Correct and Preferred Usage

Tracy Frey; Roxanne K. Young

AMA Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors (11th edn)

AMA Manual of Style Committee

Previous Edition (10 ed.)

Publisher:: Oxford University Press

Print Publication Date:: Feb 2020

Print ISBN-13:: 9780190246556

Published online:: Feb 2020

DOI:: 10.1093/jama/9780190246556.001.0001

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Contents

Front Matter
- Foreword
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- In Memoriam: Paul Frank (1960-2015)
1.0 Types of Articles
- 1.0 Types of Articles.
- 1.1 Research Reports.
- 1.2 Reviews.
  - 1.2.1 Systematic Reviews.
  - 1.2.2 Narrative Reviews.
- 1.3 Other Substantive Article Types (Nonresearch, Nonreview).
- 1.4 Opinion Articles.
- 1.5 Correspondence.
  - 1.5.1 Letters.
  - 1.5.2 Research Letters.
- 1.6 Other Article Types.
- Acknowledgment
- References
2.0 Manuscript Preparation for Submission and Publication
- 2.0 Manuscript Preparation for Submission and Publication.
- 2.1 Titles and Subtitles.
- 2.2 Author Bylines and End-of-Text Signatures.
- 2.3 Author Footnotes.
- 2.4 Running Head, Running Foot in Print/PDF.
  - 2.4.1 Name of the Publication.
  - 2.4.2 Short Title of the Article.
- 2.5 Abstract.
- 2.6 Keywords.
- 2.7 Epigraphs.
- 2.8 Parts of a Manuscript, Headings, Subheadings, and Side Headings.
- 2.9 Addenda.
- 2.10 Acknowledgments (Article Information).
- 2.11 Appendixes.
- 2.12 Online-Only (Supplementary) Material.
- 2.13 Ancillary Educational and Promotional Material.
- Acknowledgment
- References
3.0 References
- 3.0 References.
- 3.1 Reference Style and Recommendations.
  - 3.1.1 Bibliographic Grouping.
- 3.2 Reference List.
- 3.3 References Given in Text.
- 3.4 Minimum Acceptable Data for References.
- 3.5 Numbering.
- 3.6 Citation.
- 3.7 Authors.
  - 3.7.1 Group Authors.
  - 3.7.2 Group Author Names With or Without Individually Named Authors in the Byline.
- 3.8 Prefixes and Particles.
- 3.9 Titles.
  - 3.9.1 English-Language Titles.
  - 3.9.2 Non–English-Language Titles.
  - 3.9.3 Names of Organisms.
  - 3.9.4 Non-English Words and Phrases.
- 3.10 Subtitles.
- 3.11 References to Journal Articles.
  - 3.11.1 Complete Data.
  - 3.11.2 Names of Journals.
  - 3.11.3 Year, Volume, Issue, Location (Page Numbers), and Dates.
  - 3.11.4 Online Journal Articles, Preprints, and Manuscripts.
  - 3.11.5 Discontinuous Pagination.
  - 3.11.6 Journals Without Volume or Issue Numbers.
  - 3.11.7 Parts of an Issue.
  - 3.11.8 Special Issue or Theme Issue.
  - 3.11.9 Journal Supplements.
  - 3.11.10 Abstracts From Another Source.
  - 3.11.11 Special Department, Feature, or Column of a Journal.
  - 3.11.12 Discussants.
  - 3.11.13 Online Comments.
  - 3.11.14 Corrections.
  - 3.11.15 Retractions and Expressions of Concern.
  - 3.11.16 Duplicate Publication.
- 3.12 References to Books.
  - 3.12.1 Complete Data.
  - 3.12.2 References to an Entire Book.
  - 3.12.3 References to Monographs.
  - 3.12.4 References to a Chapter in a Book.
  - 3.12.5 Editors and Translators.
  - 3.12.6 Volume Number.
  - 3.12.7 Edition Number.
  - 3.12.8 Publishers.
  - 3.12.9 Year of Publication.
  - 3.12.10 Page Numbers or Chapter Number.
  - 3.12.11 Electronic Books, Books Online, Audiobooks, and Books on Tape or CD.
- 3.13 Special Materials.
  - 3.13.1 News Publications.
