U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

NCBI Bookshelf. A service of the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health.

Patrias K, author; Wendling D, editor. Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers [Internet]. 2nd edition. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); 2007-.

Cover of Citing Medicine

Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers [Internet]. 2nd edition.

Show details

Chapter 26Electronic Mail and Discussion Forums

Created: ; Last Update: August 11, 2015.

A. Electronic Mail

B. LISTSERVs and Similar Discussion Lists

C. Blogs

D. Wikis

See also:

Chapter 13 Letters and Other Personal Communication

A. Sample Citation and Introduction to Citing Electronic Mail

The general format for a reference to an electronic mail message, including punctuation:

Illustration of the general format for a reference to an electronic mail
message.

Examples of Citations to Electronic Mail

Electronic mail or e-mail is a written message sent over communication networks to a single address or to multiple addressees. E-mail systems are maintained by most computer networks, and virtually all online services and Internet service providers have them.

E-mail is a form of personal communication and is not often accepted by editors and others for inclusion in a reference list. Most authorities recommend placing references to e-mail communications within the running text, not as formal end references. The nature and source of the cited information should be identified by an appropriate statement. Place the source information in parentheses, using a term or terms to indicate clearly that the citation is not in the reference list. For example:

…and most of these meningiomas proved to be inoperable (Mar 22, 2007 e-mail from RS Grant to me; unreferenced, see "Notes") while a few….

The author must provide written permission to the publisher from the cited person (if living) or from the cited organization if the message is not accessible to scholars via the e-mail server's archive. The permission should be a statement in an "Acknowledgments" or a "Notes" section following the text of an article or placed at the end of a book's main text. These statements may include additional details, such as the reason for the communication.

It is highly recommended that any message being considered for future citation be saved to disk or in print because not all e-mail systems use a standard method of saving or archiving messages.

The rules below apply when an e-mail message is included in a reference list rather than within the text as described above. References to e-mail messages have a formal structure to clearly identify the author (initiator) and the recipient (receiver) of the communication. Because of the lack of other information to include in a citation to an e-mail message, providing the full names for both author and recipient is recommended as well as clarifying notes on content.

For information on citing letters, see Chapter 13. For further examples of formats for author names and titles, see Chapter 1.

Continue to Citation Rules with Examples for Electronic Mail.

Continue to Examples of Citations to Electronic Mail.

Citation Rules with Examples for Electronic Mail

Components/elements are listed in the order they should appear in a reference. An R after the component name means that it is required in the citation; an O after the name means it is optional.

Author (R) | Author Affiliation (O) | Title of Message (R) | Content Type (O) | Type of Medium (R) | Connective Phrase (R) | Recipient (R) | Recipient Affiliation (O) | Date (R) | Date of Citation (R) | Extent (Pagination) (O) | Availability (O) | Language (R) | Notes (O)

Author for Electronic Mail (required)

General Rules for Author

  • Enter surname (family or last name) first for the person initiating the communication
  • Capitalize surnames and enter spaces in surnames as they appear in the document cited. For example: Van Der Horn or van der Horn; De Wolf or de Wolf or DeWolf.
  • Follow the surname with a comma and a space
  • Enter the given (first) name and any middle name or initials; follow initials with periods
  • End author information with a period unless the Author Affiliation is given, then use a space

Specific Rules for Author

Box Icon

Box 1

Surnames with hyphens and other punctuation in them.

Box Icon

Box 2

Other surname rules.

Box Icon

Box 3

Given names containing punctuation, a prefix, a preposition, or particle.

Box Icon

Box 4

Degrees, titles, and honors before or after a personal name.

Box Icon

Box 5

Designations of rank in a family, such as Jr and III.

Box Icon

Box 6

Names in non-roman alphabets (Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Korean) or character-based languages (Chinese, Japanese).

Box Icon

Box 7

Organization as author.

Box Icon

Box 8

Title of author given.

Box Icon

Box 9

Options for author names.

Author Affiliation for Electronic Mail (optional)

General Rules for Author Affiliation

  • Begin with the department and name of the institution, followed by city and state/Canadian province/country
  • Use commas to separate parts of the address
  • Place the address in parentheses, such as (Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA)
  • Separate the affiliation from its author by a space
  • Follow the affiliation with a comma placed outside the parentheses

Specific Rules for Author Affiliation

Box Icon

Box 10

Abbreviations in affiliations.

Box Icon

Box 11

E-mail address included.

Box Icon

Box 12

Titles in affiliations.

Box Icon

Box 13

Organizational names for affiliations not in English.

Box Icon

Box 14

Names for cities and countries not in English.

Box Icon

Box 15

No affiliation found.

Title of Message for Electronic Mail (required)

General Rules for Title

  • Enter the title of the subject line of a message as it appears on the screen, in the original language
  • Capitalize only the first word of a title, proper nouns, proper adjectives, acronyms, and initialisms
  • Use a colon followed by a space to separate a title from a subtitle, unless another form of punctuation (such as a question mark, period, or an exclamation point) is already present
  • Follow non-English titles with a translation when possible; place the translation in square brackets
  • End a title with a space

Specific Rules for Title

Box Icon

Box 16

Titles containing a Greek letter, chemical formula, or another special character.

Box Icon

Box 17

Titles not in English.

Box Icon

Box 18

Titles ending in punctuation other than a period.

Box Icon

Box 19

No title can be found.

Content Type for Electronic Mail (optional)

General Rules for Content Type

  • Use a content type to describe the format of the item being cited
  • Begin type information with a left square bracket
  • Enter the words "electronic mail on the"
  • End content type with space

Specific Rules for Content Type

Box Icon

Box 20

Titles ending in punctuation other than a period.

Box Icon

Box 21

Titles not in English.

Type of Medium for Electronic Mail (required)

General Rules for Type of Medium

  • Place the type of medium in square brackets following the title (and Content Type, if present)
  • End with a period placed outside the closing bracket
  • Add location information (URL, etc) according to the instructions under Availability below

Specific Rules for Type of Medium

Box Icon

Box 22

Both a content type and a type of medium.

Box Icon

Box 23

Titles ending in punctuation other than a period.

Box Icon

Box 24

Titles not in English.

Connective Phrase for Electronic Mail (required)

General Rules for Connective Phrase

  • Use the phrase "Message to" after the title of the message and the Type of Medium
  • Follow the phrase with a colon and a space

Examples for Connective Phrase

Recipient for Electronic Mail (required)

General Rules for Recipient

  • Begin with the given (first) name and any middle name or initials of the person receiving the communication; follow initials with periods
  • Give the surname (family or last name)
  • Capitalize surnames and enter spaces in surnames as they appear in the message. For example: Van Der Horn or van der Horn; De Wolf or de Wolf or DeWolf.
  • Separate multiple recipients with a semicolon and a space
  • End recipient information with a period unless the Recipient Affiliation is given, then use a space

Specific Rules for Recipient

Box Icon

Box 25

Given names containing punctuation, a prefix, a preposition, or particle.

Box Icon

Box 26

Surnames with hyphens and other punctuation in them.

Box Icon

Box 27

Other surname rules.

Box Icon

Box 28

Degrees, titles, and honors before or after a personal name.

Box Icon

Box 29

Designations of rank in a family, such as Jr and III.

Box Icon

Box 30

Names in non-roman alphabets (Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Korean) or character-based languages (Chinese, Japanese).

Box Icon

Box 31

Titles in recipient names.

Box Icon

Box 32

Organization as recipient.

Box Icon

Box 33

Options for recipient names.

Recipient Affiliation for Electronic Mail (optional)

General Rules for Recipient Affiliation

  • Begin with the department and name of the institution, followed by city and state/Canadian province/country
  • Use commas to separate parts of the address
  • Place the address in parentheses, such as (Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA)
  • Separate the affiliation from its author by a space
  • Follow the affiliation with a semicolon placed outside the closing parenthesis, unless the affiliation is for the last or only recipient, then use a period

Specific Rules for Recipient Affiliation

Box Icon

Box 34

Abbreviations in affiliations.

Box Icon

Box 35

E-mail address included.

Box Icon

Box 36

Title in affiliations.

Box Icon

Box 37

Organizational names for affiliations not in English.

Box Icon

Box 38

Names for cities and countries not in English.

Box Icon

Box 39

No affiliation found.

Date for Electronic Mail (required)

General Rules for Date

  • Begin with the year the message was sent
  • Convert roman numerals to arabic numbers. For example: MMVII to 2007.
  • Include the month and day after the year, such as 2007 Apr 30
  • Use English names for months and abbreviate them to the first three letters
  • End date information with a space

Specific Rules for Date

Box Icon

Box 40

Time of the message included.

Box Icon

Box 41

Formats for dates.

Box Icon

Box 42

Non-English names for months.

Box Icon

Box 43

Optional date location.

Date of Citation for Electronic Mail (required)

General Rules for Date of Citation

  • Give the date the message was first seen
  • Include the year month and day in that order, such as 2006 May 5
  • Use English names for months and abbreviate them using the first three letters, such as Jan
  • Place citation date information in square brackets
  • End citation date information with a period placed outside the closing bracket

Specific Rules for Date of Citation

Box Icon

Box 44

Messages not in English.

Extent (Pagination) for Electronic Mail (optional)

General Rules for Extent (Pagination)

  • Give extent as the total number of screens, paragraphs, lines, or bytes, whichever is most practical
  • Precede the total with the word "about" for all except the number of paragraphs and place it in square brackets, as [about 5 screens]
  • If the message is printed, precede the page total with the word "about" and place it in square brackets, as [about 3 p.]
  • End extent information with a period placed outside the closing bracket

Specific Rules for Extent (Pagination)

Box Icon

Box 45

Messages containing an attachment.

Examples for Extent (Pagination)

Availability for Electronic Mail (optional)

General Rules for Availability

  • Provide the access address of the archive if the message is archived by the mail server
  • Begin with the phrase "Available from" followed by a colon and a space
  • Insert the entire Uniform Resource Locator (URL); do not omit FTP, http://, www, or other beginning components
  • End with a period only if the URL ends with a slash, otherwise end with no punctuation

Specific Rules for Availability

Box Icon

Box 46

Breaking long URLs.

Box Icon

Box 47

URLs not directly addressable.

Language for Electronic Mail (required)

General Rules for Language

  • Give the language of the message if not English
  • Capitalize the language name
  • Follow the language name with a period

Notes for Electronic Mail (optional)

General Rules for Notes

  • Notes is a collective term for further information given after the citation itself
  • Complete sentences are not required
  • Be brief

Specific Rules for Notes

Box Icon

Box 48

Messages containing an attachment.

Box Icon

Box 49

System requirements.

Box Icon

Box 50

Other types of material to include in notes.

