Oxford Journals—AMA Manual Copyediting Style Guide

Version: draftJournal: APS FunctionFor matters that are not specifically addressed here, please follow the AMA Manual of Style, Tenth edition and Merriam Webster’s 11th Collegiate/Concise Oxford Dictionary

FRONT MATTER (running heads and first page)Left running head (lrh) Style Follow AMA 2.4 : Journal Title, year,

volume and issue number Example APS Function, 2020, Vol, XX, Issue XX

Right running head (rrh) Style Follow AMA 2.4: Journal Title, year, volume and issue number

Example APS Function, 2020, Vol, XX, Issue XX Opening page Style At top of page:

Title of journal/volume and issue/page extent /DOI line/Manuscript Category/”Received” date; “Editorial Acceptance” date“Published Online” date

At bottom of page: copyright line

Example APS Function, 2020, Vol, XX, Issue XX, 1–5doi:10.1093/jbi/wby011Original Research

Manuscript category/subject section variations

Style All categories have the same first page set up. Letters are run on from each other and not treated as separate articles.

Style for different article types

Reports of original data See AMA 1.1: Articles that report original research results follow the traditional IMRAD (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion) format

Include a structured abstract and keywordsReview Articles See AMA 1.2: Include a structured abstract

and keywordsDescriptive Articles See AMA 1.3: Unstructured abstract and

keywordsConsensus Statements/Clinical Practice Guidelines

See AMA 1.4: Include a structured abstract and keywords

Opinion Articles/Editorials/From

See AMA 1.5: Should include author name, degree, affiliation, and “Email:” at the end

the Editor of the main text, before any References. Should/should not include COI statement. No abstract or keywords

Special issues/supplements Style Follow parent style.Article type Style Article type is placed on first page.Article Title Style AMA 10.2–10.2.2: Capitalize major words in

titles, subtitles, and headings of publications. Do not capitalize a coordinating conjunction, an article or preposition of 3 or fewer letters, except when it is the first or last word in a title or subtitle.

Example Microcalcifications Detected at ScreeningMammography: Synthetic Mammography and Digital Breast Tomosynthesis versus Digital Mammography

Capitalization after colon or Em dash

AMA 2.1.6 and 10.1: The first word of a formal statement that follows a colon or Em dash should be capitalized.

Example Microcalcifications Detected at ScreeningMammography: Synthetic Mammography and Digital Breast Tomosynthesis versus Digital Mammography

Capitalization after hyphen AMA 10.2.2: In general, only capitalize after a hyphen if the word is a temporary compound, in which each part of the hyphenated term carries equal weight e.g Cost-Benefit Analysis (not Long-term Treatment).

Abbreviations AMA 2.1.5: In general avoid abbreviations Years AMA 19.2.1 and 2.1.2 Numerals may be

used in sentences that begin with a specific year.

Example 2006-2007Author Name Placement Immediately below title or subtitle one line

spaceStyle AMA 2.2.1; upper- and lowercase, full

forename or initial followed by a period. Asterisk following corresponding author.

Example Yi-Chen A. Lai, MDDegrees and Titles Required

NB query author if they are not supplied in the manuscript

Suffix Author suffixes allowedSeparators Comma between each author. For two

authors insert “and” between the names. For three or more authors do not insert “and” before final author.

Example Yi-Chen Lai, MD and Kimberly M. Ray,

MD

Yi-Chen Lai, MD, Kimberly M. Ray, MD, Amie Y. Lee, MD, Jessica H. Hayward, MD, Rita I. Freimanis, MD, Iryna V. Lobach, PhD, Bonnie N. Joe, MD, PhD

Layout Do not change the order of authors.

Affiliation designators Designators: superscript Arabic numbers following the author name

Corresponding Author Designated by an asterisk following the author’s name.

Example Lars J. Grimm, MD, MHS*,1, Michael Enslow, MD2, Sujata V. Ghate, MD2

Corresponding Author Placement Immediately following author affiliations one line space below, no period.

More than 1 corresponding author

Not allowed

Degree Not requiredUS State name Not requiredCountry name Not requiredTelephone/Fax Not required E-mail Required Example *Address correspondence to B.N.J. (e-mail:

bonnie.joe@ucsf.edu) NB no period after the parenthesis.

