Home

Help:Style Guide

This style guide is provided to help maintain consistency across Medpedia pages. This page includes issues specific to Wiki formatting. Issues addressed in the style manual are also listed here here if they are commonly seen on Medpedia. The style manual and dictionary were chosen because they are an industry standard for lay audiences and they are both available online! Before making an addition, please ensure that your change is consistent with The Chicago Manual of Style. If it is not addressed in this text, please consider discussing it on the talk page before adding it to the list.

1 Reference Manuals
2 General
3 Usage
4 Images and Captions
5 Videos
6 Punctuation
7 Details
8 Specific Terms
9 References
- 9.1 How to choose references
  - 9.1.1 If the full-text isn't available for free online...
- 9.2 Format
10 ClinicalTrials.gov Links
11 Drug Pages and Drug Companies
12 External Link Format
13 Notes

Reference Manuals

The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 2003. Note that they have a standard and a medical dictionary for use.

For issues specific to medicine that are not addressed in The Chicago Manual of Style, refer to the American Medical Association's AMA Manual of Style, 10th ed. NY: Oxford University Press; 2007.

General

Language

Pages should be written towards a 9th grade, lay audience. Patients should be referred to in the third person. Pages should provide information, not advice. American spelling should be used over British spelling. Please avoid language that is too scientific or too technical for the average person to understand. For further discussion of language and style issues, see Usage.

Titles of articles

Diseases and Conditions - Use the most simple clinical name for a disease, including Lay Person's terms under "Other Names" and creating redirects for all those names.

Drugs - Use the International Nonproprietary Name, with generic and brand names listed under "Other Names" and redirects created for each.

Capitalize the first word of the title, and all nouns, adjectives, and adverbs. (Leave lower case any prepositions, pronouns, and a, an, or the -- unless the first word.)

"Intro" section

This section is at the very top. The first mention of the article's title should be in bold, by enclosing it within triple single straight quotes (eg. '''bold'''). Separate it from the next section by an extra space, so it's set off from the table of contents.

Ideally, this section should be a short paragraph in length, and should bear directly on the page's title. Avoid writing something long or drawn-out, but do write more than 1-2 sentences to give the reader enough of a background on the topic. Ideally, the page will also have an image, located above the "fold" of the page (meaning that you can see all of it on the screen without having to scroll down). Visually, all of the text and color at the top of the page will better engage the reader. Then, there's no need for a separate "Description" section.

Mention the heading in the paragraph

Try to mention the heading name in the paragraph. For example, under the heading "Mixed hemorrhoids," prefer "Mixed hemorrhoids are a combination of internal and external hemorrhoids" to a sentence or sentence fragment like "A combination of internal and external hemorrhoids."

Other names

This could include the many scientific synonyms one might see, British spellings, and slang terms that are widely used by some people. It is suggested that slang be noted as such.

This is a helpful site to find synonyms for the "Other Names" section.

Please list other names using bullet points.

Controversy/Debate

Any controversy surrounding the topic on the page should be summarized in one sentence here with a link to the "Debate" page for the topic (the title of the Debate page will be "Debate: _____" where the "______" is whatever seems appropriate (e.g. Debate:Adding Folic Acid to Drinking Water)

Creating a Debate Page

Once the one-sentence summary is added, the Debate Page can be created. Copy and paste the debate template onto the page, then click "Preview" to see what you have. It should be quite straightforward - each side of the debate gets its own header and a paragraph or two to explain their thoughts. The Debate Page is a space to lay out all sides of the argument. It is not a space for the various camps of thought to argue or discuss amongst themselves.

Linking to/from Debate Pages

The first time a topic is mentioned on a Debate Page, please create an internal link back to that topic. (e.g. If it's a debate page on Folic Acid in drinking water, the first time "Folic Acid" is mentioned, it should link back to the Folic Acid page using the standard double-bracketed internal linking system.

Section headings and subheadings

Capitalization: First-level headings should be capitalized as titles. All subheadings should only have the first word capitalized.

Example:
==Types of Miscarriage==
===Missed miscarriage===
===Completed miscarriage===

The names of the sections: Use "Causes", not "Causes of Disease X." Use "Symptoms", not "Symptoms of Disease X", and so on.

Article links

Internal links to other Medpedia pages are encouraged, whether the pages exist or not. Links should be created for anything that may make an interesting page, in order to encourage the Medpedia community to create the page.

Example: The [[polio]] vaccine was created by [[Jonas Salk]].

