Introduction
Style Conventions: Most areas of health and science use some form of the American Medical Association (AMA) or Vancouver Style, which adhears to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors's, Uniform Requirement for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (called 'Uniformed Requirements' or Vancouver Style), which was developed from the US National Library of Medicine (NLM) style. Psychology and the social sciences use American Psychological Association (APA) Style. Humanities subjects use Turabian (or Chicago) Style. Literature and related fields use Modern Language Association (MLA) Style. Journals and publishing houses differ in their adherence to their field's style, usually with certain modifications. All maintain online style manuals.
Writing Guides: As a 'field manual' for writing, Elements of Style (Strunk) has historically been required. McKusick (1989) provides a more concise approach to style and is published on this site, exclusively. A Functional Guide to Some Problems of English Punctuation (Caudery) provides a helpful supplement to Elements of Style. BMJ House Style Manual provides a very concise, easily approached quick review of basics.
English Style and Usage: Be aware, not all English is the same! The two major divisions in English language are American English and British English. This site uses British English exclusively. (McCormick uses American English, as did McKusick.) There are major differences, and the BMJ House Style Manual points these out. It usually does not matter which form of English you use, so long as you do so consistently.
Writing Guides: As a 'field manual' for writing, Elements of Style (Strunk) has historically been required. McKusick (1989) provides a more concise approach to style and is published on this site, exclusively. A Functional Guide to Some Problems of English Punctuation (Caudery) provides a helpful supplement to Elements of Style. BMJ House Style Manual provides a very concise, easily approached quick review of basics.
English Style and Usage: Be aware, not all English is the same! The two major divisions in English language are American English and British English. This site uses British English exclusively. (McCormick uses American English, as did McKusick.) There are major differences, and the BMJ House Style Manual points these out. It usually does not matter which form of English you use, so long as you do so consistently.
