About the AMA Manual of Style

Welcome

Welcome, at last! When we began work on the ninth edition of the AMA Manual of Style, we hoped to launch our first online manual with that edition. Now, with the tenth edition, and with the help of Oxford University Press, that hope is realized. It has been a long journey from hope to launch, and although we have reached a milestone, we have only begun to learn how best to enrich an online resource.

Style doesn’t remain static, and with an online Manual not only can we correct errata but we can also provide updates and outline new policies for our subscribers. With phase 2 (late 2009), we will also provide a personalized experience, so that users can annotate their online manuals, bookmark, prepare style sheets, save searches.

No matter how good a book’s index, you always wish it were better. With an online edition, the search in context capabilities and the links from the index to the desired sections, will, we hope, provide the best of both worlds.

We are excited about the opportunity to offer learning resources online, such as the monthly quizzes, with answers that provide links to the relevant sections of the manual, and the regular Tip of the Month and Word of the Month features, written by committee members and JAMA and Archives editors.

We look forward to communicating more with our users, not only through the posted FAQs but through hearing what enhancements would make this reference more useful. Contact us by e-mailing stylemanual@jama-archives.org.

As you read this letter, we have already tossed our hats into the air in happy congratulation and, refreshed, begin the next leg of our journey. With your help, ONWARD!

Catherine D. DeAngelis, MD, MPH
Editor, JAMA
Editor in Chief, Scientific Publications & Multimedia Applications,
JAMA & Archives Journals

Cheryl Iverson, MA
Chair, AMA Manual of Style Committee

About the Authors

Cheryl Iverson, MA, chair of the committee that prepared the 10th edition of the AMA Manual of Style, has worked for over 30 years in the Editorial group at JAMA/Archives. She has been active in the Council of Science Editors, has taught medical editing in the University of Chicago Publishing Program and Writing for Publication in a Scientific Journal as part of the New England Epidemiology Summer Program. She is on the editorial board of Science Editor and Copy Editor and also chaired the committees that prepared the 8th and 9th editions of the AMA Manual of Style.

Stacy Christiansen, MA, director of manuscript editing for JAMA, has worked in medical publishing for more than 14 years. She teaches in the University of Chicago Medical Writing and Editing Program and is an active member of both the Council of Science Editors (including coordinating the annual Short Course for Manuscript Editors) and the American Medical Writers Association.

Annette Flanagin, RN, MA, is managing deputy editor for JAMA and director of Editorial Operations for JAMA and the Archives Journals. She served as a member of the committee for the 9th and 10th editions of the AMA Manual of Style and has been a journal editor for more than 20 years. She is a past president of the Council of Science Editors and serves as the coordinator of the International Congresses on Peer Review in Biomedical Publications. She participates in research, gives lectures, and publishes articles on issues related to scientific publication for authors, peer reviewers, and editors.

Phil B. Fontanarosa, MD, MBA, is the executive editor of JAMA, and is vice president of Scientific Publications and Multimedia Applications at the American Medical Association. Dr Fontanarosa has been an editor at JAMA since 1993 and served as interim co-editor in chief of JAMA in 1999. Dr Fontanarosa received his medical degree from the Medical College of Ohio and was selected as the 2009 Distinguished Alumnus. He is board certified in emergency medicine, received an MBA from the University of Notre Dame, and is an adjunct professor at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.

Richard M. Glass, MD, was a JAMA deputy editor from 1989 through 2010, was a coauthor of the 9th edition of the AMA Manual of Style, and has served on the editorial board of the Archives of General Psychiatry. He recently retired from seeing patients and teaching at the University of Chicago and is now a contributing editor for JAMA.

Brenda Gregoline, ELS, manages the copyediting team for 5 of the Archives Journals. She is a member of the Council of Science Editors and has worked in scientific publishing for nearly 20 years.

