What are all those numbers in parentheses? Citations

Citations can be extremely useful for self-advocacy, especially when addressing misperceptions about Sjogren’s.

What is a citation? You have probably noticed the numbers inside parentheses that are scattered throughout the website and blog. These are citations. Citations tell you the specific references, such as articles from medical journals or books, that I use to back up the information that was written just prior to the citation. You can view the source (usually a journal article) for most citations by clicking on the salmon-colored numbers in parentheses.

These articles are one of most powerful tools that patients can use to advocate for diagnosis and care. Clinicians are more likely to be receptive to this information from the medical literature than a printout from a website page or blog post. See the HANDOUTS FOR CLINICIANS PAGE to learn how to choose and share Sjogren's information with your doctors. To view the formal citation, or whenever a direct link is not possible, use the citations page found on the footer of every page.

Here is what a citation looks like on a website page or blog post:

Diagnostic criteria are, “a set of signs, symptoms and tests for use in routine clinical care to guide the care of individual patients”(77). <-- Click here to access the article. Here is what a journal article citation looks like on the citations page: 204.  Davies, K., Mirza, K., Tarn, J., Howard-Tripp, N., Bowman, S. J., Lendrem, D., UK Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome Registry, & Ng, W. F. (2019). Fatigue in primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is associated with lower levels of proinflammatory cytokines: a validation study. Rheumatology international, 39(11), 1867–1873. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-019-04354-0

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31250166/     (Open Access)

Why are some citations in black? Book citations (such as citation 214) are in black and not underlined because they cannot be hyperlinked for obvious reasons. To view the formal citation, or when a direct link is not possible, such as citation 214, use the citations page found on the footer of every page. Here is what a book citation looks like on the citations page:

214. Wallace D, Baer A, Carsons S, Carteron N, Hammitt K, Makara M (Eds.) (2022). The Sjogren’s Book, Fifth Edition. New York. Oxford University Press and the Sjogren’s Foundation.  What if I can only find an abstract by clicking on the citation? It can take several steps to download an article from the link. Look around on the page for a place that says "download article" or "PDF". I try to use open access articles when possible because they are free to read and print. Some important articles are behind a paywall. If that is the case, clinicians maybe able to order them through their medical library. Some health libraries will photocopy and mail articles to patients free of charge. I have used the Stanford Health Library for this in the past.