Be careful of over-linking. See Wikipedia's Overlinking and underlinking

One rule of thumb is to ask yourself when the reader is likely going to want to stop reading and look up the word.

Redirects and internal links

For pages that can be synonyms, or that are simply the singular/plural forms, one option is to create a redirect. For instance, you can create a redirect page for "Cell" to the already-existing "Cells" page. This is useful for someone who is typing the term "cell" into the search box. Rather than arriving at an empty page, he/she will arrive at the already-created "Cells" page.

The syntax for a redirect page is very simple. By way of example, here's the entire Prozac page: #REDIRECT [[Fluoxetine]]

No external links in article

In most situations, external links should NOT be included in the body of the article. If necessary use the reference style instead. NOTE: at the moment, many pages have external links to MedlinePlus pages in the body of text (these are remnants of the original NIH content). Please be sure to change these to internal Medpedia links instead.

"References" section

The References section should be located above the External Links section.

Only sources that are cited in the body of the text with the reference tag should be listed in the References section.

It is NOT necessary to cite the NIH Division that provided the original content. Our ‘shout-out’ to the NIH will be apparent in the history of each Medpedia topic.

Only use journal articles and sources that are publicly available on the internet, and thus can be linked to in the References section. For instance, choose PubMed articles that have the fulltext available online (remember, our target audience is the general public without access to scientific and medical journal articles).

Another great resource is the Public Library of Science. They have seven different journals on various medical topics, located here. These are peer-reviewed, open-access journals that can be linked to without permission.

Do not cite studies that you have not read!
To learn how to format references, see References.

"External Links" section

The External Links section should be located below the References section.

External links to other quality health-information sites is encouraged, but should be done sparingly. Only use external links to sites where 1. the information on that site cannot be directly included on Medpedia pages due to copyright issues, and 2. the site provides valuable information that is not already addressed on the Medpedia page.

Do not link to other health information sites (such as WebMD, About.com, MedlinePlus, or MayoClinic.com) that will simply re-state what has already been written on Medpedia.com. These sites will not be especially valuable to the reader, especially since Medpedia articles will be SO much more informative!

The decision to provide an external link is often a judgment call. See Wikipedia’s guidelines on external links.

It is NOT necessary to provide an external link to the NIH Division that provided the original content. Once our topics are edited and reviewed, the Medpedia pages will be richer and more valuable to the reader than the original NIH content.

Please see the section on external link formats below for technical details.

"Other Resources" section

The Other Resources section should be located below the External Links section.
This section should include information about resources that could be useful to the reader, but are NOT publicly available online. Examples might include books, libraries, museums, people, and the like.

NOTE: not every article will require this section.

Usage

Condescension and editorializing

Avoid condescension and editorializing. To wit:

Don't start an article with an editorializing phrase like "X is a very important disease to be aware of." Instead, the disease and its effects should be described; if it's important to be aware of, demonstrate that with a clear reason, like "It is the leading cause of death in computer professionals" or "It is easily prevented by taking asparagus supplements."
Avoid condescending language like "Our bodies need nutrients, and without these nutrients, we get very sick," or "Obviously, not enough people know about the benefits of asparagus supplements."

For more information on this style point, visit Wikipedia's discussion.

Choppy sentences

Avoid sequences like the following: "This medication is given intravenously. This medication has several side effects, including flatulence, rash, and hair loss. This medication is very expensive." Pronouns, commas, and semicolons are your friends in this situation. Use 'em.

Keep an international audience in mind

Given the international importance of English, remember not to focus just on the US & Canada when we discuss diseases.

Statistics. Assume we're addressing readers from all countries who might like to know what the disease is doing in their part of the world. This requires more leg work on our part, but, at the least, non-North America-centric language would be courteous and helpful. For example, avoid sentences like "Inchworm disease is not seen in the United States but does occur in developing nations." The phrasing sounds rather dismissive. A better phrasing might be "Inchworm disease is widespread in East Africa and India, affecting about 700,000 people a year in Kenya alone." Similarly, discussions of common North American afflictions like heart disease and obesity should contain mentions—at least—of rates around the world. Links to professional societies should try to include prominent non-American societies, or lists of world societies, as well.
Technology. Do not say, for example, "X-rays are of limited use now that more advanced technologies like CT are available." CTs are not available in many parts of the world that use English in a medical context, and plain films take on great importance there. Discuss older but still valid technologies for these audiences.
The phrase "developing nations." Prefer the phrase developing nations to the phrase third-world countries or underdeveloped countries. Better yet, specify which countries or geographic regions (e.g., Africa, South America, Latin America, Polynesia) you're talking about, if possible.

