Journal articles

In-text citation example

Recent research1 has revealed heterogeneous aging across multiple organ systems is a prediction of chronic disease.

Reference list templates

  • Author. Article title. Journal Title. Year;Volume(Issue):Page numbers.

  • Author. Article title. Journal Title. Year;Volume(Issue):Page numbers. doi:xxxxx

  • Author. Article title. Journal Title. Year;Volume(Issue):Page numbers. Accessed Month Day, Year. Accessible URL

Reference list example

1. Tian YE, Cropley V, Maier AB, Lautenschlager NT, Breakspear M, Zalesky A. Heterogeneous aging across multiple organ systems and prediction of chronic disease and mortality. Nat Med. 2023;29(5):1221-1231. doi:10.1038/s41591-023-02296-6

  Tips for journal articles

  • In-text citations are given a superscript number in the order they appear in the text.

    In text citation example

    Salmonella infections are common worldwide with an estimated 150 million cases and 60,000 deaths annually.1

    Rules for in-text citations with examples

    Use superscript Arabic numerals

    Several studies have shown1,2 ...

    Numbers placed after a comma and before colons and semicolons.

    The data were as follows5:

    Previous research shows,4…

    Try to avoid putting numbers at the end of the sentence. If needed put after the full stop.

    Salmonella infections are common worldwide with an estimated 150 million cases and 60,000 deaths annually.1

    Use commas without spaces to separate two sources

    The case studies7,8 indicated...

    For three or more references in numerical order, use a hyphen to join the first and last numbers.

    Meta-analysis of research shows,9–14…

  • Titles of journal articles are in sentence case.

    • Sentence case means using an initial capital for the first word and any proper nouns. All other words are in lower case.
    • Proper nouns are the specific names of people, places, organisations or things.

    Titles of  journals are in title case.

    • Title case means all words except minor words are capitalised.
    • Minor words  are three letters or fewer.

    Minor words examples

    and, as ,but, for, if, nor, or, so, yet
    a, an, the
    as, at, by, for in, of, off, on per, to, up, via

  • Rules for authors with examples

    No author

    • leave blank.
    • Don't use Anonymous unless the author is specifically credited as Anonymous.

    1 author

    • Use initials for all of the given names of the author.
    • No punctuation in between surname and initials.

    Doherty P.

    2-6 authors

    • Use initials for all of the given names of the author.
    • No punctuation in between surname and initials.
    • Use a comma to separate authors.

    Lo Bianco J, Slaughter Y.

    6+ authors

    • Use initials for all of the given names of the author.
    • No punctuation in between surname and initials.
    • After 3 authors use et al

    Lacy-Nichols J, Nandi S, Mialon M, et al.

    No author example

    Nobel Lectures in Physiology or Medicine 1922-1941. World Scientific; 1999.

    1 author example

    Doherty P. An Insider's Plague Year. Melbourne University Press; 2021.

    2-6 authors example

    Lo Bianco J, Slaughter Y. Second Languages and Australian Schooling. Australian Education Review. ACER Press; 2009. Doherty P. An Insider's Plague Year. Melbourne University Press; 2021.

    6+ authors example

    Lacy-Nichols J, Nandi S, Mialon M, et al. Conceptualising commercial entities in public health: beyond unhealthy commodities and transnational corporations. Lancet. 2023;401(10383):1214-1228. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(23)00012-0

  • Use the  NLM (National Library of Medicine) Catalog abbreviations, don’t make up your own.

    • A DOI (digital object identifier) is a more permanent location for an online resource than a regular web link.
    • Always include if available, most online journal articles or ebooks will have one.
    • More on DOIs

Further help

AMA Style FAQs

General Referencing FAQs

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Permanent link to this page (journal articles):  https://library.unimelb.edu.au/recite/referencing-styles/vancouver/journal