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Referencing Style Guide & Tools: Citing from a Database

 

Citing from a Database

NT Health Library subscribes to a number of databases which house information.  The format of this information varies widely and consequently the detail needed for referencing also varies and will depend on the referencing style required.  Below are links to referencing or citation guides presented on a selection of popular databases available through the library.  Check other databases for similar pages with a guide to referencing or citations from their website and check your university or publishing guide.

The ABS offers a comprehensive guide on how to cite their information.  It includes print material, audiovisual resources, the website and customized data.  Click on How to cite ABS sources

EBSCO hosts these databases and they provide a tutorial on citing articles as well as showing examples for a range of resource types listed by the citation style. Click Using the EBSCO Cite Feature and Style examples for more information.

The Cochrane Library provides a brief overview of citing different products available through Cochrane libraries.  Click on - Cochrane style manual > References

You should cite an UpToDate topic as follows:

Marion, DW. Diaphragmatic pacing. In: UpToDate, Post TW (Ed), UpToDate, Waltham, MA. (Accessed on November 25, 2013.)

If you are using EndNote, choose Book Section as your Reference Type. Enter the Publisher (UpToDate), Place Published (Waltham, MA) and Accessed Date in the same field.

PubMed and Medline offer comprehensive instructions and links for citations.  This information can be found at the Medline/PubMed Journal Article Citation Format page.  If you are citing an individual page on PubMed Health, the National Library of Medicine recommends the citation style provided in Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, 2nd edition.

 
How do I export references from PubMed?

Simply follow these simple steps. You can send individual citations, but it's more efficient to collect the ones you want, save them to the Clipboard, and export them all at once.

  • Click on the Send to button and select File as the destination.
  • Select Send to Citation Manager.
  • A popup box will appear (make sure your popup blocker is off if it doesn't) with a .txt version of the citation.
  • You may either Copy the file (good if there are only a few citations) or Save it.
  • Open your reference management software - RefWorks, EndNote, Mendeley, etc.
  • Simply Import the citations - either by copying and pasting or importing the file.

It sounds more complicated than it is, and it soon becomes second nature. Just Send to Citation manager create a file and import.