Tense

When describing a disease or procedure, prefer the present tense to the future tense. For example, instead of "The doctor will insert a tube into the rectum," say "The doctor inserts a tube into the rectum." Instead of "The skin will redden and begin to blister," say "The skin reddens and begins to blister." (No, these sentences are not from the same article. :)

Contractions

Contractions are okay to use, but in moderation. It is acceptable to use contractions like "don't" and "isn't", but don't overdo it. Too many contractions can be too informal, but a few scattered throughout the page can improve readability.

Avoid calling patients by their diseases

Instead of albino, prefer person with albinism.

Instead of diabetic, prefer person with diabetes. Etc.

Images and Captions

All images must have sources clearly indicated.

Captions: Write captions in sentences or sentence fragments, with normal capitalization (first word and proper nouns only). Avoid writing captions that remind the reader he's looking at an image, e.g. "This photo shows a man with acanthosis nigricans" or "This is a photograph showing all the poisonous species of mushroom in Ireland." Instead, just write "A man with acanthosis nigricans" or "The poisonous mushrooms of Ireland." End the caption with a period, then indicate the source (see next bullet point). If you like, you may intralink relevant words in the caption to the relevant Medpedia article, as demonstrated above.
Cite sources of images in italics, with this syntax: Source: CDC.

Tip: before deleting what appears to be a non-sourced image, check to see if your colleague put its source with the upload info for that image and forgot to include it on the page itself. Click on "Special Pages" on the left of your screen, then "File List" and search for the image.

Videos

YouTube videos should be embedded in the text if they relate to something explicitly discussed in the text. For instance, on the appendectomy page, a step-by-step video of the procedure should be embedded in the section "How An Appendectomy Is Done."

Use your best judgment regarding whether or not to include YouTube videos on a page. Be sure that the video is informative, appropriate, and useful. Do not include a video that pulls at the heartstrings more than it adds scientific or medical value.

Watch a video before you decide to include it. Some YouTube videos contain advertising or dubious claims. Others are from for-profit companies with a bias toward selling a product. Still others do not discuss the subject as advertised. Finally, some are just in bad taste or are poorly done.

Punctuation

Each sentence should have closing punctuation. Sentence capitalization is recommended in all cases except for the formal titles of works of art.^[1] For titles of works of art, use title case (i.e., Shadows of Despair - nouns and long words capped, short ones not [please see The Chicago Manual of Style for detailed explanation]).

Details

Abbreviations

micrograms = μg, not mcg^[2]

Note: the Joint Commission has μg as a possible future inclusion on the official "Do Not Use" list of abbreviations on all orders and all medication-related documentation that is handwritten (including free-text computer entry) or on pre-printed forms because it may be mistaken for mg (milligrams) resulting in one thousand-fold overdosage. It recommends using mcg or micrograms.

Capitalization

Disease names are not capitalized except:

At the beginning of a sentence, and then only the first word.
If one of the words in the disease's name is a person's name (an eponym), and then only the person's name.
In top-level headings.
in book titles and other titles of works.

For example, begin an article with "A pervasive developmental disorder is...", NOT "A Pervasive Developmental Disorder is..."

Commas

Use serial commas. This means that, in an ordered list, a comma should appear before the last conjunction.

Example: We had apples, oranges, and pears. NOT apples, oranges and pears. Serial commas help avoid ambiguity, as in this silly example: "To my parents, Ayn Rand and God."

For grammar nerds, more info on this surprisingly interesting topic: Serial comma at Wikipedia.

Dashes and hyphens

Hyphens are short, like this: - They link words together into a sort of bigger word, like this: "newly-married couple." They do NOT link thoughts together grammatically.

For that we use em dashes, like this: — They are written & m d a s h ; on Medpedia. They are used to link thoughts together, like this: "I must love him—I even wash his truck."

En dashes are intermediate in length between short hyphens and long em dashes: – They are written & n d a s h ; on Medpedia. They are used to link ranges, like this: "There are about 1100–1200 parrots in the contest."

Emphasis

Use italics to give a word emphasis. Use italics even when the word is a link

Eponyms

Eponyms are words or phrases derived from someone's name.

Possessive forms of eponyms should be used. Example: Parkinson's disease, not Parkinson disease

Eponyms should be capitalized.^[3] Example: Holter's monitor, not holter's monitor.

