AMA Manual of Style - Stacy L. Christiansen, Cheryl Iverson 2020
Equipment, Devices, Reagents, and Software
Nomenclature
14.5.1 Equipment, Devices, and Reagents.
Nonproprietary names or descriptive phrasing is preferred to proprietary names for devices, equipment, and reagents, particularly in the context of general statements and interchangeable items (eg, urinary catheters, intravenous catheters, pumps). However, if several brands of the same product are being compared or if the use of proprietary names is necessary for clarity or to replicate the study, proprietary names should be given at first mention along with the nonproprietary name. In such cases, the name of the manufacturer or supplier is also important, and authors should include this information in parentheses after the name or description. Authors should provide this information for any reagents, antibodies, enzymes, or probes used in investigations. Because the location of the manufacturer is easy to look up online, this information is no longer required.
The following are examples in which specific information is required:
Dual-lumen cannulas avoid this problem by being inserted through a single neck vein. The Avalon (Maquet Cardiovascular) is inserted through the right internal jugular or subclavian vein with the tip ending in the inferior vena cava. The Protek Duo (CardiacAssist Inc) is inserted through the right internal jugular vein and ends in the proximal pulmonary artery.
The incisions were closed with running 3-0 polyglactin sutures (Vicryl; Ethicon Inc).
The cells were further incubated with goat antimouse Alexa 488 (Molecular Probes), washed, fixed, and analyzed using a confocal microscope.
The face mask group was managed with a single-limb noninvasive ventilator (Philips Respironics V60).
Bacterial cells were centrifuged at 5000g for 10 minutes, and the pellet was suspended in 5 volumes of Bacterial PE (G-Biosciences).
The following are examples of more general references that do not require specific descriptions or information on the manufacturer:
Currently, treatment by Nd:YAG laser is the accepted method to surgically open the opacified posterior capsule.
Topical treatments for erosive pustular dermatosis of the scalp include corticosteroids and retinoids.
Participants were randomly assigned to reduce their smoking by 75% with the help of their choice of short-acting nicotine replacement therapy products (gum, nasal spray, lozenges) or nicotine patches.
As with drugs and isotopes, proprietary names should be capitalized; the registered trademark symbol is not used.
If a device is described as “modified,” the modification should be explained or an explanatory reference cited.
On the basis of the procedural measurements of relative visceral vessels, clock position, and distance, we selected a 38 X 77 TX2 graft (Cook Medical LLC) that was modified6 and implanted within a few hours of the patient’s transfer.
If equipment or apparatus is provided free of charge by the manufacturer, this fact should be included in the acknowledgment (see 2.10.10, Funding/Support; 5.2.1, Acknowledging Support, Assistance, and Contributions of Those Who Are Not Authors; and 5.5.3, Reporting Funding, Sponsorship, and Other Support).
14.5.2 Software.
For statistical software, the proprietary name should always be given.
The data were analyzed with QMass MR 7.2 (Medis Inc) and Diagnosoft 2.71 (Diagnosoft Inc).
All prediction and survival analyses were performed using SAS statistical software, version 9.3 (SAS Institute Inc); Kaplan-Meier curves were plotted using R, version 3.1.3 (R Foundation for Statistical Computing).
Analyses were conducted using Stata, release 12 (StataCorp LP) and Joinpoint, version 4.2 (National Cancer Institute) statistical software.
Investigators used advanced 3-dimensional reconstruction imaging software (Aquarius WS) to obtain accurate measurements of the relative origins of the visceral arteries.
Principal Author: Cheryl Iverson, MA
Acknowledgment
Thanks to Karen Leslie Boyd, formerly with JAMA Network, for reviewing and providing comments.