Examples for Notes

Examples of Citations to Electronic Mail

Note: The examples below are derived from actual e-mail messages, but the names and addresses have been changed in most cases to preserve privacy.

1. Standard citation to an electronic mail message

Backus, Joyce. Physician Internet search behavior: detailed study [Internet]. Message to: Karen Patrias. 2007 Mar 27 [cited 2007 Mar 28]. [2 paragraphs].

2. Electronic mail message with optional initials for author and recipient

Backus J. Physician Internet search behavior: detailed study [Internet]. Message to: K. Patrias. 2007 Mar 27 [cited 2007 Mar 28]. [2 paragraphs].

3. Electronic mail message with organization as author

Protein Lounge (San Diego, CA). Pathway illustration tool and database [Internet]. Message to: Karen Patrias (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD). 2007 May 1 [cited 2007 May 2]. [about 2 screens].

4. Electronic mail message with optional content type

Protein Lounge (San Diego, CA). Pathway illustration tool and database [electronic mail on the Internet]. Message to: Karen Patrias (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD). 2007 May 1 [cited 2007 May 2]. [about 2 screens].

5. Electronic mail message with multiple recipients

Garner, Patricia. DSL and cable modem costs [Internet]. Message to: Phillip S. Chu; Margaret Lyons. 2006 Apr 23 [cited 2006 Apr 24]. [about 1 screen].

6. Electronic mail message with group as recipient

Zerhouni, Elias A. (Director, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD). NIH Roadmap [Internet]. Message to: NIH staff. 2007 Feb 15 [cited 2007 Feb 15]. [about 3 p.].

7. Electronic mail message with affiliations for author and recipient

Harris, Pat (National Information Standards Organization, Bethesda, MD). ISO standards on bibliographic references to be revised [Internet]. Message to: Karen Patrias (Public Services Division, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD). 2005 Jul 07 [cited 2005 Jul 8]. [about 1 screen].

8. Electronic mail message with position titles for author and recipient included in affiliation

Garner, Patricia (Administrative Officer, National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, MD). DSL and cable modem costs [Internet]. Message to: Phillip S. Chu (Chief, Behavioral and Social Research Program, National Institute on Aging, Bethesda, MD); Margaret Lyons (Chief, Neuroscience and Neuropsychology and Aging Program, Bethesda, MD). 2006 Apr 23 [cited 2006 Apr 24]. [about 1 screen].

Patrias, Karen (Senior Resource Specialist, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD). Dates in tables [Internet]. Message to: Lenore Roberts (Editor, Data-Tech, Inc., Ottawa, ON). 2006 Feb 8 [cited 2006 Feb 9]. [2 paragraphs].

9. Electronic mail message with e-mail addresses included in affiliation

Patrias, Karen (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD. patrias@nlm.nih.gov). Presentation for May meeting [Internet]. Message to: Mary Silco (Food and Drug Administration, White Oak, MD. Mary.Silco@fda.hhs.gov). 2007 Feb 7 [cited 2007 Feb 8]. [about 1 screen].

10. Electronic mail message with time included in date

Harris, Pat (National Information Standards Organization, Bethesda, MD). ISO standards on bibliographic references to be revised [Internet]. Message to: Karen Patrias (Public Services Division, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD). 2005 Jul 07, 4:19 PM [cited 2005 Jul 8]. [about 1 screen].

11. Electronic mail message with extent provided

Patrias, Karen (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD). Dates in tables [Internet]. Message to: Lenore Roberts (Data-Tech, Inc., Ottawa, ON). 2006 Feb 8 [cited 2006 Feb 9]. [2 paragraphs].

Harris, Pat (National Information Standards Organization, Bethesda, MD). ISO standards on bibliographic references to be revised [Internet]. Message to: Karen Patrias (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD). 2005 Jul 07 [cited 2005 Jul 8]. [about 1 screen].

Zerhouni, Elias A. (Director, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD). NIH Roadmap [Internet]. Message to: NIH staff. 2007 Feb 15 [cited 2007 Feb 15]. [about 3 p.].

12. Electronic mail message with a note

Patrias, Karen. Presentation for May meeting [Internet]. Message to: Mary Silco. 2007 Feb 7 [cited 2007 Feb 8]. [about 1 screen]. Accompanied by: 1 PowerPoint file.

B. Sample Citation and Introduction to Citing LISTSERVs and Similar Discussion Lists

The general format for a reference to a message from a LISTSERV or similar discussion list, including punctuation:

Illustration of the general format for a reference to a message from a
LISTSERV or similar discussion list.

Examples of Citations to LISTSERVs and Similar Discussion Lists

LISTSERV is a proprietary name for mailing list software that is a registered trademark of L-Soft International, Inc. However, the term is commonly used as a generic for all mailing list applications.

Mailing lists are usually subject-oriented and provide a forum for member discussion. Individuals join a list and post messages that are sent out to all the list members and receive messages sent by others. Lists may be moderated, i.e., content is filtered before broadcast, or unmoderated.

Like e-mail in general, messages posted to discussion lists are a form of personal communication and are not often accepted by editors and others for inclusion in a reference list. Most authorities recommend placing references to e-mail communications within the running text, not as formal end references. The nature and source of the cited information should be identified by an appropriate statement. Place the source information in parentheses, using a term or terms to indicate that the citation is not represented in the reference list. For example:

…and many nurses involved with such cases (Mar 22, 2007 posting by RS Grant to the ANPACC Listserv; unreferenced, see "Notes") report…

When a reference to a discussion list message is included in a reference list, the author must provide written permission to the publisher from the cited person (if living) or from the cited organization if the message is not accessible to scholars via the list server's archive. The permission should be stated in an "Acknowledgments" or "Notes" section that follows the text of an article or is placed at the end of a book's main text. These statements may include additional details, such as the reason for the communication.

Because all discussion lists do not employ a standard method of saving or archiving messages, it is highly recommended that any message being considered for future citation be saved to disk or in print.

The rules below apply when a posting to a discussion list is included in a reference list rather than within the text as described above. Because of the lack of other information to include in a citation to an e-mail message, providing the full name for the author is recommended as well as clarifying notes on content.

Some discussion lists post messages consisting entirely of referrals to publications for their members. Do not cite these as messages on the list, but locate the original publication and cite it.

To cite an entire LISTSERV or other discussion list rather than a message from one, use the instructions from Chapter 24A for citing an open serial database. See also example 24.

For information on citing letters, see Chapter 13. For further examples of formats for author names, titles, place of publication, and publisher see Chapter 1.

Continue to Citation Rules with Examples for LISTSERVs and Similar Discussion Lists.

Continue to Examples of Citations to LISTSERVs and Similar Discussion Lists.

Citation Rules with Examples for LISTSERVs and Similar Discussion Lists

Components/elements are listed in the order they should appear in a reference. An R after the component name means that it is required in the citation; an O after the name means it is optional.

Author (R) | Author Affiliation (O) | Title for Message (R) | Connective Phrase (R) | Title (R) | Address (O) | Content Type (O) | Type of Medium (R) | Place of Publication (R) | Publisher (R) | Date (R) | Date of Citation (R) | Extent (Pagination) (O) | Availability (O) | Language (R) | Notes (O)

Author of Message for Lists (required)

General Rules for Author

  • Enter surname (family or last name) first for the person initiating the communication
  • Capitalize surnames and enter spaces in surnames as they appear in the document cited. For example: Van Der Horn or van der Horn; De Wolf or de Wolf or DeWolf.
  • Convert given (first) names and middle names to initials for a maximum of two initials following each surname
  • End author information with a period unless the Author Affiliation is given, then use a space

Specific Rules for Author

Box Icon

Box 51

Surnames with hyphens and other punctuation in them.

Box Icon

Box 52

Other surname rules.

Box Icon

Box 53

Given names containing punctuation, a prefix, a preposition, or particle.

Box Icon

Box 54

Degrees, titles, and honors before or after a personal name.

Box Icon

Box 55

Designations of rank in a family, such as Jr and III.

Box Icon

Box 56

Names in non-roman alphabets (Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Korean) or character-based languages (Chinese, Japanese).

Box Icon

Box 57

Organization as author.

Box Icon

Box 58

Title of author given.

Box Icon

Box 59

Options for author names.

Author Affiliation for Lists (optional)

General Rules for Author Affiliation

  • Begin with the department and name of the institution, followed by city and state/Canadian province/country
  • Use commas to separate parts of the address
  • Place the address in parentheses, such as (Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA)
  • Separate the affiliation from its author by a space
  • Follow the affiliation with a comma placed outside the closing parenthesis

Specific Rules for Author Affiliation

Box Icon

Box 60

Abbreviations in affiliations.

Box Icon

Box 61

E-mail address included.

Box Icon

Box 62

Titles in affiliations.

Box Icon

Box 63

Organizational names for affiliations not in English.

Box Icon

Box 64

Names for cities and countries not in English.

Box Icon

Box 65

No affiliation found.

Title of Message for Lists (required)

General Rules for Title

  • Enter the title of the subject line of a message as it appears on the screen, in the original language
  • Capitalize only the first word of a title, proper nouns, proper adjectives, acronyms, and initialisms
  • Use a colon followed by a space to separate a title from a subtitle, unless another form of punctuation (such as a question mark, period, or an exclamation point) is already present
  • Follow non-English titles with a translation when possible; place the translation in square brackets
  • End a title with a space

Specific Rules for Title

Box Icon

Box 66

Titles with required prefix.

Box Icon

Box 67

Titles containing a Greek letter, chemical formula, or another special character.

Box Icon

Box 68

Titles not in English.

Box Icon

Box 69

Translated titles ending in punctuation other than a period.

Connective Phrase for Lists (required)

General Rules for Connective Phrase

  • Use the word "In" after the title of the message
  • Follow the word with a colon and a space

Title for Lists (required)

General Rules for Title

  • Enter the title of the list as it appears on screen, in the original language
  • Use the capitalization and punctuation found
  • Follow non-English titles with a translation when possible; place the translation in square brackets
  • End the title with a space

Specific Rules for Title

Box Icon

Box 70

Titles containing special characters.

Box Icon

Box 71

Titles not in English.

Address for List (optional)

General Rules for Address

  • Give the e-mail address for the list as provided in the message
  • Use the capitalization and punctuation found
  • Separate the address from the Title by a space
  • Place the address in parenthesis
  • Follow the address with a space

Content Type for Lists (optional)

General Rules for Content Type

  • Use a content type to describe the format of the item being cited
  • Begin type information with a left square bracket
  • Enter the words "discussion list on the"
  • End content type with space

Specific Rules for Content Type

Box Icon

Box 72

Titles not in English.

