References: References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text, tables or figures where they should appear as superscript numbers, either following the statement referenced,1 or at the end of the sentence, after the full stop.1,2 Do not use references in the Abstract. References appearing in tables or figures or their legends should continue the sequence of reference numbering in the main text of the article in accordance with the position of first citing the table/figure in the text. Use MEDLINE abbreviations for journal names. Journals not indexed in MEDLINE should have the journal name written in full. Please ensure you include doi/PMID/PMCID numbers where available (see example below). Failure to do so will result in your references being sent to the corresponding author to format correctly and hold up the review process.

The Journal reference style is based exactly on that of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals: Sample References (updated June 2024) https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html. Examples of the formats for different types of references (journal articles, books, monographs, electronic material, etc.) are given in detail on this website. Authors MUST consult this in preparing their reference list.

An example of a journal reference in the ICMJE format is:

Wilson CM, Sayer MDJ. Transportation of divers with decompression illness on the west coast of Scotland. Diving Hyperb Med. 2011;41(2):64–69.

If a journal uses continuous pagination throughout a volume (as many do) then the issue number should be omitted and the pagination reduced. Therefore, the shortened ICMJE version used in DHM is:

Wilson CM, Sayer MDJ. Transportation of divers with decompression illness on the west coast of Scotland. Diving Hyperb Med. 2011;41:64–9.

If an article has a unique identifier for the citation (e.g., doi number, PubMed PMID, PubMed Central PMCID) then this must be included at the end of the reference. The format and order for this is: doi: number. PMID: number. PMCID: number. For example:

Doolette DJ, Mitchell SJ. In-water recompression. Diving Hyperb Med. 2018;48:84−95. doi: 10.28920/dhm48.2.84-95. PMID: 29888380. PMCID: PMC6156824.

An example book reference is:

Kindwall EP, Whelan HT, editors. Hyperbaric medicine practice, 3rd ed. Flagstaff (AZ): Best Publishing Company; 2008.

A chapter in a book is referenced similarly, for example:

Moon RE, Gorman DF. Treatment of decompression disorders. In: Brubakk AO, Neuman TS, editors. Bennett and Elliott's physiology and medicine of diving. Edinburgh: Saunders; 2003. p. 600-50.

Examples of many other types of references are to be found on the National Library of Medicine site (see link above)

When citing workshop/conference proceedings or technical reports, authors are requested to investigate their availability online and provide an online source for the reference if available. The date that the reference was cited (year/month/day) from the source should be noted. For example:

Mitchell SJ, Doolette DJ, Wacholz CJ, Vann R, editors. Management of mild or marginal decompression illness in remote locations workshop proceedings. Durham (NC): Divers Alert Network; 2005. [cited 2022 May 5]. Available from: https://world.dan.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/remotewrkshpfinal05-1.pdf.

Additional notes regarding referencing in DHM are:

• If using EndNote or another reference manager to prepare the references in the document see EndNote website for advice. Once accepted, the final version of the submitted text should have all field codes removed.
• Verifying the accuracy of references against the original documents is the responsibility of authors.
• Personal communications should appear as such in the text and not be included in the reference list (e.g., Smith AN, personal communication, year).
• Abstracts from meeting proceedings should not be used as references unless absolutely essential, as these are generally not peer-reviewed material.
• Please avoid using auto-formatting functions like numbering, indentations, and spaces before and after paragraphs in compiling your reference list.
• Please list six authors if using et al. not three – this is our preference.