Reference Style Guidelines

Reference Style Guidelines (AMA Style)

BM-Publisher · Applied to all journals published under BM-Publisher, including the Advanced Journal of Biomedicine & Medicine (AJBM).

All manuscripts submitted to BM-Publisher journals must follow the American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style, 11th Edition reference format. References should be accurate, consistent, and complete. Incorrect or incomplete citations delay publication.

1. General Formatting

  • List references numerically in the order in which they appear in the text.
  • Use superscript Arabic numerals (eg, 1, 2, 3 …) placed after punctuation marks.
  • Each reference number corresponds to one unique source.
  • Abbreviate journal titles according to the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Catalog.
  • Include all authors when ≤ 6; if ≥ 7, list the first 3 followed by “et al.”
  • Use sentence case for article titles (capitalize only the first word and proper nouns).
  • Provide volume number, issue number (if available), page range, and publication year.
  • Add DOI or PMID for all references where available.

2. In-Text Citations

  • Place superscript reference numbers outside commas and periods and inside colons and semicolons.
  • When citing multiple references, use hyphens for continuous ranges and commas for non-consecutive numbers (eg, 1-3, 5, 7).

Examples:

  • Several studies support this finding.1-3
  • These results were confirmed by subsequent trials;4,5 however, other authors disagreed.6

3. Reference List Format

The reference list should appear at the end of the manuscript under the heading References (bold, flush left). Each item should be formatted as follows:

  • Journal Article: Author(s). Article title. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;Volume(Issue):Pages. doi (if available)
  • Book: Author(s). Book Title. Edition (if not 1st). Publisher; Year.
  • Book Chapter: Author(s) of chapter. Chapter title. In: Editor(s), ed(s). Book Title. Publisher; Year:Page range.
  • Website: Author(s) (if known). Title of webpage. Website Name. Published [date]. Updated [date]. Accessed [date]. URL.

4. Examples by Source Type

Journal Article
Hussain A, Al-Janabi H, Yousif NG. Mesenchymal stem cell therapy for avascular necrosis of the hip: a prospective clinical study. Adv J Biomed Med. 2025;12(3):145-153. doi:10.1234/ajbm.2025.0231
Book
Riegelman RK. Studying a Study and Testing a Test. 7th ed. Wolters Kluwer; 2020.
Book Chapter
Murray PR. Medical microbiology. In: Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R, eds. Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett’s Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 9th ed. Elsevier; 2020:97-104.
Conference Paper
Yousif NG, Rahman S. Advances in stem cell cryopreservation for bone marrow transplantation. Presented at: 10th International Congress on Hematology; June 2024; Najaf, Iraq.
Website
World Health Organization. Global tuberculosis report 2024. WHO website. Published 2024. Accessed October 10, 2025. https://www.who.int/tb/publications/global_report/en/

5. Online Sources & DOIs

  • Include the digital object identifier (DOI) whenever possible: format as doi:10.xxxx/xxxxx.
  • If no DOI exists, provide the direct URL with an access date.
  • URLs should not include tracking parameters or session IDs.
  • For ahead-of-print articles, include the phrase “Published online [date]”.

6. Software, Datasets & Preprints

  • Software: Name (version). Company or Organization; Year. URL.
  • Dataset: Author(s). Title [dataset]. Repository; Year. doi or URL.
  • Preprint: Author(s). Title [preprint]. Repository Name. Published [date]. doi or URL.
Harris CR, Millman KJ, van der Walt SJ, et al. Array programming with NumPy. Nature. 2020;585(7825):357-362. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2649-2

7. Verification & Accuracy

  • Authors are fully responsible for verifying every reference.
  • DOIs, PubMed IDs, and URLs should be tested before submission.
  • Manuscripts not conforming to AMA style may be returned for correction prior to peer review.