To reference the British National Formulary:
The guidelines on the BNF (via NICE) have this page which talks about referencing.
https://bnf.nice.org.uk/about/frequently-asked-questions-for-the-bnf-and-bnf-for-children-general/
By including the information: Available from: ... and the url where you have accessed the information indicates whether you have accessed your information via NICE or Medicines Complete
In a reference list in BU Harvard, this would look like:
Reference:
Joint Formulary Committee (JFC), 2022. Etanercept. London: BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press. Available from: https://www.new.medicinescomplete.com/#/content/bnf/_414565811 [Accessed 1st August 2022]
Citation:
(Joint Formulary Committee [JFC] 2022) - first time of citing, then (JFC 2022) for all succeeding citations.
British National Formulary for Children
Paediatric Formulary Committee (PFC), 2024 Paracetamol. London: BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press. Available from: https://bnfc.nice.org.uk/drugs/paracetamol/ [Accessed 5th April 2024].
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.
So you reference list may look like this example:
Joint Formulary Committee (JFC), 2021a. Fampridine. London: BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press. Available from: https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drugs/fampridine [Accessed 1st August 2022]
Joint Formulary Committee (JFC), 2021b. Mivacurium. London: BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press. Available from: https://www.new.medicinescomplete.com/#/content/bnf/_350715754 [Accessed 1st August 2022]
Joint Formulary Committee (JFC), 2021c. Tizanidine. London: BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press. Available from: https://www.new.medicinescomplete.com/#/content/bnf/_414565811 [Accessed 1st August 2022]
Joint Formulary Committee (JFC), 2022. Etanercept. London: BMJ Group and Pharmaceutical Press. Available from: https://www.new.medicinescomplete.com/#/content/bnf/_414565811 [Accessed 1st August 2022]
Your in text citations for these examples would be:
The first time BNF is cited:
(Joint Formulary Committee [JFC] 2021a)
And then
(JFC 2021b), or if there is only one article from that year, (JFC 2022)
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/
or
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
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 Medicines Complete:
Medicines Complete is basically a hosting site for drug information. The author of the information contained there is the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. The date of the information will be what's given in the footer of the webpage. The place of publication is London, and the published is Royal Pharmaceutical Society.
Royal Pharmaceutical Society, 2023. Gabapentin. London: Royal Pharmaceutical Society. Available from: MedicinesComplete — CONTENT > Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference > Drug: Gabapentin [Accessed 15th June 2023].
To reference Electronic Medicines Compendium:
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 written by the drug manufacturer. The publisher isn't EMC it's Datapharm.
Dexcel Pharma, 2023. 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 15th June 2023].
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].
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 19 June 2023].