Type of Medium for Lists (required)

General Rules for Type of Medium

  • Place the type of medium in square brackets following the title (and Content Type, if present)
  • End with a period placed outside the closing bracket

Specific Rules for Type of Medium

Box Icon

Box 73

Both a content type and a type of medium.

Box Icon

Box 74

Titles not in English.

Place of Publication for Lists (required)

General Rules for Place of Publication

  • Use for place the city of the individual or organization responsible for the list
  • Follow US and Canadian cities with the two-letter abbreviation for the state or province (see Appendix E) to avoid confusion when citing lesser known cities or when cities in different locations have the same name, such as Palm Springs (CA) and Palm Springs (FL)
  • Follow cities in other countries with the name of the country, either written out or as the two-letter ISO country code (see Appendix D), when citing lesser known cities or when cities in different locations have the same name, such as Cambridge (MA) and Cambridge (England)
  • Use the anglicized form for a non-US city, such as Vienna for Wien
  • End place information with a colon

Specific Rules for Place of Publication

Box Icon

Box 75

Locating the place of publication.

Box Icon

Box 76

Non-US cities.

Box Icon

Box 77

No place of publication can be found.

Publisher for Lists (required)

General Rules for Publisher

  • The publisher is the individual or organization responsible for the list
  • Record the name of the publisher as it is found on the screen, using whatever capitalization and punctuation appears
  • Abbreviate well-known words in publisher names if desired
  • When a division or another subsidiary part of a publisher is provided, enter the publisher name first. For example: University of Texas, Comprehensive Cancer Center.
  • End publisher information with a semicolon

Specific Rules for Publisher

Box Icon

Box 78

Determining the publisher.

Box Icon

Box 79

Abbreviated words in publisher names.

Box Icon

Box 80

Non-English names for publishers.

Box Icon

Box 81

Government agencies and other national and international bodies as publisher.

Box Icon

Box 82

No publisher can be found.

Date for Lists (required)

General Rules for Date

  • Begin with the year the message was sent
  • Include the month and day after the year, such as 2007 Apr 30
  • Use English names for months and abbreviate them to the first three letters
  • End date information with a space

Specific Rules for Date

Box Icon

Box 83

Time of the message included.

Box Icon

Box 84

Formats for dates.

Box Icon

Box 85

Non-English names for months.

Box Icon

Box 86

Optional date location.

Date of Citation for Lists (required)

General Rules for Date of Citation

  • Give the date the message was first seen
  • Include the year month and day in that order, such as 2006 May 5
  • Use English names for months and abbreviate them using the first three letters, such as Jan
  • Place citation date information in square brackets
  • End date information with a period placed outside the closing bracket

Extent (Pagination) for Lists (optional)

General Rules for Extent (Pagination)

  • Give extent as the total number of screens, paragraphs, lines, or bytes, whichever is most practical
  • Precede the total with the word "about" for all except the number of paragraphs and place it in square brackets, as [about 5 screens]
  • If the message is printed out, precede the page total with the word "about" and place it in square brackets, as [about 3 p.]
  • End extent information with a period placed outside the closing bracket

Specific Rules for Extent (Pagination)

Box Icon

Box 87

Messages containing an attachment.

Availability for Lists (optional)

General Rules for Availability

  • If the message is archived by the mail server, the access address of the archive may be provided
  • Begin with the phrase "Available from" followed by a colon and a space
  • Insert the entire Uniform Resource Locator (URL); do not omit FTP, http://, www, or other beginning components
  • End with a period only if the URL ends with a slash, otherwise end with no punctuation

Specific Rules for Availability

Box Icon

Box 88

Breaking long URLs.

Box Icon

Box 89

URLs not directly addressable.

Language for Lists (required)

General Rules for Language

  • Give the language of the message if not English
  • Capitalize the language name
  • Follow the language name with a period

Notes for Lists (optional)

General Rules for Notes

  • Notes is a collective term for information given after the citation itself
  • Complete sentences are not required
  • Be brief

Specific Rules for Notes

Box Icon

Box 90

Messages containing an attachment.

Box Icon

Box 91

System requirements.

Box Icon

Box 92

Other types of material to include in notes.

Examples of Citations to LISTSERVs and Similar Discussion Lists

Note: The examples below are derived from actual lists, but the names and other components have been changed in most cases to preserve privacy.

1. Standard citation to a message from a LISTSERV or similar discussion list

Ramirez AG. NPM1 gene mutation in AML. In: AML-Listserv [Internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources; 2007 Jan 12 [cited 2007 Jan 14]. [about 3 screens].

with optional content type

Ramirez AG. NPM1 gene mutation in AML. In: AML-Listserv [discussion list on the Internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources; 2007 Jan 12 [cited 2007 Jan 14]. [about 3 screens].

2. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with optional full name for author

Davis, Blake F. Albuterol versus levalbuterol for treatment of acute asthma. In: RC_WORLD [Internet]. Indianapolis (IN): IUPUI; 2007 Mar 2 [cited 2007 Mar 2]. [5 paragraphs].

3. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with organization as author

GPO Customer Contact Center. Cessation of the FDA Consumer in print. In: FDLP Listserv [Internet]. Washington: Government Printing Office (US); 2007 Apr 27 [cited 2007 Apr 27]. [13 lines].

4. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with e-mail address only for author

CarrieOlson@aol.com. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and nephrology. In: PEDNEFRO-L [Internet]. Prague (Czech Republic): Univerzity Karlovy, Lekarska Fakulta; 1998 Jan 4, 10:01 PM [cited 2007 May 3]. [about 3 p.].

5. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with author affiliation

Slack HT (TMD and Orofacial Pain Clinic, College of Dentistry, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Lincoln, NE). Orthodontics for TMD therapy. In: OANDP-L [Internet]. Gainesville (FL): O & P digital Technologies; 2007 Apr 20 [cited 2007 Apr 22]. [about 4 screens].

Ramirez AG (Instituto de Biologia Molecular y Celular del Cancer, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain). NPM1 gene mutation in AML. In: AML-Listserv [Internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources; 2007 Jan 12 [cited 2007 Jan 14]. [about 3 screens].

6. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with position title for author in affiliation

Slack HT (Clinical Administrator, TMD and Orofacial Pain Clinic, College of Dentistry, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Lincoln, NE). Orthodontics for TMD therapy. In: OANDP-L [Internet]. Gainesville (FL): O & P digital Technologies; 2007 Apr 20 [cited 2007 Apr 22]. [about 4 screens].

7. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with e-mail address of author included in affiliation

Theron M (Hopital Marmottan, Paris, FR. marie.theron@marmottan.fr). WHO revised global disease standards. In: MEDLIB-L [Internet]. Chicago: Medical Library Association; 2007 Mar 18 [cited 2007 Apr 1]. [1 paragraph].

8. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with message title having a subtitle

Blake M. Summary: librarian handbooks and guidelines. In: MEDLIB-L [Internet]. Chicago: Medical Library Association; 2007 Apr 27 [cited 2007 Apr 28]. [about 2 screens].

9. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with required subject preceding message title

KCarlson@penn.edu. GLAUCOMA: Early vs late intraocular pressure following trabeculectomy. In: OPHTHAL [Internet]. [place unknown]: Internet Ophthalmology; 2007 Apr 27 [cited 2007 May 3]. [about 2 screens].

10. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with list title not in English

Michel D. Peut-on se fier aux statistiques fournies par les banques de donnees emanant du ministere de la sante? In: archivistes hospitaliers [Internet]. Lyon (FR): CISR; 2007 May 2 [cited 2007 May 3]. [about 3 p.]. French.

with translation included

Michel D. Peut-on se fier aux statistiques fournies par les banques de donnees emanant du ministere de la sante? [Could we trust clinical statistics from data banks of the National Health Service (NHS)?]. In: archivistes hospitaliers [hospital archivists] [Internet]. Lyon (FR): CISR; 2007 May 2 [cited 2007 May 3]. [about 3 p.]. French.

11. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with optional address for list

Davis BF. Albuterol versus levalbuterol for treatment of acute asthma. In: RC_WORLD (LISTSERV@LISTSERV.iupui.edu) [Internet]. Indianapolis (IN): IUPUI; 2007 May 2 [cited 2007 Sep 17]. [5 paragraphs].

Blake M. Summary: librarian handbooks and guidelines. In: MEDLIB-L (MEDLIB-L@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU) [Internet]. Chicago: Medical Library Association; 2007 Apr 27 [cited 2007 Apr 28]. [about 2 screens].

Michel D. Peut-on se fier aux statistiques fournies par les banques de donnees emanant du ministere de la sante? [Could we trust clinical statistics from data banks of the National Health Service (NHS)?]. In: archivistes hospitaliers [hospital archivists] (archivistes_hospitaliers@listes.univ-lyon1.fr) [Internet]. Lyon (FR): CISR; 2007 May 2 [cited 2007 May 3]. [about 3 p.]. French.

12. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with optional content type

Davis BF. Albuterol versus levalbuterol for treatment of acute asthma. In: RC_WORLD [discussion list on the Internet]. Indianapolis (IN): IUPUI; 2007 May 2 [cited 2007 Sep 17]. [5 paragraphs].

13. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with well-known place of publication

Blake M. Summary: librarian handbooks and guidelines. In: MEDLIB-L [Internet]. Chicago: Medical Library Association; 2007 Apr 27 [cited 2007 Apr 28]. [about 2 screens].

14. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with geographic qualifier added to place of publication for clarity

King M. Africa goes into negative food balance. In: AFRO-NETS [Internet]. Watertown (MA): AED-SATELLIFE; 2003 May 4 [cited 2007 Apr 25]. 19.55 KB.

15. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with unknown place of publication

KCarlson@penn.edu. GLAUCOMA: Early vs late intraocular pressure following trabeculectomy. In: OPHTHAL [Internet]. [place unknown]: Internet Ophthalmology; 2007 Apr 27 [cited 2007 May 3]. [about 2 screens].

16. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with publisher having subsidiary division

Keller CD. Public health training for rural primary care physicians. In: RURALNET-L [Internet]. Huntington (WV): Marshall University School of Medicine, Department of Academic Computing; 2007 Apr 15 [cited 2007 Apr 16]. [about 3 screens].

17. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list published by a government agency

Murray GC. A diagram of the UMLS Semantic Network. In: UMLSUSERS-L [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); 2007 Apr 23, 11:33 AM [cited 2007 May 2]. [60 lines].

18. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with time included in date

Murray GC. A diagram of the UMLS Semantic Network. In: UMLSUSERS-L [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); 2007 Apr 23, 11:33 AM [cited 2007 May 2]. [60 lines].

19. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with extent provided

Davis BF. Albuterol versus levalbuterol for treatment of acute asthma. In: RC_WORLD [Internet]. Indianapolis (IN): IUPUI; 2007 May 2 [cited 2007 Sep 17]. [5 paragraphs].

GPO Customer Contact Center. Cessation of the FDA Consumer in print. In: FDLP Listserv [Internet]. Washington: Government Printing Office (US); 2007 Apr 27 [cited 2007 Apr 27]. [13 lines].

Karns M. Africa goes into negative food balance. In: AFRO-NETS [Internet]. Watertown (MA): AED-SATELLIFE; 2003 May 4 [cited 2007 Apr 25]. 19.55 KB. Accompanied by: 1 GIF file, 20KB.

CarrieOlson@aol.com. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and nephrology. In: PEDNEFRO-L [Internet]. Prague (Czech Republic): Univerzity Karlovy, Lekarska Fakulta; 1998 Jan 4, 10:01 PM [cited 2007 May 3]. [about 3 p.].

Ramirez AG. NPM1 gene mutation in AML. In: AML-Listserv [Internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources; 2007 Jan 12 [cited 2007 Jan 14]. [about 3 screens].

20. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with accompanying file

Karns M. Africa goes into negative food balance. In: AFRO-NETS [Internet]. Watertown (MA): AED-SATELLIFE; 2003 May 4 [cited 2007 Apr 25]. 19.55 KB. Accompanied by: 1 GIF file, 20KB. Available from: http://www.afronets.org/docs-related.php

21. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with archive URL provided

Theron M. WHO revised global disease standards. In: MEDLIB-L [Internet]. Chicago: Medical Library Association; 2007 Mar 18 [cited 2007 Apr 1]. [1 paragraph]. Available from: http://listserv.buffalo.edu/archives/medlib-l.html

CarrieOlson@aol.com. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and nephrology. In: PEDNEFRO-L [Internet]. Prague (Czech Republic): Univerzity Karlovy, Lekarska Fakulta; 1998 Jan 4, 10:01 PM [cited 2007 May 3]. [about 3 p.]. Available from: http://www.lf2.cuni.cz/cgi-bin/wilma_hiliter/pednefro-l/199806/msg00000.html?line=80#

22. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with archive not directly addressable

GPO Customer Contact Center. Cessation of the FDA Consumer in print. In: FDLP Listserv [Internet]. Washington: Government Printing Office (US); 2007 Apr 27 [cited 2007 Apr 27]. [13 lines]. Available from: http://listserv.access.gpo.gov/ by clicking on Online mailing list archives.

23. A message from a LISTSERV or similar list with a note

Ramirez AG. NPM1 gene mutation in AML. In: AML-Listserv [Internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources; 2007 Jan 12 [cited 2007 Jan 14]. [about 3 screens]. List for acute myelocytic leukemia.

Davis BF. Albuterol versus levalbuterol for treatment of acute asthma. In: RC_WORLD [Internet]. Indianapolis (IN): IUPUI; 2007 May 2 [cited 2007 Sep 17]. [5 paragraphs]. IUPUI is Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

24. Entire LISTSERV or similar list

AML-Listserv [Internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources. 1997 Nov 12 -   [cited 2007 May 11]. Available from: AML-request@LISTSERV.ACOR.ORG

MEDLIB-L [Internet]. Chicago: Medical Library Association. 1995 Aug 16 -   [cited 2007 May 11]. Available from: MEDLIB-L@LIST.UVM.EDU

C. Sample Citation and Introduction to Citing Blogs

The general format for a reference to a blog on the Internet, including punctuation:

Illustration of the general format for a reference to a blog on the
Internet.

The general format for a reference to a contribution to a blog, when the contribution is written by someone other than the blog owner, including punctuation:

Illustration of the general format for a reference to a contribution to a
blog, when the contribution is written by someone other than the blog
owner.

Examples of Citations to Blogs

Blog is a contraction of Web log. A blog is a publicly available Web site that serves as a personal journal or sounding board for an individual or as an information tool for an organization. The blog owner posts messages and invites comments from readers. Entries or messages are displayed in reverse chronological order and the site is usually updated daily.

In citing a blog, note that:

  • The word blog may or may not be a part of the title. If it is not, using the content type "blog" is strongly recommended.
  • Many blogs are self-published, with the author and the publisher the same individual.
  • Place of publication may be absent. Use the author's city as the place if one is not provided.
  • Blogs often omit giving the date the blog began. If no beginning date is found, use the date of the earliest message posted (usually found under Archive) and place it in square brackets.
  • Many blogs have new content added daily or very frequently. A date of update/revision is therefore not useful and is omitted from a citation.

Look at the opening screen(s), the bottom or closing screens, sidebar, and the source code (viewable through the Web browser), in that order, for authoritative information to use in citing a blog.

Contributions to a Blog

To cite an entire blog, use the instructions below. To cite a part of, or a contribution to a blog, examples are provided. For more details, combine the instructions in this chapter with those in Chapter 24B Parts of Databases on the Internet if the item was posted by the blog owner or in Chapter 24C Contributions to Databases on the Internet if the item was written by someone other than the blog owner. See examples 29-30.

Be aware that the message content of many blogs is not moderated. Many blogs also post articles or other documents that were initially published elsewhere. Do not cite these as contributions to a blog. Locate the original and cite that item.

Messages posted to discussion lists like a blog are considered a form of personal communication and are not often accepted by editors or others for inclusion in a reference list. Most authorities recommend placing references to such communications within the running text, not as formal end references. The nature and source of the cited information should be identified by an appropriate statement. Place the source information in parentheses, using a term or terms to indicate that the citation is not represented in the reference list. For example:

…and many nurses involved with such cases (Mar 22, 2007 posting by RS Grant to Nurse Studio Blog; unreferenced, see "Notes") report…

When a reference to a blog posting is included in a reference list, the author must provide written permission to the publisher from the cited person (if living) or from the cited organization. The permission should be a statement in an "Acknowledgments" or a "Notes" section that follows the text of an article or is placed at the end of a book's main text. Such statements may include additional details, such as the reason for the posting.

It is highly recommended that any message being considered for future citation be saved to disk or in print because blogs may not save or archive messages for retrieval or may withdraw individual messages.

Continue to Citation Rules with Examples for Blogs

Continue to Examples of Citations to Blogs

Citation Rules with Examples for Blogs

Components/elements are listed in the order they should appear in a reference. An R after the component name means that it is required in the citation; an O after the name means it is optional.

Author/Editor (R) | Author Affiliation (O) | Title (R) | Content Type (O) | Type of Medium (R) | Editor and other Secondary Authors (O) | Place of Publication (R) | Publisher (R) | Date of Publication (R) | Date of Citation (R) | Availability (R) | Language (R) | Notes (O)

Author/Editor for Blogs (required)

General Rules for Author/Editor

  • List names in the order they appear on the opening screens
  • Enter surname (family or last name) first for each author/editor
  • Capitalize surnames and enter spaces within surnames as they appear on the assumption that the author approved the form used. For example: Van Der Horn or van der Horn; De Wolf or de Wolf or DeWolf.
  • Convert given (first) names and middle names to initials for a maximum of two initials following each surname
  • Give all authors/editors, regardless of the number
  • Separate author/editor names from each other by a comma and a space
  • If there are no authors, only editors, follow the last named editor with a comma and the word editor or editors; see Editor and other Secondary Authors below if there are authors and editors
  • End author/editor information with a period

Specific Rules for Author/Editor

Box Icon

Box 93

Determining the author.

Box Icon

Box 94

Surnames with hyphens and other punctuation in them.

Box Icon

Box 95

Other surname rules.

Box Icon

Box 96

Given names containing punctuation, a prefix, a preposition, or particle.

Box Icon

Box 97

Degrees, titles, and honors before or after a personal name.

Box Icon

Box 98

Designations of rank in a family, such as Jr and III.

Box Icon

Box 99

Names in non-roman alphabets (Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Korean) or character-based languages (Chinese, Japanese).

Box Icon

Box 100

Non-English words for editor.

Box Icon

Box 101

Organization as author.

Box Icon

Box 102

No author can be found.

Box Icon

Box 103

Options for author names.

Author Affiliation for Blogs (optional)

General Rules for Author Affiliation

  • Enter the affiliation of all authors or only the first author
  • Begin with the department and name of the institution, followed by city and state/Canadian province/country
  • Use commas to separate parts of the address
  • Place the address in parentheses, such as (Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA)
  • Separate the affiliation from its author by a space
  • Follow the affiliation with a comma placed outside the closing parenthesis, unless the affiliation is for the last author, then use a period

Specific Rules for Author Affiliation

Box Icon

Box 104

Abbreviations in affiliations.

Box Icon

Box 105

E-mail address included.

Box Icon

Box 106

Titles in affiliations.

Box Icon

Box 107

Organizational names for affiliations not in English.

Box Icon

Box 108

Names for cities and countries not in English.

Box Icon

Box 109

No affiliation found.

Examples for Author Affiliation

Title for Blogs (required)

General Rules for Title

  • Reproduce the title of a blog as closely as possible to the wording that appears on the screen, duplicating capitalization, spacing, and punctuation
  • Use a colon followed by a space to separate a title from a subtitle, unless another form of punctuation (such as a question mark, period, or an exclamation point) is already present
  • Follow non-English titles with a translation whenever possible; place the translation in square brackets
  • End a title with a space

Specific Rules for Title

Box Icon

Box 110

Determining the title.

Box Icon

Box 111

Titles not in English.

Box Icon

Box 112

Titles in more than one language.

Box Icon

Box 113

Titles ending in punctuation other than a period.

Box Icon

Box 114

Titles containing a Greek letter or another special character.

Content Type for Blogs (optional)

General Rules for Content Type

  • Use a content type to alert the user that the reference is to a blog, not to a standard book or Web site
  • Begin type information with a left square bracket
  • Enter the words "blog on"
  • End the content type with space

Specific Rules for Content Type

Box Icon

Box 115

Titles ending in punctuation other than a period.

Box Icon

Box 116

Titles not in English.

Type of Medium for Blogs (required)

General Rules for Type of Medium

  • Place the word "Internet" in square brackets after the title (and Content Type, if present)
  • End with a period, placed outside the closing bracket
  • Add location information (the URL, etc.) according to the instructions under Availability below

Specific Rules for Type of Medium

Box Icon

Box 117

Both a content type and a type of medium.

Box Icon

Box 118

Titles ending in punctuation other than a period.

Box Icon

Box 119

Titles not in English.

