Re: Back to basics

Issue: BCMJ, vol. 50, No. 3, April 2008, Page 124 Letters

Thank you, Dr Rebbeck, for your “Back to basics” editorial that appeared in a recent issue [BCMJ 2007;49(10):530]. 

I was a junior resident on your service when you were working at the UBC Hospital and enjoyed the time that I worked with you because of your back-to-basics approach. 

I have found time and time again that if you just listen to your patient they will tell you the answer, and even though I am just a plastic surgeon I have found that advice to be extremely helpful.  

Just thought I would send a short note to acknowledge your contribution to my training, which continues to this day. 

—Nancy Van Laeken, MD
Vancouver

Nancy Van Laeken, MD,. Re: Back to basics. BCMJ, Vol. 50, No. 3, April, 2008, Page(s) 124 - 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."
  • There is no period after the journal name.
  • Page numbers are not abbreviated.


For more information on the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, visit www.icmje.org

BCMJ Guidelines for Authors

Leave a Reply