Author Affiliation Style Division of the institution, institution name, city, state, postal or zip code, country (USA for the United States)

Placement After the author namesElements required Department, Institution, City, State

abbreviation, postal/zip code, , Country. State name (US) Two-letter abbreviationsCountry name Write out except for UK (do not use

Scotland, Wales, England) and USASeparators SemicolonDesignator Superscript numbersExample 1Department of Anesthesiology, University

of Virginia Health Sciences Center Charlottesville 22908, USA

Example 1Department of Radiation, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX5 1BC, UK, 2Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Cary, NC 12344, USA, 3Department of Chemistry, University of North Carolina, Cary, NC12344, USA

Present address Not givenDates (Received/Editorial On first page of each

Acceptance/Published Online)

article below the article type. Received: Month XX, 2020; Revised:

Month XX, 2020;Accepted: Month XX, 2020

Genbank Accession numbers in SciMed Articles

Style Any new sequences announced in the article will have their database accession number ranged right opposite the article history dates.

Dedication Style not allowedAbstract Structured/unstructured Follow AMA 2.5: structured abstracts should

use bold, headers: Context, Objective, Design, Setting, Patients or Other Participants, Interventions, Main Outcome Measure(s), Results, Conclusions. Each header should be bold, followed by colon, and run in with text. 250-word limit. Unstructured abstracts should be one paragraph, no headers.

Heading Abstract Style New line for each abstract section. No extra

lines between sections.Abbreviations Spell out at first mention Genus species Spell out at first mention.Reference citation in abstract

Not allowed.

Copyright line Issue format © Society of Breast Imaging 2020. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail:

journals.permissions@oup.com (Should be one line not two)

PAP format © Society of Breast Imaging 2020. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com (Should be one line not two).

Key Words Style Used; follow author’s order; semicolon separator, period at end. Minimum of 3; no maximum.

Placement Placed at the end of the abstract (or below corresponding author line if there is no abstract)

Example Key words: word; word; word.FOOTNOTES

Footnotes Not used.Text Should be avoided. Insert into text as

parenthetical statement.Other footnotes Endnotes Not allowedHEADINGS

Style Follow AMA 2.8–2.8.3: Avoid using a single abbreviation as a heading. Avoid expanding Abbreviations for the first time in a heading. Avoid citing references, figures or tables in headings.,

Headings for research articles

Research articles have specific wording and appear in a specific order: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Supplementary data, Acknowledgments, Conflict of interest,Funding, References

Headings for other articles Other types of articlecan have any wording in the level 1 headings.

1st level Bold, title case, not run onExample Methods2nd level Roman, title case, not run onExample Statistical Analysis3rd level Roman, title case, not run on; smaller font

size than H2Example Clustering Data4th level italic, Title case, not run on, same font size

as H3Example Clustering DataNumbered headings not allowed/allowed

GENERAL STYLESpelling US Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate

DictionaryEditing level required Level 1/Level 2/Level 3Hyphenation Follow AMA 8.3.1: hyphens should be used

only to aid the reader’s understanding and avoid ambiguity. Use 2D rather than 2-D and 3D instead of 3-D.

Dashes En dash Follow AMA 8.3.2: The en dash shows relational distinction in a hyphenated or compound modifier, 1 element of which consists of 2 words or a hyphenated word, or when the word being modified is a compound.

Examples post–World War 1, decision tree–based analysis, non–small cell carcinoma

Em dash Follow AMA 8.3.2: Em dashes are used to indicate a marked or pronounced interruption or break in thought. A em dash may be used to separate a referent from a pronoun that is the subject of a ending clause.

Example he was—so he said—a man

Commas Follow AMA 8.2.1:Use a comma to separate groups of words, series (unless it is not present in the name of an organization), setting off ie, eg, and viz, separating clauses joined by conjunctions, separating parenthetical expressions, and degrees and titles.

Capitalization AMA 10.1After colon Capitalize after colon.Variables Follow author and make consistent. Experiment, Day, etc. Do not capitalize.Others N/A

Italicization Emphasis Follow AMA 22.5.4 (use sparingly)Variables and Statistical terms

Follow AMA 21.8: In general, variables, unknown quantities and constants are set in italics.

Genus and Species names Follow AMA 15.14.1 Biological Nomenclature

Language Word listQuotation marks Follow AMA 8.6: Double inverted commasQuotations/Extracts in text Follow AMA 8.6: displayed if longer than

three lines.Latin terms Style Follow AMA 9.3; follow latest edition of

Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary Abbreviations Follow AMA chapter 15, specifically

15.14.1-15.14.3 (style for abbreviations applied to all scientific names of animals, plants, and bacteria should be consistent)

Parentheses Follow AMA 8.5.1: (Parentheses) Used to indicate supplementary explanations, identification, direction to the reader, or translation.

