AMA 10th Referencing Guide: AMA and EndNote

Vancouver is not one particular referencing style, but rather a name for a type of style (a referencing system).  Several different journals and publishers use styles that fall within the Vancouver system and are Vancouver styles, but there are subtle differences between them.

There is a style called "Vancouver" in EndNote, which is based on the Uniform Requirements - one of the most commonly used versions of Vancouver.  However, this style has some variations from Uniform and does not use superscript numbers in text.

If you have been asked to use "Vancouver" or "Uniform" for a publication, the best thing to do is see if EndNote has a style for the journal you wish to publish in (eg, Lancet, BMJ, PLoS).  You may have to download the style you want, if it is not in your list of styles.

If you are writing an assignment for Medicine, Dentistry or Pharmacy at JCU, and you haven't been asked to use a style for a particular journal, you should download the AMA style referred to on this page.

NB: Read the Notes - EndNote is a bit fiddly at the best of times, these notes will help you avoid common problems.

EndNote comes with a number of styles preloaded.  The style called JAMA is supposed to be a match for the AMA style, but we have found it has some problems with the formatting of Websites and Journal titles.

We have developed an AMA_JCU style (you can find it at the top of this box) which is based on the instructions in the AMA guide, and should circumvent the problems with the JAMA style.  See the instructions on the EndNote & Word: Referencing Styles if you do not know how to save styles in your EndNote program.

Please note this style is a Beta version and we may need to make changes.  Let us know if you find any problems - your feedback will help us improve the style.

NOTES:

• Access Date.  AMA requires an access date for all electronic resources with a URL.  Put the date in the Access Date field in the following format:
  • Month DD, YYYY (e.g. September 22, 2014)
• Journal Names.  AMA requires the use of journal name abbreviations rather than the full journal names.  EndNote can replace the full names of many journals with the abbreviations if you have downloaded the medical Journals Terms List (see this page for instructions).  However, not all journal abbreviations will be in the list.  You can add journal names and abbreviations to your list, or you could simply put the journal abbreviation in the Journal Title field (make sure you keep the full name of the journal in the Alternate Journal field as you may need to swap these names later if you are using a different style which requires the full name).
• Drug Databases.  Entries in drug databases such as Martindale or AusDI should be put in the system as the reference type Encyclopedia.
• Websites. In AMA you include both the name of the page or object (e.g. image or video clip) and the name of the overall website. 
  • Put the name of the page/object in the Title field and the name of the website in the Series Title field.
  • Leave the year field blank, and put the most recent date on the page in the Last Updated Date field.