Correct and Preferred Usage

Tracy Frey; Roxanne K. Young

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

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

Google Preview

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.

Access to the complete content on AMA Manual of Style requires a subscription or purchase. Public users are able to search the site without a subscription.

Please subscribe or login to access full text content.

If you have purchased a print title that contains an access token, please see the token for information about how to register your code.

For questions on access or troubleshooting, please check our FAQs, and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.

Oxford University Press

PRINTED FROM AMA MANUAL OF STYLE ONLINE (www.amamanualofstyle.com). © American Medical Association, 2021. All Rights Reserved. Under the terms of the license agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a title in AMA Manual of Style Online for personal use (for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice).

date: 28 January 2021

Recently viewed (0)

Recently viewed (0)

AMA Manual of Style Committee

Contents

Subject(s) in AMA Manual of Style

Related Blog Posts

(p. 505) Correct and Preferred Usage

Tracy Frey

and Roxanne K. Young