United States National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health

MEDLINE®/PubMed® Journal Article Citation Format

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) uses the ANSI/NISO Z39.29-2005 Bibliographic References standard as the basis for the format of MEDLINE/PubMed citations to journal articles. The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) is a non-profit association accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to identify, develop, maintain and publish technical standards in the area of library and information science.

Guidance on the NLM interpretation of this national standard can be found in Citing Medicine: the NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, available via the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Bookshelf.  

PubMed citations in the Summary display format are compatible with ANSI/NISO Z39.29-2005.   Here is a sample citation in the Summary display format:

Freedman SB, Adler M, Seshadri R, Powell EC.
Oral ondansetron for gastroenteritis in a pediatric emergency department.
N Engl J Med. 2006 Apr 20;354(16):1698-705.
PMID: 16625009 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]  

The last line in the citation above identifies the unique identification number in PubMed (PMID) and the status of the citation (indexed for MEDLINE).   To include a PubMed citation with its PMID in a list of references, NLM recommends this style:  

Freedman SB, Adler M, Seshadri R, Powell EC. Oral ondansetron for gastroenteritis in a pediatric emergency department. N Engl J Med. 2006 Apr 20;354(16):1698-705. Cited in PubMed; PMID 12140307. 

The NLM citation format is also the foundation for the reference style approved by the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, a product of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Please refer to Section IV.A.9.b Reference Style and Format of the Uniform Requirements. The ICMJE Web site also lists the journals that follow the Uniform Requirements.

Last updated: 18 December 2008
First published: 30 October 2006
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