  - 3.13.2 Government or Agency Reports.
  - 3.13.3 Serial Publications.
  - 3.13.4 Theses and Dissertations.
  - 3.13.5 Special Collections.
  - 3.13.6 Package Inserts.
  - 3.13.7 Patents.
  - 3.13.8 Conference Proceedings Online, Webinars, and Other Presentations.
  - 3.13.9 Meeting Presentations and Other Unpublished Material.
  - 3.13.10 Personal Communications.
  - 3.13.11 Classical References.
- 3.14 Other Media.
  - 3.14.1 Video.
  - 3.14.2 Podcasts and Other Audio.
  - 3.14.3 Apps and Interactive Games.
  - 3.14.4 Other Multimedia.
  - 3.14.5 Transcripts of Audio, Video, Television, or Radio Broadcasts or Television Commercials.
- 3.15 Electronic References.
  - 3.15.1 DOI.
  - 3.15.2 PMID.
  - 3.15.3 Websites.
  - 3.15.4 Social Media.
  - 3.15.5 Government/Organization Reports.
  - 3.15.6 Software.
  - 3.15.7 Software Manual or Guide.
  - 3.15.8 Databases.
  - 3.15.9 Email and Electronic Mailing List (LISTSERV) Messages.
  - 3.15.10 News Releases.
  - 3.15.11 Legal References.
- 3.16 US Legal References.
  - 3.16.1 Method of Citation.
  - 3.16.2 Citation of Cases.
  - 3.16.3 Legislative Materials.
- 3.17 Non-US Legal References.
- Acknowledgment
- References
4.0 Tables, Figures, and Multimedia
- 4.0 Tables, Figures, and Multimedia.
- 4.1 Tables.
- 4.2 Figures.
- 4.3 Nontabular Material.
  - 4.3.1 Boxes.
  - 4.3.2 Sidebars.
- Acknowledgment
- References
5.0 Ethical and Legal Considerations
- 5.1 Authorship Responsibility.
- 5.2 Acknowledgments.
- 5.3 Duplicate Publication and Submission.
- 5.4 Scientific Misconduct.
- 5.5 Conflicts of Interest.
- 5.6 Intellectual Property: Ownership, Access, Rights, and Management.
- 5.7 Confidentiality.
- 5.8 Protecting Research Participants’ and Patients’ Rights in Scientific Publication.
- 5.9 Defamation, Libel.
- 5.10 Editorial Freedom and Integrity.
- 5.11 Editorial Responsibilities, Roles, Procedures, and Policies.
- 5.12 Advertisements, Advertorials, Sponsorship, Supplements, Reprints, and e-Prints.
- 5.13 Release of Information to the Public and Relations With the News Media.
6.0 Editorial Assessment and Processing
- 6.0 Editorial Assessment and Processing.
- 6.1 Editorial Assessment.
- 6.2 Editorial Processing.
- Acknowledgment
- References
7.0 Grammar
- 7.0 Grammar.
- 7.1 Nouns.
- 7.2 Pronouns.
- 7.3 Articles.
  - 7.3.1 Definite Articles.
  - 7.3.2 Indefinite Articles.
- 7.4 Verbs.
- 7.5 Subject-Verb Agreement.
- 7.6 Modifiers.
  - 7.6.1 Misplaced Modifiers.
  - 7.6.2 Verbal Phrase Danglers.
- 7.7 Diction.
- 7.8 Sentences.
- 7.9 Parallel Construction.
- 7.10 Paragraphs.
- 7.11 Grammar in Social Media.
- References
- Additional Readings and General References
8.0 Punctuation
- 8.0 Punctuation.
- 8.1 Period, Question Mark, Exclamation Point.
- 8.2 Comma, Semicolon, Colon.
- 8.3 Hyphens and Dashes.
  - 8.3.1 Hyphen.
  - 8.3.2 Dashes.
- 8.4 Forward Slash (Virgule, Solidus).
- 8.5 Parentheses and Brackets.
  - 8.5.1 Parentheses.
  - 8.5.2 Brackets.
- 8.6 Quotation Marks.
- 8.7 Apostrophe.
- 8.8 Ellipses.
- Acknowledgment
- References
9.0 Plurals
- 9.0 Plurals.
- 9.1 How Plurals Are Formed.
- 9.2 Collective Nouns.
- 9.3 Parenthetical Plurals.
- 9.4 Latin and Greek vs English.
- 9.5 Microorganisms.
- 9.6 Abbreviations.
- 9.7 Plurals of Symbols, Letters, Numbers, and Years.
- 9.8 When Not to Use Plurals.
- 9.9 False Singulars.