However, common words derived from proper nouns are usually not capitalized.^[3] Example: parkinsonism; india ink.

New terms

When a new term is introduced, use italics, not bold or quotation marks. If the term is associated with another page, use both italics and an intralink.

Example: Secondary polycythemia, in which the production of red blood cells increases appropriately, is called physiologic polycythemia.

Numbers

Single digit numbers should be spelled out, while numbers greater than 10 are written in numerical format. If both styles appear in the same sentence, both numbers should be written in numerical format.^[4]

Example: We have seen two cases of polio this year BUT We have seen 2 cases of polio and 39 cases of measles this year.

Numbers beginning a sentence are spelled out.

Example: Thirty-nine cases of syphilis occur every day. (Note you can reword to avoid starting a sentence with a number if spelling it out is awkward.)

Round numbers are spelled out.

Example: According to the CDC, 3 million people are diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease each year.

Ranges should be indicated with an en dash only when it is meant to indicate up to and including or through. If from or between is used before the first of a pair of numbers, the en dash should not be used.^[5]

Example:
See pages 45–98.

but
from 80 to 93
between 10 and 15

The five letters and two punctuation marks – appear on the saved page as an en dash. (Copying and pasting one from the same or another page works, but probably wastes your energy in the long run.)

Percentages

When listing a percentage, percent should be written as a symbol; no space is necessary between the number and the symbol. Numbers preceding the percent sign should be written as numerals.^[6]

Example: In 1980, 20% of the population was diagnosed with this disease.

Please see the above discussion in the numbers section about ranges. If an en dash is needed, the % sign should be repeated after each numeral.^[7]

Example: In 1980, 20%–30% of people had this disease.

Phonetics

No need to include pronunciations in the text, unless it is a term that is commonly mispronounced or looks intimidating to the average person. (Ex: 'lymphangioleiomyomatosis').

Species names

Species names should always be (1) italicized, with (2) the first word capitalized and (3) the second in lower case. After the first mention of a species name, the first word may be abbreviated. Example:

RIGHT: Helicobacter pylori, H. pylori.

WRONG: Helicobacter Pylori, Helicobacter pylori, Helicobacter pylori.

Subscripts

Avoid subscripts for common terms.

Example: Vitamin B12, not vitamin B₁₂

Trademarks

In publications that are not advertising or sales materials, all that is necessary is to use the proper spelling and capitalization of the name of the product.^[8]

Example:
Prozac, not Prozac®

Vertical Lists

Vertical lists should be introduced with a complete sentence followed by a colon. The items do not need closing punctuation unless they are complete sentences.^[9]

Example:
Below are the criteria for diagnosing social phobia:

A marked and persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations in which the person is exposed to unfamiliar people or to possible scrutiny by others.

Exposure to the feared social situation almost invariably provokes anxiety, which may take the form of a panic attack invoked by fear of being in a certain place, or by being in a specific, known situation.

Not:
The criteria for diagnosing social phobia are:

Specific Terms

Please add terms in alphabetical order as you come across them:

Acute: Means the opposite of chronic. In a medical context, it is not a synonym for "severe".
Age vs. aged: Use^[10]
aged 85 years,
85 years old,
85 years of age, and
85-year-old man.
African American (no hyphen needed for this or other ethnic designations)^[11]
All right, not "~~alright~~."
"Amoeba", not "~~ameba~~." See the talk page for our reasoning.
CT scan, not CAT scan
Complementary medicine, NOT complimentary medicine
Days' bed rest (unless one day's bed rest.
Follow-up is a noun. Follow up is a verb. Use: "Follow-up is important." "You should follow up."
Gram stain is inherently upper-cased (and is not hyphenated), but gram-negative and gram-positive are lower-cased except at the beginning of a sentence or a list item, or in a title. ^[12]
Health care, not "~~healthcare~~" nor "~~health-care~~" (Two words is AMA style)
Hispanic/Latino: These terms refer not to biological race but to cultural ethnicity. One may speak of white Hispanics (most southern South Americans), black Hispanics (from Jamaica or Cuba), Asian Hispanics (from the Philippines), etc.
Iron deficiency anemia
Lifestyle
Life-threatening
mRNA: The m is inherently lower-case (and the R, N, and A are inherently uppercase). If you can't find any other way to recast your sentence without mRNA as the first word, spell out "messenger" and uppercase that.
That: Use that to introduce a restrictive clause; use which, preceded by a comma (and, if the main clause continues after it, followed by one) to introduce a nonrestrictive clause. (Adding a nonrestrictive clause to a sentence produces one asserting the same thing, and including further information. Adding a restrictive clause changes the meaning of the sentence's main clause by making the equivalent assertion only with respective to something more specific.) If a particular that clause seems to cry out to be set off by at least one comma, it might be because the meaning sought is which rather than that; in some cases where that is correct, it can be because of the complexity of the resulting sentence, and breaking the sentence into two sentences may be desirable.
Type 1 diabetes mellitus and type 2 diabetes mellitus^[13]
Under way: two words, not one ("~~underway"~~)
U.S.: use abbreviation adjectivially, but spell out "United States" as a noun.
X-ray: not inherently upper-cased: "x-ray", in a sentence, unless the first word. ^[14]
Weeks’ gestation, two or more months' gestation.
Which: For which vs. that, see That above.