Brackets Follow AMA 8.5.2: [Brackets] Used to indicate editorial interpolation within a quotation to enclose corrections, explanations, or comments in material that is quoted.

Slash (forward) Follow AMA 8.4 The forward slash (solidus) is used to represent per, and, or or and to divide material.

Lists Display Follow AMA 19.5 (see below)In-text Follow AMA 19.5 (see below)Example Short series: (1), (2), and (3) Example Long series:

1. 2. 3.

Example Bullet points (AMA 19.5; use when specific order is not necessary). If items are not

complete sentences, no punctuation is needed, and use of a capital or lowercase letter on the first word of each item is a matter of judgment based on the length of the item, with consistency in a single list).

Geography US, UK, and Canada AMA 14.5 Abbreviations such as “US” and “UK” may be used as modifiers (ie, only when they directly precede the word they modify) but should be expanded in all other contexts

Example Society of Botany, 6110 M St, Washington, DC 20003

London, UK

Paris, France

Mumbai, India

US States AMA 14.5: Use 2-letter abbreviations for US states.

Time and dates Date AMA 19.1.3 Dates should be given as month, day and year. Time should be given as 12 hour clock with AM/PM (small caps).

Example January 3, 201911:45 PM

SOURCES OF MATERIALSStyle Follow authorSupplier name Allowed; do not query if not presentSupplier location Allowed; do not query if not presentOthers Equipment should be cited as generic

followed by (model, manufacturer, city, state [postal abbreviation]) as in: Mammograms were performed on one of three identical machines (3D Dimensions, Hologic, Inc., Marlborough, MA).

Trademark Trademark symbol not allowed

ABBREVIATIONSAbbreviation

Title Follow AMA 2.1.5.In Headings Follow AMA 2.8.3.At the beginning of sentence

Follow AMA 14.11: expand abbreviations at the beginning of a sentence.

In Figures Follow AMA 4.2.7:.In Table Follow AMA 4.1.6 use.Commonly used abbreviations

Follow AMA 14.11: Abbreviations that can be used without expansion:

Latin abbreviations Use ‘eg,’ (for example) and ‘ie,’ (that is) with care and only in parenthesis; follow AMA 11.1

Chemical compounds Follow AMA 14.13: Expanded at first mention.

Concentrations Follow author.Plurals Follow AMA 9.5: Plural is formed by adding

‘s’ eg, CDs.Author names (one of us) Follow AMA 14.6: (closed up, periods)Example Y.C.L. disclosed no relevant relationships.Names (other than the authors)

Follow author.

Journal-specific abbreviations

TECHNICAL STYLENumber style Follow AMA 19. Numerals are used to

express numbers in most circumstances. Ordinals AMA 19.2.5: Spell out ‘first’ to ‘ninth’, use

numerals for other ordinals except at the beginning of a sentence. The suffix should not be superscripted.

Thousand separator Thin space: 10 000Roman numerals Follow AMA 19.7.5: Follow author’s style.-fold words Follow AMA 19.1: Use numerals, eg, 2-fold

increase.Units of measure Follow AMA Chapter 18 and 19.1.3–19.1.5

(see below)SI Units Use SI units wherever possible. Query

author to provide (eg, g not rpm).Non SI Units If non-SI units must be used, the author

should be queried to add the SI equivalent. The Dalton (Da) or more conveniently the kDa is a permitted non-SI unit for molecular mass or mass of a particular band in a separating gel.

Temperature 5°C Percentage 5%, 5%–10%Volume 5 mL (insert space before unit). For units of

volume, expressions based on the cubic meter (eg, 5 × 10–9 m3, 5 × 10–6 m3 or 5 × 10–

3 m3) or the liter (eg, 5 μL, 5 mL, 5 L) are acceptable, but one of these methods should be used consistently throughout the manuscript. Note the use of L for liter (and in mL etc.) and not l.

Concentration 5 mmol m–3, 5 μM (for 5 μmol L–1), or 25 mg L–1. Note small cap for M in μM.

Weight g, kg (insert space before unit)

Mass Dalton (Da) or kDa is permitted for molecular mass or mass of a particular band in a separating gel.

Repetition of units Do not repeat.Range If the unit of measure for the quantity is set

closed up with the number, the unit should be repeated for each number. (5%-8%) but (10-60 mm Hg)

Use of slashes, product dots etc.