- Acknowledgment
10.0 Capitalization
- 10.0 Capitalization.
- 10.1 First Word of Sentences, Quotations, Titles, and Subtitles.
- 10.2 Titles and Headings.
- 10.3 Proper Nouns.
- 10.4 Designators.
- 10.5 Types and Sections of Articles.
- 10.6 Acronyms.
- 10.7 Capitalized Electronic (Digital) Terms.
- 10.8 URLs.
- 10.9 Intercapped Compounds.
11.0 Correct and Preferred Usage
- 11.0 Correct and Preferred Usage.
- 11.1 Correct and Preferred Usage of Common Words and Phrases.
- 11.2 Redundant, Expendable, and Incomparable Words and Phrases.
- 11.3 Spelling and Spacing Variations.
- 11.4 Back-formations.
- 11.5 Jargon.
- 11.6 Administration of Drugs.
- 11.7 Age and Sex Referents.
- 11.8 Anatomy.
- 11.9 Clock Referents.
- 11.10 Laboratory Values.
- 11.11 Articles.
- 11.12 Inclusive Language.
- Acknowledgment
- References
12.0 Non-English Words, Phrases, and Accent Marks
- 12.0 Non-English Words, Phrases, and Accent Marks.
- 12.1 Non-English Words, Phrases, and Titles.
- 12.2 Accent Marks (Diacritics).
- Acknowledgment
13.0 Abbreviations
- 13.0 Abbreviations.
- 13.1 Academic Degrees and Honors.
- 13.2 US Military Services and Titles.
  - 13.2.1 US Military Services.
  - 13.2.2 US Military Officer Titles (Grades and Ranks).
- 13.3 Days of the Week, Months, Eras.
- 13.4 Local Addresses.
- 13.5 Cities, States, Counties, Territories, Possessions, Provinces, Countries.
- 13.6 Names and Titles of Persons.
- 13.7 Commercial Firms.
- 13.8 Agencies, Organizations, Foundations, Funding Bodies, and Others.
- 13.9 Collaborative Groups.
- 13.10 Names of Journals.
- 13.11 Clinical, Technical, and Other Common Terms.
- 13.12 Units of Measure.
- 13.13 Elements and Chemicals.
- 13.14 Radioactive Isotopes.
- Acknowledgment
14.0 Nomenclature
- 14.0 Nomenclature.
  - Acknowledgment
  - References
- 14.1 Blood Groups, Platelet Antigens, and Granulocyte Antigens.
- 14.2 Cancer.
- 14.3 Cardiology.
- 14.4 Drugs.
- 14.5 Equipment, Devices, Reagents, and Software.
- 14.6 Genetics.
- 14.7 Hemostasis.
- 14.8 Immunology.
- 14.9 Isotopes.
- 14.10 Molecular Medicine.
- 14.11 Neurology.
- 14.12 Obstetric Terms.
- 14.13 Ophthalmology Terms.
  - Acknowledgment
  - References
- 14.14 Organisms and Pathogens.
- 14.15 Psychiatric Terminology.
- 14.16 Pulmonary and Respiratory Terminology.
- 14.17 Radiology.
- 14.18 Terminology in Transition: Nephrology.
15.0 Eponyms
- 15.0 Eponyms.
- 15.1 Eponymous vs Noneponymous Terms.
- 15.2 Nonpossessive Form.
- Acknowledgment
- References
16.0 Greek Letters
- 16.0 Greek Letters.
- 16.1 Greek Letter vs Word.
- 16.2 Capitalization After a Greek Letter.
- 16.3 Greek Alphabet.
- 16.4 Page Composition and Electronic Formats.
- Acknowledgment
17.0 Units of Measure
- 17.0 Units of Measure.
- 17.1 SI Units.
- 17.2 Expressing Unit Names and Symbols.
  - 17.2.1 Capitalization.
  - 17.2.2 Products and Quotients of Unit Symbols.
- 17.3 Format, Style, and Punctuation.
- 17.4 Use of Numerals With Units.
- 17.5 Conventional Units and SI Units in JAMA Network Journals.
- Acknowledgment
- References
18.0 Numbers and Percentages
- 18.0 Numbers and Percentages.
- 18.1 Use of Numerals.
- 18.2 Spelling Out Numbers.
- 18.3 Combining Numerals and Words.
  - 18.3.1 Rounded Large Numbers.
  - 18.3.2 Consecutive Numerical Expressions.
- 18.4 Use of Digit Spans and Hyphens.
- 18.5 Enumerations.
- 18.6 Abbreviating Number.