Editor and other Secondary Authors for Blogs (optional)

General Rules for Editor and other Secondary Authors

  • A secondary author modifies the work of the author. Examples include editors, translators, and producers.
  • Place the names of secondary authors after the Type of Medium
  • Use the same rules for the format of names given in Author/Editor above
  • Follow the last named editor with a comma and the word editor or editors; the last named illustrator with a comma and the word illustrator or illustrators, etc.
  • End secondary author information with a period
  • If there is no author, move secondary authors such as editors and translators to the author position in the reference

Specific Rules for Editor and other Secondary Authors

Box Icon

Box 120

More than one type of secondary author.

Box Icon

Box 121

Secondary author performing more than one role.

Box Icon

Box 122

Non-English names for secondary authors.

Box Icon

Box 123

Organization as editor or other secondary author.

Examples for Editor and other Secondary Authors

Place of Publication for Blogs (required)

General Rules for Place of Publication

  • Use for place of publication the city where the blog is published
  • Follow US and Canadian cities with the two-letter abbreviation for the state or province to avoid confusion when citing lesser known cities or when cities in different locations have the same name, such as Palm Springs (CA) and Palm Springs (FL)
  • Follow cities in other countries with the name of the country, either written out or as the two-letter ISO country code, when citing lesser known cities or when cities in different locations have the same name, such as Cambridge (MA) and Cambridge (England)
  • Use the anglicized form for a non-US city, such as Vienna for Wien
  • End place information with a colon

Specific Rules for Place of Publication

Box Icon

Box 124

Locating the place of publication.

Box Icon

Box 125

Non-US cities.

Box Icon

Box 126

No place of publication can be found.

Publisher for Blogs (required)

General Rules for Publisher

  • Use for publisher the individual or organization issuing the blog
  • Record the name of the publisher as it is found on the title page or opening screens, using whatever capitalization and punctuation appears
  • When a division or another subsidiary part of a publisher appears in the publication, enter the publisher name first. For example: McGraw-Hill, Health Professions Division.
  • End publisher information with a period

Specific Rules for Publisher

Box Icon

Box 127

Determining the publisher.

Box Icon

Box 128

Abbreviated words in publisher names.

Box Icon

Box 129

Non-English names for publishers.

Box Icon

Box 130

Government agencies and other national and international bodies as publisher.

Box Icon

Box 131

No publisher can be found.

Date of Publication for Blogs (required)

General Rules for Date of Publication

  • Give the beginning date, i.e., the date the blog was created
  • Always give the year
  • Convert roman numerals to arabic numbers. For example: MM to 2000.
  • Include the month, if desired, after the year, such as 2004 May
  • Use English names for months and abbreviate them using the first three letters, such as Jan
  • For an open blog, give the beginning date of the blog followed by a hyphen and 3 spaces
  • For a closed blog, give the beginning and ending dates, separated by a hyphen with a space before and after
  • If the beginning date is not provided, see No beginning date is provided below
  • End date information with a space
Box Icon

Box 137

No beginning date is provided.

Specific Rules for Date of Publication

Box Icon

Box 132

Locating the date of publication.

Box Icon

Box 133

Multiple years of publication.

Box Icon

Box 134

Non-English names for months.

Box Icon

Box 135

Date of publication and date of copyright.

Box Icon

Box 136

No date of publication, but a date of copyright.

Box Icon

Box 138

Blog is no longer updated.

Box Icon

Box 139

Options for date of publication.

Date of Citation for Blogs (required)

General Rules for Date of Citation

  • Always include the date the blog was seen on the Internet
  • Include the year month and day in that order, such as 2006 May 5
  • Use English names for months and abbreviate them using the first three letters, such as Jan
  • If a date of update/revision is given, place the date of citation after it and follow both dates with a right square bracket
  • If no date of update/revision is given, place citation date information in square brackets
  • End date information with a period placed outside the closing bracket

Examples for Date of Citation

Availability for Blogs (required)

General Rules for Availability

  • Begin with the phrase "Available from" followed by a colon and a space
  • Insert the entire Uniform Resource Locator (URL); do not omit http://, www, or other beginning components
  • Provide the specific URL or Permalink for the content if available
  • End with a period only if the URL ends with a slash, otherwise end with no punctuation

Specific Rules for Availability

Box Icon

Box 140

Breaking long URLs.

Box Icon

Box 141

URLs not directly addressable.

Language for Blogs (required)

General Rules for Language

  • Give the language of publication if not English
  • Capitalize the language name
  • Follow the language name with a period

Specific Rules for Language

Box Icon

Box 142

Blogs appearing in more than one language.

Examples for Language

Notes for Blogs (optional)

General Rules for Notes

  • Notes is a collective term for any useful information given after the citation itself
  • Complete sentences are not required
  • Be brief

Specific Rules for Notes

Box Icon

Box 143

Types of material to include in notes.

Examples for Notes

Examples of Citations to Blogs

1. Standard citation to a blog

Bernstein M. Bioethics Discussion Blog [Internet]. Los Angeles: Maurice Bernstein. 2004 Jul -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://bioethicsdiscussion.blogspot.com/.

Holt M. The Health Care Blog [Internet]. San Francisco: Matthew Holt. 2003 Oct -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.thehealthcareblog.com/the_health_care_blog/.

with optional content type

KidneyNotes.com [blog on the Internet]. New York: KidneyNotes. c2006 -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.kidneynotes.com/.

2. Blog with an individual(s) as author

Cohen MH. CAMLAW: complementary and alternative medicine law blog [Internet]. Cambridge (MA): Michael H. Cohen, Esq. c2007 -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.camlawblog.com/.

Mik T. Nursing Studio [blog on the Internet]. Seattle: Akon. [2002 May] -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.nursingstudio.net

3. Blog with optional full names for authors/editors

Cohen, Michael H. CAMLAW: complementary and alternative medicine law blog [Internet]. Cambridge (MA): Michael H. Cohen, Esq. c2007 -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.camlawblog.com/.

Ostrovsky, Michael; Genes, Nicholas; Odell, Timothy; Ostrovsky, Gene, editors. medGadget [blog on the Internet]. El Granada (CA): Medgadget LLC. [2004 Dec] -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.medgadget.com/.

4. Blog with only first name provided for author

Kim. Emergiblog: The Life & Times of an ER Nurse [Internet]. Ask Shane, producer. San Francisco: Emergiblog. c2005-2007 -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.emergiblog.com/.

5. Blog with only blog name provided for author

Doctor CBB. CodeBlueBlog [Internet]. [Florida]: [Thomas Boyle]. [2004 May] -   [cited 2007 May 17]. Available from: http://codeblueblog.blogs.com/.

6. Blog with an organization as author

Wall Street Journal. HEALTH BLOG: WSJ's blog on health and the business of health [Internet]. Hensley S, editor. New York: Dow Jones & Company, Inc. c2007 -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/.

AARP Issues Blog Team. AARP Issues Blog [Internet]. Washington: AARP. [2005 Jan] -   [cited 2007 May 17]. Available from: http://aarp.typepad.com/.

7. Blog with editors where there is no author

Ostrovsky M, Genes N, Odell T, Ostrovsky G, editors. medGadget [blog on the Internet]. El Granada (CA): Medgadget LLC. [2004 Dec] -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.medgadget.com/.

8. Blog with no authors

KidneyNotes.com [blog on the Internet]. Viklund A, CSSCreator, illustrators. New York: KidneyNotes. c2006 -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.kidneynotes.com/.

HealthNex: IBMers and friends on networked, patient-centric healthcare [Internet]. [place unknown]: IBM. [2006 Sep] -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://healthnex.typepad.com/web_log/.

9. Blog with author affiliation

Myers PZ (University of Minnesota, Morris, MN). Pharyngula [blog on the Internet]. New York: ScienceBlogs LLC. [2006 Jan] -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/.

Schwitzer G (University of Minnesota, School of Journalism & Mass Communication, Minneapolis, MN). Schwitzer health news blog [Internet]. Minneapolis (MN): HealthNewsReview.org. [2004 Sep] -   [cited 2007 May 17]. Available from: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/schwitz/healthnews/.

10. Blog title with a subtitle

Tenderich A. Diabetes Mine: a gold mine of straight talk and encouragement for people living with diabetes [blog on the Internet]. San Francisco: Amy Tenderich. [2005 Feb] -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from:http://www.diabetesmine.com/.

11. Blog title with upper/lowercase letters, special characters

Kim. Emergiblog: The Life & Times of an ER Nurse [Internet]. Ask Shane, producer. San Francisco: Emergiblog. c2005-2007 -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.emergiblog.com/.

Silverman E. PHARMALOT [blog on the Internet]. [Newark (NJ)]: Star-Ledger. 2007 Jan -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://pharmalot.com/.

Genes N. blogborygmi: a digest of developments in the life of an emergency medicine resident [Internet]. [place unknown]: Nicholas Genes. [2003 Jun] -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://blogborygmi.blogspot.com/.

Sharp J. eHealth: a blog devoted to ehealth and healthcare information technology [Internet]. Cleveland (OH): EHEALTH.JOHNWSHARP.COM. [2006 Sep] -   [cited 2007 May 17]. Available from: http://ehealth.johnwsharp.com/.

12. Blog with title ending in punctuation other than a period

Scalpel or Sword? [blog on the Internet]. [Texas]: [publisher unknown]. [2006 Aug] -   [cited 2007 May 17]. Available from: http://scalpelorsword.blogspot.com/.

13. Blog in a language other than English

Arrington M, Ohayon O. TechCrunch: explorons le Web 2.0 [blog on the Internet]. Arrington M, editor. Paris: Pulpmedia. 2005 Jun 11 -   [cited 2007 May 17]. Available from: http://fr.techcrunch.com/. French.

Martins G. O INTERNO: technologia e anesthesia [blog on the Internet]. Porto (Portugal): Gustavo Martins. [2006 Jun] -   [cited 2007 May 17]. Available from: http://ointerno.blogspot.com/. Portuguese.

Fresquet Febrer JL. Blog de Historia de la medicina [Internet]. Valencia (Spain): Universidad de Valencia. [2005 Dec] -   [cited 2007 May 17]. Available from: http://www.historiadelamedicina.org/blog/. Spanish.

with translation included

Fresquet Febrer JL. Blog de Historia de la medicina [Blog of the history of medicine] [Internet]. Valencia (Spain): Universidad de Valencia. [2005 Dec] -   [cited 2007 May 17]. Available from: http://www.historiadelamedicina.org/blog/. Spanish.

14. Blog published with content type given

Tenderich A. Diabetes Mine: a gold mine of straight talk and encouragement for people living with diabetes [blog on the Internet]. San Francisco: Amy Tenderich. [2005 Feb] -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from:http://www.diabetesmine.com/.

Levy P. RUNNING A HOSPITAL [blog on the Internet]. Boston: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. [2006 Aug] -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://runningahospital.blogspot.com/.