Use the virgule construction for rates when placed in parentheses (eg, 1/2) but never in running text

Centrifuge Should be g – query author if given as rpm.Magnification Times symbol closed up to numeral

Greek character Follow author.Statistical styleAMA 20

Probability P (upper case, italics). Use asterisks to represent statistical significance of P values in figures, tables and their legends and footnotes, e.g. *P ≤ .05, **P ≤ .01, ***P ≤ .001. (Use standard decimal). Symbols and their qualifying values are closed up, i.e. ‘All P-values were < 0·01’ but there should be spaces either side of ratios, ×, ±, ³, etc. (e.g. P > 0.001). Change (e.g.) P < .000 to P < .001.

Decimals AMA 19.7.1 Place a zero before the decimal point in numbers less than 1, except when expressing the 3 values related to probability: P, α, and β. These values cannot equal 1, except when rounding

Statistical variables Italics. Modifiers of a given variable are identified using roman subscripts, eg, let dE represent the diameter of the Earth. NB use italic subscript where the modifier is itself a variable, eg, “let di represent the diameter of the ith branch.”

Standard deviation Always abbreviate to SD; similarly SE and SEM.

Tests Follow author and make consistent, but note:capital for Student’s t-test.

Abbreviations Use the abbreviation. n (lower case, italics) for number of samples, except in genetics papers where n is reserved for number of chromosome sets (eg, 2n = 32), in which case uppercase N is number of samples.Preferred style is to use a single italic letter to represent a single variable, with a subscript identifier if required. Thus:“Total weight is the sum of the stem and root weights:

TW = SW + RW” would be changed to:“Total weight is the sum of the stem and root weights:WT = WS + WR”— or Wtot, Wstem, Wroot if this would improve clarity.

Confidence interval Preferred format for CI is:1.7 (95% CI, 1.3-2.1)0.4 (95% CI, -0.1 to 0.9)

FractionsAMA 19.2.2; 19.1.2

Spell out common fractions ‘In 2 of the 17 patients’

Math style (Follow AMA 21)Superscript and subscript Stacked if both together are provided

(typesetter will apply)Equations Use italics for letters representing variables

and normal upright font for letters that are identifiers, unless the identifier is itself a variable, eg, “let di represent the diameter of the ith branch”). The meaning of terms used in equations should be explained when they first appear. Equations should be displayed on a line on their own; if numbered it should be in the format (1), (2), etc., and the number should be right aligned.

Inline equations Integral, summation, etc. limits are to be given as side limits.

Display equation Integral, summation, etc. limits are to be given as side limits and have upper and lower limits.

Ratio 5:3Citation of sections Appendix. If only one present, delete “1” in

“Appendix 1.”Equations Query author to check equations carefully.

Number them in brackets, eg, (1). Refer to equations in text by eqn (1), eqns (1)–(4). Lowercase – AMA does not require Caps.

Journal-specific style points Citation of sections Section title in title case and in quotation marks.

Example See “Discussion”

TABLES AND FIGURESTables Caption Follow AMA 4.1–4.1.8: (See below)

Example Table 1. Relative Risks of Imaging ComplicationsOnly “Table 1.” should be bold with the rest

of the table title in roman.In-text citation Table 1 or (Table 1)Column headings Title case, bold, no period at close of

heading. Example of heading: CBT Alone

Stub headings Headings should be sentence case, except for proper nouns.

Example:No. of persons randomly assigned in hepatitis study

Absence of text within columns

AMA 4.1.3. An ellipsis (…) may be used to indicate that no data are available for a cell or that the category of data is not applicable for a cell. However, ellipses should not be used to denote different types of missing elements in the same table. Other designations such as NA (for “not available,” “not analyzed,” or “not applicable”) may be used, provided their meaning is explained in a footnote

Captions/Notes All notes including abbreviations and superscripts should be flush left.

The order of the footnotes is determined by the placement in the table of the item to which the footnote Use superscript alphabet designators.

Follow AMA 14: Use “Abbreviations:” if an abbreviation list is needed (“Abbreviation:” if only one term in the list). Make sure list is in alphabetical order and do not capitalize abbreviation expansions unless pertaining to proper nouns. Do not use NOTE.

Figure In-text citation Follow AMA Chapter 4.2: in-text callouts should have Figure 1 spelled out even in parentheses, such as (Figure 1). .

Figure title Each major word in a figure title is capitalized

Example Figure 1. Prominent Physical Signs of Familial Hyperchlosterolemia

Composite figures For composite figures with 2 or more panels, capital letters (A, B, C, D, etc)

should be used to label the parts of the figure. The figure legend should refer to each of the figure components and the letter designators in a clear and consistent format

Notes Figure notes should follow legend, run inAbbreviations Abbreviations in figures should be

consistent with those used in the text and defined in the title or legend or in a key as part of the figure. Abbreviations may be expanded individually in the text of the legend or may be expanded collectively at the end of the legend.