References

How to choose references

Medpedia is a new kind of resource. It's not scientific literature, and it's not patient-education boilerplate. We'd like not only to back up our statements with references as good science should, but also let those references be of further value to the curious lay reader.

In choosing references, please choose not only sterling, original-research references (primary resources) to link to, but also try to include fulltext review articles (secondary resources), which are somewhat more accessible to the general reader than most original research.

For example, say we have a statement of fact like "Disease X often occurs in conjunction with disease Y." This fact was noticed in one landmark study in 1990 and only its citation is available on Pubmed--no full text. On the other hand, multiple intelligent review articles have cited this fact since. If we were writing a scientific paper, we'd use the former for that fact, but on Medpedia we should add one of the reviews in addition to the landmark paper. An intelligent person who's curious to learn more right away would thus be better served.

In short, here is our ideal:

Cite a primary source for your statement if possible. Also, reference full-text review articles in addition to primary sources. If you have trouble tracking down a primary source, choose a review article instead.

If the full-text isn't available for free online...

In general, do not link to non-free full text articles. The exceptions are: classic or landmark articles which meet two conditions: (1) there is no abstract available, and (2) a DOI number or other full-text link to a pay-per-view site does exist. In this case, you should hyperlink to it, label it "Full Text (fee)", and do not link to an abstract because none exists.

Format

UPDATE, 4 June 2008: This is the new, finalized format for journal article citations.

Journal articles

Segal JB, Eng J, Tamariz LJ, Bass EB. Review of the evidence on diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Ann Fam Med. 2007 Jan-Feb;5(1):63-73. Abstract | Full Text | PDF

Here's the markup:

Segal JB, Eng J, Tamariz LJ, Bass EB. Review of the evidence on diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. ''Ann Fam Med.'' 2007 Jan-Feb;5(1):63-73. [http://pubmed.gov/17261866 Abstract] | [http://dx.doi.org/10.1370/afm.648 Full Text] | [http://www.annfammed.org/cgi/reprint/5/1/63 PDF]

Note nicely-spaced bars, and the ease with which full text and PDFs can be included or not.
Note also that I used the DOI to link to the full text. If DOI can't be found, use whatever URL gets us to the full text for now.
A very efficient way to generate a PubMed Abstract links uses the syntax http://pubmed.gov/1234567, where 1234567 is the PMID number.
If a "Summary for Patients" or "Press Release" is available, you may include that as the final item, with a hyperlink.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

General idea: AMA-style format, followed by Abstract, Full Text, and/or PDF--whatever's available. The latter are surrounded by brackets and separated by vertical bars for clarity. Try to use the DOI to link to full text, but other URLs are fine too.
Last names + initials without periods, separated by commas. Last initials followed by a period.
Six names max. If more than six names, take the first 3 and add "et al." Delete the rest.
Article title without capitalizations except for first word.
Journal title, italicized and abbreviated AMA style (see PubMed for how to do it)
Date, semicolon, volume(issue), colon, pages, period.
Open bracket, then Abstract's address. Usually this will be found on the PubMed system. Use "http://pubmed.gov/" plus the PMID number (see above). Space, then "Abstract", then close bracket.
Space, vertical bar, space.
Open bracket. DOI address, if it's available and leads to full text. Use "http://dx.doi.org/" plus the DOI number. This can sometimes be found at the top of the article once you surf to it from the fulltext link at PubMed. If DOI address isn't available, just use the fulltext URL you surfed to from the fulltext link at PubMed. Then the words "Full Text" and close bracket.
Space, vertical bar, space.
Open bracket. PDF address plus "PDF." Close bracket.
If only the abstract is available, then don't include full text and PDF. If PDF is available, but not online full text, then leave off full text. Et cetera.