15. Blog with secondary authors

Wall Street Journal. HEALTH BLOG: WSJ's blog on health and the business of health [Internet]. Hensley S, editor. New York: Dow Jones & Company, Inc. c2007 -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/.

KidneyNotes.com [blog on the Internet]. Viklund A, CSSCreator, illustrators. New York: KidneyNotes. c2006 -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.kidneynotes.com/.

Arrington M, Ohayon O. TechCrunch: explorons le Web 2.0 [blog on the Internet]. Arrington M, editor. Paris: Pulpmedia. 2005 Jun 11 -   [cited 2007 May 17]. Available from: http://fr.techcrunch.com/. French.

16. Blog with well known place of publication

Levy P. RUNNING A HOSPITAL [blog on the Internet]. Boston: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. [2006 Aug] -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://runningahospital.blogspot.com/.

Wall Street Journal. HEALTH BLOG: WSJ's blog on health and the business of health [Internet]. Hensley S, editor. New York: Dow Jones & Company, Inc. c2007 -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/.

Arrington M, Ohayon O. TechCrunch: explorons le Web 2.0 [blog on the Internet]. Arrington M, editor. Paris: Pulpmedia. 2005 Jun 11 -   [cited 2007 May 17]. Available from: http://fr.techcrunch.com/. French.

17. Blog with geographic qualifier added to place of publication for clarity

Ostrovsky M, Genes N, Odell T, Ostrovsky G, editors. medGadget [blog on the Internet]. El Granada (CA): Medgadget LLC. [2004 Dec] -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.medgadget.com/.

Schwab S. Surgeonsblog [Internet]. Puget Sound (WA): Sid Schwab. [2006] -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://surgeonsblog.blogspot.com/.

Pho K. Kevin, M.D.: medical Weblog [Internet]. Nashua (NH): Kevin Pho. [2004 May] -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://kevinmd.com/blog/.

Martins G. O INTERNO: technologia e anesthesia [blog on the Internet]. Porto (Portugal): Gustavo Martins. [2006 Jun] -   [cited 2007 May 17]. Available from: http://ointerno.blogspot.com/. Portuguese.

18. Blog with place of publication inferred

Silverman E. PHARMALOT [blog on the Internet]. [Newark (NJ)]: Star-Ledger. 2007 Jan -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://pharmalot.com/.

Hunscher D. Future Scenarios for Health IT [blog on the Internet]. [Ann Arbor (MI)]: Dale Hunscher. [2006 Aug] -   [cited 2007 May 17]. Available from: http://hunscher.typepad.com/futurehit/.

19. Blog with unknown place of publication

Reider J. Family Medicine Notes [blog on the Internet]. [place unknown]: Jacob Reider. 1999 -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.docnotes.net/.

Genes N. blogborygmi: a digest of developments in the life of an emergency medicine resident [Internet]. [place unknown]: Nicholas Genes. [2003 Jun] -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://blogborygmi.blogspot.com/.

20. Blog with publisher having subsidiary division

Gottesman MM The DDIR's COI Blog [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Institutes of Health (US), Office of the Director, Office of Intramural Research. 2005 Mar 25 -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.nih.gov/ddir/COIBlog/COIBlog.htm

21. Blog with government agency or other national body as publisher

Bernhardt JM. Director's Blog [Internet]. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US), National Center for Health Marketing. [2006 Jul 13] -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/healthmarketing/blog.htm

22. Blog with publisher inferred

Doctor CBB. CodeBlueBlog [Internet]. [Florida]: [Thomas Boyle]. [2004 May] -   [cited 2007 May 17]. Available from: http://codeblueblog.blogs.com/.

23. Blog with unknown publisher

Scalpel or Sword? [blog on the Internet]. [Texas]: [publisher unknown]. [2006 Aug] -   [cited 2007 May 17]. Available from: http://scalpelorsword.blogspot.com/.

24. Blog with month/day included in date of publication

Holt M. The Health Care Blog [Internet]. San Francisco: Matthew Holt. 2003 Oct -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.thehealthcareblog.com/the_health_care_blog/.

Gottesman MM The DDIR's COI Blog [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Institutes of Health (US), Office of the Director, Office of Intramural Research. 2005 Mar 25 -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.nih.gov/ddir/COIBlog/COIBlog.htm

25. Blog with multiple years

Kim. Emergiblog: The Life & Times of an ER Nurse [Internet]. Ask Shane, producer. San Francisco: Emergiblog. c2005-2007 -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.emergiblog.com/.

26. Blog with date of copyright instead of date of publication

KidneyNotes.com [blog on the Internet]. Viklund A, CSSCreator, illustrators. New York: KidneyNotes. c2006 -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.kidneynotes.com/.

Kim. Emergiblog: The Life & Times of an ER Nurse [Internet]. Ask Shane, producer. San Francisco: Emergiblog. c2005-2007 -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.emergiblog.com/.

27. Blog with date obtained from earliest material in it

Bernhardt JM. Director's Blog [Internet]. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US), National Center for Health Marketing. [2006 Jul 13] -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/healthmarketing/blog.htm

Mik T. Nursing Studio [blog on the Internet]. Seattle: Akon. [2002 May] -   [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://www.nursingstudio.net

28. Blog with supplemental note included

Scalpel or Sword? [blog on the Internet]. [Texas]: [publisher unknown]. [2006 Aug] -   [cited 2007 May 17]. Available from: http://scalpelorsword.blogspot.com/. Topic is emergency medicine.

Tripathi M. MAeHC Blog [Internet]. Waltham (MA): Micky Tripathi. [2006] -   [cited 2007 May 17]. Available from: http://maehc.blogspot.com/. MAeHC is the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative.

29. Part of a blog on the Internet from the blog owner

Reider J. Family Medicine Notes [blog on the Internet]. [place unknown]: Jacob Reider. 1999 -   . CRP again ...; 2004 Apr 2 [cited 2007 May 23]; [about 1 screen]. Available from: http://www.docnotes.net/001763.html

Doctor CBB. CodeBlueBlog [Internet]. [Florida]: [Thomas Boyle]. [2004 May] -   . i-Mammo part II: breasts, lies and videotapes; 2005 Apr 15 [cited 2007 May 23]; [about 4 screens]. Available from: http://codeblueblog.blogs.com/codeblueblog/2005/04/part_ii_and_the.html

Kraft M. The Krafty Librarian [blog on the Internet]. [Cleveland (OH)]: Michelle Kraft. [2004 Jun] -   . Collaborative technologies and science: more tools or more risk? 2008 Jan 21 [cited 2008 Apr 28]; [about 1 screen]. Available from: http://kraftylibrarian.com/2008/01/collaborative-technologies-and-science.html

with author affiliation

Leavitt M (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC). Secretary Mike Leavitt's Blog [Internet]. [Washington]: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2007 Aug 13 -   . Health information technology; 2008 Jan 24 [cited 2008 Apr 28]; [about 1 screen]. Available from: http://secretarysblog.hhs.gov/my_weblog/2008/01/health-informat.html

30. Contribution to a blog on the Internet by someone other than the blog owner

Mantone J. Head trauma haunts many, researchers say. 2008 Jan 29 [cited 2008 Apr 28]. In: Wall Street Journal. HEALTH BLOG [Internet]. New York: Dow Jones & Company, Inc. c2008 -   . [about 1 screen]. Available from: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2008/01/29/head-trauma-haunts-many-researchers-say/.

Teresa. Comment on: "Flo's pledge: deal or no deal?" 2007 May 12 [cited 2007 May 16]. In: Kim. Emergiblog: The Life & Times of an ER Nurse [Internet]. San Francisco: Emergiblog. c2005-2007 -   . [about 1 screen]. Available from: http://www.emergiblog.com/2007/05/flos-pledge-deal-or-no-deal.html scroll down to comments.

with author affiliation

Lanard J (Western Pacific Regional Office of the World Health Organization, Manila, Philippines). Comment on: "This blog can save your life!" and "Health Communication: Science and Art." 2006 Oct 15 [cited 2007 May 17]. In: Bernhardt JM. Director's Blog [Internet]. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US), National Center for Health Marketing. [2006 Jul 13] -   . [about 2 screens]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/healthmarketing/blog_101106.htm scroll down to locate comment.

Campbell A (Joslin Diabetes Center, Boston, MA). Diabetes and alcohol: do the two mix? (Part 2). 2008 Jan 28 [cited 2008 Apr 28]. In: Diabetes Self-Management Blog [Internet]. New York: Diabetes Self-Management. [2006 Aug 14] -   . 2 p. Available from: http://www.diabetesselfmanagement.com/blog/Amy_Campbell/Diabetes_and_Alcohol_Do_the_Two_Mix_Part_2

D. Sample Citation and Introduction to Citing Wikis

The general format for a reference to a wiki on the Internet, including punctuation:

Illustration of the general format for a reference to a wiki on the
Internet.

Examples of Citations to Wikis

A wiki is a multi-authored or collaborative Web site that permits users to create additional content for the site and to edit existing content. Users may also add comments to content, ask questions, and reply to questions posed by others. The term wiki is derived from the Hawaiian "wiki wiki", which means quick. Wikipedia is perhaps the most widely known general wiki. Most other wikis are devoted to a particular subject, like AIDS Wiki or WIKISURGERY.

To cite a wiki:

  • Always begin with the title. If the word wiki is not included, using the content type "wiki" is strongly recommended.
  • Enter as secondary authors those named as editors, curators, moderators, and other similar roles.
  • Look to the opening screen(s), the sidebar, links from the site, and the source code (viewable through the Web browser), in that order, for authoritative information to use in citing a wiki.
  • If publication facts are absent from these sources, look for a link labeled "About this site", "History", or similar wording.

Contributions to a Wiki

To cite an entire wiki, use the instructions below. To cite a contribution to a wiki, combine the instructions in this chapter with those in Chapter 24C Contributions to Databases on the Internet if the contribution has an author named or with Chapter 24B Parts of Databases on the Internet if the contribution has no author named. See also examples 25-26.

Be aware, however, that many wikis are not moderated. Since anyone can post text to most wikis, the validity of the content may be questionable. Even for moderated sites, the content is generally only reviewed after posting and the content may remain online for some time before review. Note also that many wikis post articles or other documents that were initially published elsewhere. Do not cite these as contributions to a wiki. Locate the original and cite that item.

Messages or other content posted to discussion lists including wikis are a form of personal communication and not often accepted by editors or others for inclusion in a reference list. Most authorities recommend placing references to such communications within the running text, not as formal end references. The nature and source of the cited information should be identified by an appropriate statement. Place the source information in parentheses, using a term or terms to indicate that the citation is not represented in the reference list. For example:

…and many nurses involved with such cases (Mar 22, 2007 posting by RS Grant to Nurse Wiki; unreferenced, see "Notes") report…

When a reference to a wiki posting is included in a reference list, the author must provide written permission to the publisher from the cited person (if living) or from the cited organization. The permission should be a statement in an "Acknowledgments" or a "Notes" section that follows the text of an article or is placed at the end of a book's main text. These statements may include additional details, such as the reason for the posting.