Margaret A. Winker, MD, is JAMA deputy editor and director of Scientific Online Resources; her responsibilities include handling JAMA manuscripts from submission through publication or rejection and editing the JAMA and Archives Journals Web sites. She has been an editor at JAMA for 18 years. She is one of the authors of the 9th and 10th editions of the AMA Manual of Style, past president of the World Association of Medical Editors, and chair of the Council of Science Editors Research Committee. She is board certified in internal medicine and completed fellowships in geriatrics and clinical pharmacology.

Roxanne K. Young, ELS, is director of the Department of Medical Humanities of JAMA and has been an editor with JAMA since 1977. She is editor of JAMA's Piece of My Mind column and has edited 2 collections of the essays (winner of the 2001 Morris Fishbein Award from the American Medical Writers Association). She has also edited 3 collections of The Art of JAMA. She is a coauthor of the 8th, 9th, and 10th editions of the AMA Manual of Style. She is quality control editor for Science Editor, published by the Council of Science Editors.

Jennifer Reiling is an assistant editor at JAMA, edits the weekly column JAMA 100 Years Ago, and has worked in various departments in scientific publishing for 24 years. She assists in planning the International Congresses on Peer Review in Biomedical Publications and managing the content of its Web site.

Laura Adamczyk, MA, has been a manuscript editor for the Archives Journals since 2006. Before that, she served in the JAMA/Archives Media Relations Department. She recently received her master’s degree in fiction writing from Northwestern University.

Lauren B. Fischer is the manuscript editing manager for several of the Archives Journals. She has worked in the Editorial Processing Department of JAMA and the Archives Journals since 1999. She is a member of the Council of Science Editors.

Paul Frank has worked in the editorial group of JAMA and the Archives Journals since 1985. He started as a copy editor and now provides technical support for the editorial staff, with a special emphasis on the XML-based electronic editing system.

Robert M. Golub, MD, is a JAMA deputy editor and is editor of the annual JAMA Medical Education theme issue. He is board certified in internal medicine and is associate professor of medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (Division of General Internal Medicine). His research and teaching interest is in medical decision making.

Roya Khatiblou, MA, has been a manuscript editor for the Archives Journals since 2008. She received her BS in microbiology from Arizona State University and her MA in fiction writing from Northwestern University.

Laura King, MA, ELS, the former director of copyediting for JAMA, became a full-time freelancer in 1998. Currently she is under contract as a manuscript editor with the American Medical Association, WebMD, University of Chicago, Mayo Clinic, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Elsevier. Since 2002, she has served on the faculty of the University of Chicago Medical Writing and Editing Certificate Program. She has also taught several times in the Council of Science Editors Short Course for Manuscript Editors. Laura has a master of arts degree in English from Northwestern University and received her BELS certificate in 2003.

Monica Mungle has more than 10 years of experience in medical publishing. Starting as a proofreader and copy editor, she is now an editorial systems manager, developing and maintaining editorial systems, providing training and technical support for editorial staff, and managing systems projects for JAMA and the Archives Journals.

Rita F. Redberg, MD, MSc is the editor of Archives of Internal Medicine and a member of the JAMA editorial board. She is board certified in internal medicine and cardiology and is professor of medicine at the UCSF School of Medicine (Division of Cardiology). Her research interests include appropriate use of medical technology, such as cardiac imaging.

Phil Sefton, ELS, senior manuscript editor, JAMA, has been with JAMA since 2000 and has been active in the Council of Science Editors and the American Medical Writers Association. A former emergency medical technician, he holds a degree in art history and English literature from Northwestern University and a certificate in Medical Writing and Editing from the University of Chicago.

Beverly Stewart, MSJ, is a senior manuscript editor for JAMA, where she has worked for more than a decade. She teaches English composition at Roosevelt University and labor studies for the University of Illinois. She studied the classics at Loyola University of Chicago and is happy to investigate the etymology of words and their current usage for the Word Corner column. She is also a member of the Council of Science Editors.

A Brief History of the Manual

Reviews of the 10th Edition