DOI

To use a DOI, find the DOI number (usually it is present at the top of a fulltext page, if the page has a DOI number) and insert it after http://dx.doi.org/.

Journal titles

Use standardized abbreviations for journal titles (JAMA instead of Journal of the American Medical Association; Am Fam Physician instead of American Family Physician, etc.) If you cut and paste from PubMed the abbreviation is done for you. You can also type in the full journal name in PubMed and you'll be taken to a page that includes the journal's abbreviation. To download a list of all abbreviations as a text file, click on the "Journals Database" on the left then on "List of all Entrez journals." There are also abbreviations to the more common journals in AMA Manual of Style 10th Ed. starting on page 473.

How to reference corrections in journal articles

Hampton HL. Care of the woman who has been raped. N Engl J Med. 1995 Jan 26;332(4):234-7. (Published correction appears in N Engl J Med. 1997;337(1):56.) Abstract | Full Text.

Note the hyperlink used above is a joke, but if you have the real hyperlink to the correction, add it to the word "correction."

Web sites

Nobel Foundation Web site. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1997.

There is no need to include the access date.^[15]

If the author of the page can be determined, this should be included as well.^[16]
Example: Sullivan K. The Weston A. Price Foundation Web site. Basic Nutrition: The Miracle of Vitamin D.

Note the hyperlink is placed around the page title.

Newspaper articles

The following slightly modified AMA format is suggested for both online and paper newspapers:

DeBakey M. Patient-friendly medical wiki launched to world jubilation. London Times. July 1, 2008.

Two modifications from AMA style are here:

AMA has the URL bare, after the ref, whereas we hyperlink the article title (if one is available), and
AMA finishes with an access date, whereas we dispense with it (in part to prevent confusion with publication date).

If there are objections, please discuss them on the talk sheet.

Referring multiple times to the same reference

The format is as follows:

The first time the article is cited, create a name tag: <ref name=smith>Smith AL. Effect of aspirin on headache. ''Journal name.'' 1999;204(40):45-55.</ref>
Subsequent citations: <ref name=smith /> Do not use quotation marks around the name, and make sure to include the slash or the whole article after the cite will not show up.

ClinicalTrials.gov Links

Include a link to the list of trials at clinicaltrials.gov.
If you wish, provide summaries of the trials themselves in addition to the link.
The Clinical Trials section should relate to studies that are currently enrolling participants. Previous clinical studies, that have already been completed, should be listed in the Research section instead.
A suggested syntax for the section is as follows: "For a list of American government-sponsored clinical trials involving carotid ultrasound, click here." Wording like this is preferable to a statement like "Research is going on around the country...", which is inappropriately U.S.-centric. We may in future include trials from other countries or other funding sources.

Drug Pages and Drug Companies

All drug names, including page titles, should be the generic name of the drug. Brand names may be mentioned, e.g. "Clubroppa is marketed in the U.S. as ClubRop by Bayer Pharmaceuticals", but not widely used, in the article. Keep in mind that this is a worldwide reference and there are many international companies that have their own brands. American companies may not be relevant to, say, Indian readers (India has a large pharma industry of its own). Stick with generics.

Put the sentence about brand name in the "Other Names" section. This may grow rather long as the drug's name in different countries is added. And, see the next point:

Note that the brand name of the drug contains the specification "in the U.S." Some drugs have dozens of trade names around the world. Unless you're quite sure it's called ClubRop from Manila to St. Louis to Tehran, specify "in the U.S."

Avoid linking to drug companies' pages. Use Medline Plus to link to extensive drug info.

No need to retain the info boxes that appear on some of the pages we've imported.

External Link Format

These formats are suggested, but do not represent a consensus. If you have other ideas, please visit the discussion page.

There is no need for bullets to first level entries in the External Link section. If you wish to link to different pages within a site, list the site first (without a bullet), and bullet the links to the pages within it.

Example:
American Academy of Pediatrics:

For links to an entire Web site:

Hyperlink the entire site, and title the link with the organization's title

Example:
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Foundation

If you wish to add a brief description of the site, place this after a colon. This should not be part of the hyperlink.

Example:
CJD Aware!: An information resource site for CJD.

For links to a certain page on a Web site:

List the organization first, followed by a colon, and a link with the title of the specific page

Example:
Science Daily: Depression News