It is highly recommended that any message/content considered for future citation be saved to disk or in print because all wikis may not save or archive message content for retrieval or may withdraw some content.

Continue to Citation Rules with Examples for Wikis.

Continue to Examples of Citations to Wikis.

Citation Rules with Examples for Wikis

Components/elements are listed in the order they should appear in a reference. An R after the component name means that it is required in the citation; an O after the name means it is optional.

Title (R) | Content Type (O) | Type of Medium (R) | Editor and other Secondary Authors (O) | Place of Publication (R) | Publisher (R) | Date of Publication (R) | Date of Update/Revision (R) | Date of Citation (R) | Availability (R) | Language (R) | Notes (O)

Title for a Wiki (required)

General Rules for Title

  • Reproduce the title of a wiki as closely as possible to the wording that appears on the screen, duplicating capitalization, spacing, and punctuation
  • Use a colon followed by a space to separate a title from a subtitle, unless another form of punctuation (such as a question mark, period, or an exclamation point) is already present
  • Follow non-English titles with a translation whenever possible; place the translation in square brackets
  • End a title with a space

Specific Rules for Title

Box Icon

Box 144

Determining the title.

Box Icon

Box 145

Titles not in English.

Box Icon

Box 146

Titles in more than one language.

Box Icon

Box 147

Titles ending in punctuation other than a period.

Box Icon

Box 148

Titles containing a Greek letter or another special character.

Content Type for a Wiki (optional)

General Rules for Content Type

  • Use a content type to alert the user that the reference is to a wiki, not to a standard book or Web site
  • Begin type information with a left square bracket
  • Enter the phrase "wiki on the"
  • End the content type with space

Specific Rules for Content Type

Box Icon

Box 149

Titles ending in punctuation other than a period.

Box Icon

Box 150

Titles not in English.

Examples for Content Type

Type of Medium for a Wiki (required)

General Rules for Type of Medium

  • Place the word "Internet" in square brackets after the title (and Content Type, if present)
  • End with a period, placed outside the closing bracket
  • Add location information (the URL, etc.) according to the instructions under Availability below

Specific Rules for Type of Medium

Box Icon

Box 151

Both a content type and a type of medium.

Box Icon

Box 152

Titles ending in punctuation other than a period.

Box Icon

Box 153

Titles not in English.

Editor and other Secondary Authors a Wiki (optional)

General Rules for Editor and other Secondary Authors

  • Place the names of secondary authors, such as editors, curators, and moderators, after the Type of Medium
  • Use the same rules for the format of names given in Author/Editor above
  • Follow the last named editor with a comma and the word editor or editors; the last named curator with a comma and the word curator or curators, etc.
  • End secondary author information with a period

Specific Rules for Editor and other Secondary Authors

Box Icon

Box 154

Role not named.

Box Icon

Box 155

More than one type of secondary author.

Box Icon

Box 156

Secondary author performing more than one role.

Box Icon

Box 157

Non-English names for secondary authors.

Box Icon

Box 158

Organization as editor or other secondary author.

Examples for Editor and other Secondary Authors

Place of Publication for a Wiki (required)

General Rules for Place of Publication

  • Use for place of publication the city where the wiki is published
  • Follow US and Canadian cities with the two-letter abbreviation for the state or province to avoid confusion when citing lesser known cities, or when cities in different locations have the same name, such as Palm Springs (CA) and Palm Springs (FL)
  • Follow cities in other countries with the name of the country, either written out or as the two-letter ISO country code, when citing lesser known cities or when cities in different locations have the same name, such as Cambridge (MA) and Cambridge (England)
  • Use the anglicized form for a non-US city, such as Vienna for Wien
  • End place information with a colon

Specific Rules for Place of Publication

Box Icon

Box 159

Locating the place of publication.

Box Icon

Box 160

Non-US cities.

Box Icon

Box 161

Joint publication.

Box Icon

Box 162

Multiple places of publication.

Box Icon

Box 163

No place of publication can be found.

Publisher for a Wiki (required)

General Rules for Publisher

  • Use for publisher the individual or organization issuing the wiki
  • Record the name of the publisher as it is found on the title page or opening screens, using whatever capitalization and punctuation appears
  • Abbreviate well-known publisher names with caution to avoid confusion. For example, "John Wiley & Sons, Ltd." may become simply "Wiley".
  • When a division or other subsidiary part of a publisher appears in the publication, enter the publisher name first. For example: McGraw-Hill, Health Professions Division.
  • End publisher information with a period

Specific Rules for Publisher

Box Icon

Box 164

Determining the publisher.

Box Icon

Box 165

Abbreviated words in publisher names.

Box Icon

Box 166

Non-English names for publishers.

Box Icon

Box 167

Government agencies and other national and international bodies as publisher.

Box Icon

Box 168

Joint publication.

Box Icon

Box 169

Multiple publishers.

Box Icon

Box 170

No publisher can be found.

Date of Publication for a Wiki (required)

General Rules for Date of Publication

  • Give the beginning date, i.e., the date the wiki was created
  • Always give the year
  • Convert roman numerals to arabic numbers. For example: MM to 2000.
  • Include the month and day, if desired, after the year, such as 2004 May 6
  • Use English names for months and abbreviate them using the first three letters, such as Jan
  • End date information with a space

Specific Rules for Date of Publication

Box Icon

Box 171

Locating the date of publication.

Box Icon

Box 172

Multiple years of publication.

Box Icon

Box 173

Non-English names for months.

Box Icon

Box 174

Date of publication and date of copyright.

Box Icon

Box 175

No date of publication, but a date of copyright.

Box Icon

Box 176

No date of creation is provided.

Box Icon

Box 177

Wiki is no longer accepting contributions.

Box Icon

Box 178

Options for date of publication.

Date of Update/Revision for a Wiki (required)

General Rules for Date of Update/Revision

  • Begin update/revision information with a left square bracket
  • Use the word for update or revision provided, such as updated or modified
  • Always give the year of update/revision
  • Convert roman numerals to arabic numbers. For example: MM to 2000.
  • Include the month and day of update/revision, if provided, after the year, such as 2006 May 5
  • Use English names for months and abbreviate them using the first three letters, such as Jan
  • End update/revision information with a semicolon and a space

Specific Rules for Date of Update/Revision

Box Icon

Box 179

Locating the date of update/revision.

Box Icon

Box 180

Non-English names for months.

Box Icon

Box 181

Both a date of update and a date of revision.

Examples for Date of Update/Revision

Date of Citation for a Wiki (required)

General Rules for Date of Citation

  • Always include the date the wiki was seen on the Internet
  • Include the year month and day in that order, such as 2006 May 5
  • Use English names for months and abbreviate them using the first three letters, such as Jan
  • If a date of update/revision is given, place the date of citation after it and follow both dates with a right square bracket
  • If no date of update/revision is given, place citation date information in square brackets
  • End date information with a period placed outside the closing bracket

Specific Rules for Date of Citation

Box Icon

Box 182

Both a date of update/revision and a date of citation.

Examples for Date of Citation

Availability for a Wiki (required)

General Rules for Availability

  • Begin with the phrase "Available from" followed by a colon and a space
  • Insert the entire Uniform Resource Locator (URL); do not omit http://, www, or other beginning components
  • End with a period only if the URL ends with a slash, otherwise end with no punctuation

Specific Rules for Availability

Box Icon

Box 183

Breaking long URLs.

Box Icon

Box 184

URLs not directly addressable.

Box Icon

Box 185

Multiple URLs.

Examples for Availability

Language for a Wiki (required)

General Rules for Language

  • Give the language of publication if not English
  • Capitalize the language name
  • Follow the language name with a period

Specific Rules for Language

Box Icon

Box 186

Wikis appearing in more than one language.

Notes for a Wiki (optional)

General Rules for Notes

  • Notes is a collective term for any further information given after the citation itself
  • Complete sentences are not required
  • Be brief

Specific Rules for Notes

Box Icon

Box 187

System requirements.

Box Icon

Box 188

Other types of material to include in notes.

Examples for Notes

Examples of Citations to Wikis

1. Standard citation to a Wiki

WIKISURGERY [Internet]. London: Surgical Associates Ltd. 2006 Sep -   [modified 2007 Jan 30; cited 2007 May 3]. Available from: http://www.wikisurgery.com/.

Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia [Internet]. St. Petersburg (FL): Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2001 -   [cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/.

with optional content type

OpenWetWare [wiki on the Internet]. Cambridge (MA): Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Biological Engineering Division. 2005 May -   [modified 2007 Mar 4; cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://openwetware.org/.

2. Wiki title with subtitle

Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia [Internet]. St. Petersburg (FL): Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2001 -   [cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/.

WikiOmics: open bioinformatics [Internet]. [place unknown]: Wikiomics. 2005 Nov -   [cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://wikiomics.org/.

3. Wiki title with upper/lowercase letters and symbols

OpenWetWare [Internet]. Cambridge (MA): Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Biological Engineering Division. 2005 May -   [modified 2007 Mar 4; cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://openwetware.org/.

xanthusBase [Internet]. [Syracuse (NY): Syracuse University, Welch Laboratory]. c2006 -   [modified 2007 Mar 2; cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://www.xanthusbase.org/.

ganfyd [Internet]. [United Kingdom]: [publisher unknown]. [date unknown] -   [modified 2007 May 4; cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://www.ganfyd.org/.

4. Wiki title in a language other than English

PflegeWiki [Internet]. Gelsenkirchen (Germany): Verein zur Forderung Freier Informationen fur die Pflege e.V. 2004 Aug -   [cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://de.nursingwiki.org/. German.

with translation included

PflegeWiki [Nursing Wiki] [Internet]. Gelsenkirchen (Germany): Verein zur Forderung Freier Informationen fur die Pflege e.V. 2004 Aug -   [cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://de.nursingwiki.org/. German.

5. Wiki in multiple languages

Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia [Internet]. St. Petersburg (FL): Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 2001 -   [cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://www.wikipedia.org/. English, French, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, German, Polish, Dutch, Portuguese, Swedish.

6. Wiki with optional content type

OpenWetWare [wiki on the Internet]. Cambridge (MA): Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Biological Engineering Division. 2005 May -   [modified 2007 Mar 4; cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://openwetware.org/.

ganfyd [wiki on the Internet]. [United Kingdom]: [publisher unknown]. [date unknown] -   [modified 2007 May 4; cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://www.ganfyd.org/.

