literature.
- SHERPA
"SHERPA is investigating issues in the future of scholarly communication. It is developing open-access institutional repositories in a number of research universities to facilitate the rapid and efficient worldwide dissemination of research."
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Journal Information
- All that JAS: Journal Abbreviation Sources
Registry of web resources that list or provide access to the full title of journal abbreviations.
- Genamics JournalSeek: Medicine
Genamics JournalSeek is the largest completely categorized database of freely available journal information available on the internet. Presently contains 60,458 titles. Journal information includes the description (aims and scope), journal abbreviation, journal homepage link, subject category and ISSN.
- ISI Journal Abbreviation Index
Web of Science Journal abbreviation list.
- Journal Info
Companion database to the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).
The purpose of the website is to provide an aid for the researcher in the selection of journal for publication. Provides information on accessibility (open access or not), cost (price per article / price per citation / profit status), quality (where indexed, journal eigenfactor), etc.
- List of Serials Indexed for Online Users
National Library of Medicine MEDLINE journal list
- PubMed Journal Database
Search by title keyword or part of a word. Provides MEDLINE journal abbreviation, complete journal title, publisher and ISSN. Also has link to webpage containing list of PubMed journals that provide links to full text articles (all full-text, not just free full text)
- SCImago Journal & Country Rank
A portal that includes the journals and country scientific indicators developed from the information contained in the Scopus® database (Elsevier B.V.). These indicators can be used to assess and analyze scientific domains. This platform takes its name from the SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) indicatorpdf, developed by SCImago from the widely known algorithm Google PageRank™. This indicator shows the visibility of the journals contained in the Scopus® database from 1996.
- Ulrich's Periodicals Directory
This directory, also known as ulrichsweb dot com lists information for nearly a quarter-million serial records such as newspapers, popular and trade magazines, and academic and scholarly journals; The listings include active, ceased, and forthcoming publications, and they can be searched by country, subject headings, circulation numbers, and many more options. • Check MNCAT Record for Location and Availability
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Dictionaries / Acronyms / Abbreviations
- Acronym Finder.com
Searchable database of more than 317,000 abbreviations and acronyms about computers, technology, telecommunications, and military acronyms and abbreviations
- Bio-Tech Life Science Dictionary
8300+ terms deal with biochemistry, biotechnology, botany, cell biology and genetics. Also some terms relating to ecology, limnology, pharmacology, toxicology and medicine
- Cancer.gov dictionary
National Cancer Institute
- A Dictionary of units of measurement.
Besides metric and other units of measurement, covers Apgar scoring, Glasgow coma scale, SI units for medical data and nutritional daily values.
- MedBioWorld: Dictionaries and Glossaries
List of medical & biosciences dictionaries and glossaries, both general and disorder specific.
- Medi-Lexicon
Over 70,000 medical, pharmaceutical, biomedical & healthcare acronyms and abbreviations.
- MedTerms.com Medical Dictionary
From MedicineNet.com
- Merrian Webster Medical Dictionary
MEDLINEplus
- Multilingual glossary of technical and popular medical terms in nine european languages
-an English dictionary of 1,830 medical terms, frequently used in written drug information - nine glossaries of 1830 scientific and popular medical terms, one in each of the nine official languages of the European Union. - an electronic database of the dictionary and glossaries - a user-friendly software interface as an Internet application, installed at the World-Wide Web server of the University of Gent, Belgium
- On-line medical dictionary
OMD is a searchable dictionary created by Dr Graham Dark and contains terms relating to biochemistry, cell biology, chemistry, medicine, molecular biology, physics, plant biology, radiobiology, science and technology. It includes: acronyms, jargon, theory, conventions, standards, institutions, projects, eponyms, history, in fact anything to do with medicine or science
- Speciality dictionaries: medicine
YourDictionary.com. Links to many general & speciality dictionaries in the health sciences
- Veterinary abbreviations and acronyms
This list focuses on abbreviations and acronyms commonly used in veterinary practice and supplements the standard and widely available reference sources such as Gale’s Acronyms, Initialisms & Abbreviations Dictionary. It is intended for use by veterinary students, researchers, practitioners, and librarians. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Veterinary Medicine Library
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Plagiarism
- Avoiding Plagiarism
From the OWL Onine Writing Lab, Purdue University.
- Avoiding Plagiarism 2.0
University of Phoenix Edition. Online tutorial for both MLA and APA style.
- Guide to Plagiarism and Cyber-Plagiarism
University of Alberta
- Synthesis: Using the Work of Others
Tutorial from the University of Maine at Farmington
- What is Plagiarism?
Georgetown University
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Page Coordinator: Katherine Chew chewx002@umn.edu
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Copyright Guidelines
- Copyright ToolsFrom the American Library Association’s Office for Information Technology
- Digital Copyright Slider
An interactive tool to help determine whether or not a work is protected by copyright or not. Set the arrow at the correct date and read the information is the windows
- Section 108 Spinner
Use your mouse to turn the wheel chart to the desired section. Helps determine whether or not a particular reproduction is covered by Section 108
- Creative Commons
Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that offers flexible copyright licenses for creative works.
- Copyright & Fair Use
Prepared by Stanford University Libraries this is a very useful site especially for those who are linear.
- Copyright Clearance Center
Here you can get permission to reproduce copyrighted content such as articles and book chapters in your journals, photocopies, coursepacks, library reserves, Web sites, e-mail and more.
- Copyright Crash Course
This excellent site compiled by the University of Texas System can teach us all a lot about the copyright despite the complexity of this subject.
- Copyright Information and Education (U of M Libraries)
The site of the University of Minnesota Libraries’ Copyright Information and Education Initiative, which supports an informed and educated University community on matters of copyright and its application in teaching, research, and scholarship. Includes tools such as a Fair Use Analysis Tool and Copyright Decision Map.
- Copyright: an overview
This is a section of a larger main site covering all aspects of the law from the Cornell Law School (http://www.law.cornell.edu/). It is from the "Law about. . . " section of the main site.
- Copyright Permissions Office, U of M
This office, secures permission for copyrighted materials use for instructional or other academic purposes by U of M faculty and staff. Photocopying guidelines are also provided.
- A Fair(y) Use Tale
YouTube video that uses clips from Disney films to illustrate the concept of "Fair Use."
- United States Copyright Office
Key publications, including informational circulars; application forms for copyright registration; links to the copyright law and to the homepages of other copyright-related organizations; news of what the Office is doing, including business-process reengineering plans, Congressional testimony and press releases, regulations; a link to online copyright records cataloged since 1978; and much more.
Page Coordinator: Katherine Chew chewx002@umn.edu
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Last Updated: March 2, 2006, 1:55 pm
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