- 18.7 Forms of Numbers.
- Acknowledgment
- References
- Additional Readings and General References
19.0 Study Design and Statistics
- 19.0 Study Design and Statistics.
- 19.1 The Manuscript: Presenting Study Design, Rationale, and Statistical Analysis.
- 19.2 Clinical Trials.
- 19.3 Observational Studies.
- 19.4 Significant Digits and Rounding Numbers.
  - 19.4.1 Significant Digits.
  - 19.4.2 Rounding.
- 19.5 Glossary of Statistical Terms.
- 19.6 Statistical Symbols and Abbreviations.
- Acknowledgment
- References
- Additional Reading and General References
20.0 Mathematical Composition
- 20.0 Mathematical Composition.
- 20.1 Displayed vs Run-in.
- 20.2 Stacked vs Unstacked Fractions or Formulas.
- 20.3 Exponents.
- 20.4 Long Formulas.
- 20.5 Expressing Multiplication and Division.
- 20.6 Commonly Used Symbols.
- 20.7 Typography and Capitalization.
- 20.8 Punctuation.
- 20.9 Spacing With Mathematical Symbols.
- Acknowledgment
- References
- Additional Readings
21.0 Editing, Proofreading, Tagging, and Display
- 21.1 Electronic Editing.
  - 21.1.1 Editing With XML.
- 21.2 Electronic Editing Workflow.
- 21.3 Editing and Proofreading Marks.
- 21.4 Proofreading Sample.
- 21.5 Basic Elements of Design.
- 21.6 Typefaces, Fonts, and Sizes.
- 21.7 Spacing.
- 21.8 Layout.
- 21.9 Specific Uses of Fonts and Styles.
- Acknowledgment
- References
- Additional Resources and General References
22.0 Publishing Terms
- 22.1 Glossary of Publishing Terms.
- Acknowledgment
23.0 Resources
- 23.0 Resources.
- 23.1 General Dictionaries.
- 23.2 Medical and Scientific Dictionaries.
- 23.3 General Style and Usage.
- 23.4 Medical/Scientific Style and Usage.
- 23.5 Writing.
- 23.6 Ethical and Legal Issues.
- 23.7 Peer Review.
- 23.8 Illustrations/Displaying Data.
- 23.9 Websites.
- 23.10 Guidelines.
- 23.11 Professional Scientific Writing, Editing, and Communications Organizations and Groups.
End Matter
- Index

Show Summary Details

(p. 505) Correct and Preferred Usage

Correct and Preferred Usage

Chapter:: (p. 505) Correct and Preferred Usage

Author(s):: Tracy Frey
and Roxanne K. Young

DOI:: 10.1093/jama/9780190246556.003.0011

The Correct and Preferred Usage chapter of the 11th edition of the AMA Manual of Style includes a large glossary of frequently misused or confused terms. In addition to this updated and cross-referenced glossary, additional examples illustrate other usage problems, such as redundant, expendable, and incomparable words and phrases; jargon; and back-formations. Specific advice is provided on describing the administration of drugs, age and sex referents, anatomy, clock referents, laboratory values, and articles before abbreviations and acronyms and before the aspirate h and nonvocalicy. Guidance is also provided on inclusive language (eg, sex/gender, presenting data in tables, personal pronouns, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status, and terminology for persons with diseases, disorders, or disabilities). New to this edition is a discussion of spelling and spacing variations, with preferences of the JAMA Network journals indicated.

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date: 25 February 2020

AMA Manual of Style Committee

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(p. 505) Correct and Preferred Usage

Tracy Frey

and Roxanne K. Young