PubDrug [wiki on the Internet]. [place unknown: publisher unknown]. 2006 Nov 8 -   [cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://www.pubdrug.org/.

7. Wiki with editors or curators named

RxWiki [Internet]. Proctor KA, Staffa E, Roberts B, editors. Alexandria (VA): Community MTM Services, Inc. [2007?] -   [cited 2007 May 23]. Available from: http://www.rxwiki.com/.

Wikikidney.org [Internet]. Fadem SZ, curator. [Houston (TX)]: Nephron Information Center. [2002?] -   [modified 2007 Apr 25; cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://wikikidney.org/.

AskDrWiki: a medical Wiki with the goal of creating a collective online memory for physicians, nurses, and medical students [Internet]. Civello K, Jefferson B, Bailey S, McWilliams M, editors. [place unknown]: Open Access Medical Informatics Group. 2006 Nov -   [modified 2007 May 3; cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://www.askdrwiki.com/.

HLWiki [Internet]. Giustini D, Barsky E, Rowell G, Saunders J, Cho A, Stibravy R, curators. [Vancouver (BC)]: University of British Columbia. [2006 Aug] -   [cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://hlwiki.slais.ubc.ca/.

8. Wiki with well known place of publication

The RHIO Wiki [Internet]. Washington: Center for Health Transformation. 2006 Aug 21 -   [cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://www.socialtext.net/rhiowiki/index.cgi

9. Wiki with geographic qualifier added to place of publication for clarity

OpenWetWare [Internet]. Cambridge (MA): Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Biological Engineering Division. 2005 May -   [modified 2007 Mar 4; cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://openwetware.org/.

PflegeWiki [Internet]. Gelsenkirchen (Germany): Verein zur Forderung Freier Informationen fur die Pflege e.V. 2004 Aug -   [cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://de.nursingwiki.org/. German.

10. Wiki with place of publication inferred

Clinfowiki [Internet]. [Portland (OR)]: Dean F. Sittig. 2005 Jul 25 -   [cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://www.informatics-review.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Student Doctor Network Wiki [Internet]. [Granite Bay (CA)]: Coastal Research Group. c1999-2007 -   [cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://studentdoctor.net/wiki//index.php/Main_Page

Flu Wiki [Internet]. [Virginia]: Melanie Mattson. 2005 Jun -   [modified 2007 Feb 21; cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://www.fluwikie.com/.

ganfyd [wiki on the Internet]. [United Kingdom]: [publisher unknown]. [date unknown] -   [modified 2007 May 4; cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://www.ganfyd.org/.

11. Wiki with unknown place of publication

WikiOmics: open bioinformatics [Internet]. [place unknown]: Wikiomics. 2005 Nov -   [cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://wikiomics.org/.

AskDrWiki: a medical Wiki with the goal of creating a collective online memory for physicians, nurses, and medical students [Internet]. Civello K, Jefferson B, Bailey S, McWilliams M, editors. [place unknown]: Open Access Medical Informatics Group. 2006 Nov -   [modified 2007 May 3; cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://www.askdrwiki.com/.

AIDS Wiki [Internet]. [place unknown: publisher unknown]. 2006 Jan -   [modified 2007 Apr 26; cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://www.reviewingaids.org/awiki/.

12. Wiki with publisher having subsidiary division

OpenWetWare [Internet]. Cambridge (MA): Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Biological Engineering Division. 2005 May -   [modified 2007 Mar 4; cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://openwetware.org/.

COLAB: an open Collaborative Work Environment (CWE) to support networking among Communities of Practice [Internet]. Washington: General Services Administration (US), Intergovernmental Solutions Division. [date unknown] -   [edited 2007 May 1; cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://colab.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?WikiHomePage#nid35OA

13. Wiki with government agency or other national body as publisher

COLAB: an open Collaborative Work Environment (CWE) to support networking among Communities of Practice [Internet]. Washington: General Services Administration (US), Intergovernmental Solutions Division. [date unknown] -   [edited 2007 May 1; cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://colab.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?WikiHomePage#nid35OA

14. Wiki with individual as publisher

Flu Wiki [Internet]. [Virginia]: Melanie Mattson. 2005 Jun -   [modified 2007 Feb 21; cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://www.fluwikie.com/.

Clinfowiki [Internet]. [Portland (OR)]: Dean F. Sittig. 2005 Jul 25 -   [cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://www.informatics-review.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

15. Wiki with joint publishers

The RHIO Wiki [Internet]. Washington: Center for Health Transformation. 2006 Aug 21 -   [cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://www.socialtext.net/rhiowiki/index.cgi Jointly published by eHealth Initiative and CHIME.

16. Wiki with publisher inferred

xanthusBase [wiki on the Internet]. [Syracuse (NY): Syracuse University, Welch Laboratory]. c2006 -   [modified 2007 Mar 2; cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://www.xanthusbase.org/.

17. Wiki with unknown publisher

ganfyd [wiki on the Internet]. [United Kingdom]: [publisher unknown]. [date unknown] -   [modified 2007 May 4; cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://www.ganfyd.org/.

AIDS Wiki [Internet]. [place unknown: publisher unknown]. 2006 Jan -   [modified 2007 Apr 26; cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://www.reviewingaids.org/awiki/.

18. Wiki with month/day included in date of publication

AskDrWiki: a medical Wiki with the goal of creating a collective online memory for physicians, nurses, and medical students [Internet]. Civello K, Jefferson B, Bailey S, McWilliams M, editors. [place unknown]: Open Access Medical Informatics Group. 2006 Nov -   [modified 2007 May 3; cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://www.askdrwiki.com/.

Clinfowiki [Internet]. [Portland (OR)]: Dean F. Sittig. 2005 Jul 25 -   [cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://www.informatics-review.com/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

19. Wiki with date of copyright instead of date of publication

xanthusBase [wiki on the Internet]. [Syracuse (NY): Syracuse University, Welch Laboratory]. c2006 -   [modified 2007 Mar 2; cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://www.xanthusbase.org/.

Student Doctor Network Wiki [Internet]. [Granite Bay (CA)]: Coastal Research Group. c1999-2007 -   [cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://studentdoctor.net/wiki//index.php/Main_Page

20. Wiki with date obtained from earliest additions

WikiMD [Internet]. Philadephia: Prab R. Tumpati. [2004] -   [cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://69.60.110.99/wikimd/index.php?title=Main_Page

HLWiki [Internet]. Giustini D, Barsky E, Rowell G, Saunders J, Cho A, Stibravy R, curators. [Vancouver (BC)]: University of British Columbia. [2006 Aug] -   [cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://hlwiki.slais.ubc.ca/.

21. Wiki with date estimated

Wikikidney.org [Internet]. Fadem SZ, curator. [Houston (TX)]: Nephron Information Center. [2002?] -   [modified 2007 Apr 25; cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://wikikidney.org/.

RxWiki [Internet]. Proctor KA, Staffa E, Roberts B, editors. Alexandria (VA): Community MTM Services, Inc. [2007?] -   [cited 2007 May 23]. Available from: http://www.rxwiki.com/.

22. Wiki with unknown beginning date of publication

ganfyd [wiki on the Internet]. [United Kingdom]: [publisher unknown]. [date unknown] -   [modified 2007 May 4; cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://www.ganfyd.org/.

COLAB: an open Collaborative Work Environment (CWE) to support networking among Communities of Practice [Internet]. Washington: General Services Administration (US), Intergovernmental Solutions Division. [date unknown] -   [edited 2007 May 1; cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://colab.cim3.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?WikiHomePage#nid35OA

HealthGrid [Internet]. [place unknown]: HealthGrid.org. [date unknown] -   [updated 2007 May 4; cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://wiki.healthgrid.org/.

23. Wiki with update/revision date

OpenWetWare [Internet]. Cambridge (MA): Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Biological Engineering Division. 2005 May -   [modified 2007 Mar 4; cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://openwetware.org/.

HealthGrid [Internet]. [place unknown]: HealthGrid.org. [date unknown] -   [updated 2007 May 4; cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://wiki.healthgrid.org/.

24. Wiki with supplemental note included

The RHIO Wiki [Internet]. Washington: Center for Health Transformation. 2006 Aug 21 -   [cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://www.socialtext.net/rhiowiki/index.cgi RHIO = Regional Health Information Organizations.

ganfyd [wiki on the Internet]. [United Kingdom]: [publisher unknown]. [date unknown] -   [modified 2007 May 4; cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://www.ganfyd.org/. GANFYD stands for Get A Note From Your Doctor.

WikiOmics: open bioinformatics [Internet]. [place unknown]: Wikiomics. 2005 Nov -   [cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://wikiomics.org/. Funded by the Godzik lab at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in San Diego, CA.

OpenWetWare [wiki on the Internet]. Cambridge (MA): Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Biological Engineering Division. 2005 May -   [modified 2007 Mar 4; cited 2007 May 4]. Available from: http://openwetware.org/. Current support from the National Science Foundation Biological Databases & Informatics Program and MIT's Cell Decision Process Center.

RxWiki [Internet]. Proctor KA, Staffa E, Roberts B, editors. Alexandria (VA): Community MTM Services, Inc. [2007?] -   [cited 2007 May 23]. Available from: http://www.rxwiki.com/. Content accepted only from licensed pharmacists.

Radiopaedia.org [Internet]. [place unknown: publisher unknown]. 2005 Dec 6 -   [cited 2007 May 5]. Available from: http://www.radiopaedia.org/. Formerly called Wikiradiology.

25. A contribution to a wiki with authorship given

McEvoy D. The symptoms of IBS. c2006 [cited 2007 May 14]. In: WIKISURGERY [Internet]. London: Surgical Associates Ltd. 2006 -   . [5 paragraphs]. Available from: http://www.wikisurgery.com/index.php?title=The_symptoms_of_IBS

with author affiliation

Gardner PP (Molecular Evolution Group, Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark). RNA phylogenetics. 2006 Sep 11 [modified 2006 Oct 4; cited 2007 May 14]. In: WikiOmics: open bioinformatics [Internet]. [place unknown]: Wikiomics. 2005 Nov -   . [about 2 screens]. Available from: http://wikiomics.org/wiki/RNA_phylogenetics

26. A contribution to a wiki without authorship given

RxWiki [Internet]. Proctor KA, Staffa E, Roberts B, editors. Alexandria (VA): Community MTM Services, Inc. [2007?] -   . Celecoxib; [modified 2007 May 9; cited 2007 May 23]; [about 5 p.]. Available from: http://www.rxwiki.com/~medicati/index.php?title=Celebrex

Views

Recent Activity

Your browsing activity is empty.

Activity recording is turned off.

Turn recording back on

See more...