BACK MATTEROrder: Acknowledgments, Supplementary Data, Funding, Conflict of Interest, References

Acknowledgments Style Acknowledgments can consist of author contribution/list of participants in a group study/ /disclaimers/previous presentations of material/miscellaneous acknowledgments/additional contributions/preferred citation format

Supplementary Data Use Insert text into part of text affected:

See online supplementary material for a color version of this figure.

Insert following section just beforeReferences. This note should read exactly as written below. If author has used other phrasing, edit to match the note as written below.

Supplementary materialSupplementary material is available at the APS Function online.

Supplemental tables and figures should be cited in the text. A capital S should be used. Example:

Univariate analysis of patient age and outcome showed no significant associations (Table S1).

Funding statementExample .

Funding statement should be placed under a

Level 1 heading: “Funding”. Can use “none declared” statement as below unless the author has provided their own statement FundingNone declared.

Conflict of Interest statement Use Please add the following statement just before the References, unless authors have declared a conflict in which case leave text as author's original:

Style as a Level 1 heading:Conflict of interest statementNone declared.

.Appendix Style Additional material that the author wants to

add and can be in the form of text, figures or tables,

Heading level 1 As standard article (see above).Heading level 2 As standard article (see above).Placement Before ReferencesTheorem, etc N/AEquation numbering (A1), (A2) etc.

Display.Table numbering Table A1 etc.Figure labels Figure A1 etc.

REFERENCESFollow AMA for reference types not listed belowHeading Style As other level 1 headingOrder General Numbered consecutively with Arabic

numerals in the order in which they are cited in the text; Follow AMA 3.5.

Author names Use the author’s surname followed by initials without periods. The names of all authors should be given unless there are more than 6, in which case the names of the first 3 authors are used, followed by “et al.”

Journal articles in this issue Style Follow AMA 3.15.1: Basic format: Author(s). Title. Journal Name. Year; vol (issue No.):inclusive pages. URL. Published [date]. Updated [date]. Accessed [date]. See AMA for more details.

Example Author XX, Author XX, Author XX, et al. Article title [published online ahead of print Month xx, 20xx]. J Breast Imag. doi: 10.1093/jbi/wby007.

Reference citation in text General style AMA3.6 Each reference should be cited in the text, tables, or figures in consecutive numerical order by means of superscript

arabic numerals. It is acceptable for a reference to be cited only in a table or a figure legend and not in the text if it is in sequence with references cited in the text

Specific Types of Reference StyleJournal (includes all periodicals)

Title style Sentence case, do not cap after colon

Abbreviation Short title

Volume number Required; query if not presentIssue number Required; query if not present Page range Required; query if not present. Inclusive

page numbers.Example Ciatto S, Houssami N, Bernardi D, et al.

Integration of 3D digital mammography with tomosynthesis for population breast-cancer screening (STORM): a prospective comparison study. Lancet Oncol 2013;14(7):583–589.

Book (includes all other nonperiodicals)

Title style Italicize, title case

Publisher name RequiredPublisher location Required; add country if other than USAExample Schroder FH, Kranse R. Book Title. 6th ed.

New York: Wiley; 1987. (Country other than USA should be given for the publisher location.)

Others Book chapter McIntosh K. Diagnostic virology. In: Fields BN, Knipe DM, Chanock RM, et al., eds. Fields Virology. 2nd ed. Vol 1. New York, NY: Raven Press, 1990:411–40.

Patent Ruth C, Smith A, Stein J. System and method for generating a 2D image from a tomosynthesis dataset. U.S. Patent Office, 2010.

Internet site For online resources, a URL and date accessed should be included as well as the “owner of the site” (eg, Public Health Service Task Force) and/or “title” of the web page (eg, Recommendations for the use of antiretroviral drugs in pregnant HIV-1 infected women for maternal health and interventions to reduce perinatal HIV-1 transmission in the United States).

Example:Public Health Service Task Force. Recommendations for the use of antiretroviral drugs in pregnant HIV-1 infected women for maternal health and

interventions to reduce perinatal HIV-1 transmission in the United States. Available at: http://www.hivatis.org. Accessed 24 April 2002.

Dissertation Reference to a doctoral dissertation should include the author, title, institution, location, year, and publication information, if published.