Correction to quote attribution

I read the BCMD2B article, “Using the beneficence model as an ethical approach to surgical decision making: A case report,” in the December issue of the BCMJ [2020:62;380-383,385]. Very timely and useful indeed, but I would like to point out that the dictum “first, do no harm,” belongs to Hippocrates, not to Aristotle, as stated in the article.
—Miguel Lipka, MD, CCFP(EM)

The source of this famous dictum isn’t at all clear. A remarkable amount of scholarship exists but none of it is yet conclusive. –ED


This letter was submitted in response to “Using the beneficence model as an ethical approach to surgical decision making: A case report.”

Miguel Lipka, MD, CCFP(EM). Correction to quote attribution. BCMJ, Vol. 63, No. 3, April, 2021, Page(s) 102 - Letters.



Above is the information needed to cite this article in your paper or presentation. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recommends the following citation style, which is the now nearly universally accepted citation style for scientific papers:
Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:284-7.

About the ICMJE and citation styles

The ICMJE is small group of editors of general medical journals who first met informally in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1978 to establish guidelines for the format of manuscripts submitted to their journals. The group became known as the Vancouver Group. Its requirements for manuscripts, including formats for bibliographic references developed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), were first published in 1979. The Vancouver Group expanded and evolved into the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), which meets annually. The ICMJE created the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals to help authors and editors create and distribute accurate, clear, easily accessible reports of biomedical studies.

An alternate version of ICMJE style is to additionally list the month an issue number, but since most journals use continuous pagination, the shorter form provides sufficient information to locate the reference. The NLM now lists all authors.

BCMJ standard citation style is a slight modification of the ICMJE/NLM style, as follows:

  • Only the first three authors are listed, followed by "et al."
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For more information on the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, visit www.icmje.org

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