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Health: Academic Skills and Referencing

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Referencing in BU Harvard style

Referencing BNF (British National Formulary)

Accessing the BNF

  • You may access the BNF either through NICE or through Medicines Complete (access via the A-Z list on the Library area on Brightspace). The only difference will be the URL at the end of your reference – all the other information will be identical for either way of accessing it. We recommend using the BNF via Medicines Complete however, as it is easier to find the date of when the page was last updated.

To reference the British National Formulary (BNF):

For example:

Citation in main text of your work:

(Joint Formulary Committee [JFC] 2024) - first time of citing, then (JFC 2024) for all succeeding citations.

Reference in list at the of your work:

Joint Formulary Committee (JFC), 2024. Etanercept. London: BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press. Available from: https://www.new.medicinescomplete.com/#/content/bnf/_414565811 [Accessed 3 July 2024].

This is according to the BU Harvard style instructions for referencing a webpage.

Referencing British National Formulary for Children

For example, in reference list at the end of your work:

Paediatric Formulary Committee (PFC), 2024 Paracetamol. London: BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press.  Available from: https://bnfc.nice.org.uk/drugs/paracetamol/ [Accessed 3 July 2024].

This is according to the BU Harvard style instructions for referencing a webpage.

Referencing multiple drugs from the BNF

  • For each page about a specific drug, you should have a different reference in your reference list.

  • If the references are all from the same year, then they should then be labelled a,b,c etc so that it is clear what you are citing.

Therefore, your reference list may look like this...

For example, in reference list at the end of your work:

Joint Formulary Committee (JFC), 2024a. Fampridine. London: BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press. Available from: https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drugs/fampridine [Accessed 3 July 2024].

Joint Formulary Committee (JFC), 2024b. Mivacurium. London: BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press. Available from: https://www.new.medicinescomplete.com/#/content/bnf/_350715754 [Accessed 3 July 2024].

Joint Formulary Committee (JFC), 2024c. Tizanidine. London: BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press. Available from: https://www.new.medicinescomplete.com/#/content/bnf/_414565811 [Accessed 3 July 2024].

Joint Formulary Committee (JFC), 2024. Etanercept. London: BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press. Available from: https://www.new.medicinescomplete.com/#/content/bnf/_414565811 [Accessed 3 July 2024].

This is according to the BU Harvard style instructions for referencing a webpage.

Your in text citations for these examples would be...

The first time BNF is cited:

(Joint Formulary Committee [JFC] 2024a)

And then the next time it's cited...

(JFC 2024b), or if there is only one article from that year (JFC 2024)

The use of a,b,c after the published year is according to these BU Harvard style instructions: Author published more than one source in the same year.

Please note: the BNF contains lots of other information which are described as "Treatment Summaries" but are also within the "Medicines Guidance" section.

For example: Porphyrias

Joint Formulary Committee (JFC), 2024. Acute Porphyrias. London: BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press.  Available from: https://bnf.nice.org.uk/treatment-summaries/acute-porphyrias/ [Accessed 3 July 2024].

Or, this is also accurate:

Joint Formulary Committee (JFC), 2024. Acute Porphyrias. London: BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press.  Available from: https://www.medicinescomplete.com/#/content/bnf/_158857908?hspl=acute&hspl=porphyrias [Accessed 3 July 2024].

Referencing Medicines Complete

To reference Medicines Complete:

  • Medicines Complete is essentially a hosting site for drug information (platform includes Clarke’s Analysis of Drugs and Poisons, Martindale: the Complete Drug Reference and Stockley’s Drug Interactions, and, British National Formulary BNF - see above how to specifically reference BNF).
  • The author of the information contained in Clarke’s Analysis of Drugs and Poisons, Martindale: the Complete Drug Reference and Stockley’s Drug Interactions, is the Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
  • Select the 'Publication last updated' year, if that is not available select the year stated in the footer of the webpage.
  • The place of publication is London and the publisher is Royal Pharmaceutical Society (a repeated detail).

For example:

Royal Pharmaceutical Society, 2024. Gabapentin. London: Royal Pharmaceutical Society. Available from: MedicinesComplete — CONTENT > Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference > Drug: Gabapentin [Accessed 3 July 2024].

Or, this next example for the same drug info is also an accurate reference (only the URL is different, but a URL is a URL as long as you enter the correct link. This URL also goes to the same page in Medicines Complete):

Royal Pharmaceutical Society, 2024. Gabapentin. London: Royal Pharmaceutical Society. Available from: https://www.medicinescomplete.com/#/content/martindale/3797-f?hspl=Gabapentin [Accessed 3 July 2024].

This is according to the BU Harvard style instructions for referencing a webpage.

Referencing Electronic Medicines Compendium (EMC)

To reference Electronic Medicines Compendium (EMC):

  • Just like Medicines Complete, EMC is a hosting site for drug information. How it differs from Medicines Complete is that the information about the drugs has been provided by individual drug companies (who are the author).
  • The author will be the drug company e.g. Dexcel Pharma, Orion, Martindale Pharma.
  • The publisher is not EMC it's Datapharm for any references you list that are from EMC.

For example:

Dexcel Pharma, 2024. Risperidone 0.5mg film-coated tables. Leatherhead: Datapharm. Available from: Risperidone 0.5mg Film-Coated Tablets - Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) - (emc) (medicines.org.uk) [Accessed 3 July 2024].

Or, this next example for the same drug info is also an accurate reference (only the URL is different, but a URL is a URL as long as you enter the correct link. This URL also goes to the same page in EMC):

Dexcel Pharma, 2023. Risperidone 0.5mg film-coated tables. Leatherhead: Datapharm. Available from: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/8208/smpc [Accessed 3 July 2024].

This is according to the BU Harvard style instructions for referencing a webpage.

Referencing Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

To reference Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

Surname/family name, Initials., year of publication. Title of the review. Name of the database. Place of Publication: Publisher. Available from URL. [Accessed date].

This is based on the BU Harvard style instructions for referencing a webpage.

For example:

Conde-Agudelo, A. and Diaz-Rossello, J., 2014. Kangaroo mother care to reduce morbidity and mortality in low birthweight infants. Cochrane database of systematic reviews. Oxford: John Wiley. Available from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD002771.pub3/full [Accessed 3 July 2024].