Citation and Style Guides

This information is intended to get you started with properly crediting the work of others in your writing using the AMA format. For complete information on in-text citations see the AMA Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors, 11th Edition.

AMA In-Text Citation Basics

• Number all references in the order in which they appear in your paper, whether in the text, tables, or figures.
• Use superscript numerals to cite facts, concepts, or direct quotations. 
  • Insert the superscript numeral immediately next to content being cited. Ex. This drug is used to treat hepatitis. ¹
  • If citing more than one reference for the same content, separate numbers with commas with no spaces between them.
  • Place superscript numbers outside periods and commas but inside colons and semi-colons in the text. Ex. Storing latex at high heat may cause degradation,^2,3 but it is difficult to keep materials cool in a desert environment. Some physicians choose to store prescription pads in locked cabinets ⁴; others keep them in their coats at all times. ⁵
  • If more than 2 references are cited for the same concept, use hyphens to join the first and last numbers of a closed series; use commas without spaces to separate other parts of a multiple citation. Ex. The link between obesity and poorer health outcomes has been widely discussed.^1,4-7,15,20
• If using the same reference more than once in the same paper, use the number for the first time it is used throughout the entire paper.
• At the end of the document, include a reference list with full citations to each item. Order citations as they appear in your paper.

AMA In-Text Citation Examples

Finding treatments for breast cancer is a major goal for scientists.^1,2 Some classes of drugs show more promise than others. Gradishar evaluated taxanes as a class.³ Other scientists have investigated individual drugs within this class, including Andre and Zielinski ² and Joensuu and Gligorov. ⁴ Mita et al's investigation of cabazitaxel ⁵ seems to indicate a new role for this class of drugs.

Reference list:

1. Cancer Research Funding. National Cancer Institute. Publication date unavailable. Updated June 6, 2011. Accessed November 3, 2012. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/NCI/research-funding

2. Andre F, Zielinski CC. Optimal strategies for the treatment of metastatic triple-negative breast cancer with currently approved agents. Ann Oncol. 2012;23(Suppl 2):vi46-vi51.

3. Gradishar WJ. Taxanes for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer. Breast Cancer (Auckl.). 2012;6:159-171.

4. Joensuu H, Gligorov J. Adjuvant treatments for triple-negative breast cancers. Ann Oncol. 2012;Suppl 6:vi40-45.

5. Mita AC, Figlin R, Mita MM. Cabazitaxel: more than a new taxane for metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer? Clin Cancer Res. 2012;18(24):OF1-OF6.

Examples for this page have been adapted from University of Southern California Libraries' Research Guide on AMA Style (11th Ed) and used with permission. 

• The reference list at the end of your paper provides full citation information for each in-text citation.
• Number references in the order in which they are cited in the text. 
  • If a source is cited multiple times, it should be numbered and listed in the references only once.

The format for citing online journal articles is:

Author. Title of article. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;vol(issue):pages or e-Locator. doi:xx.xx.xx

Example:

Krueger MD. Mortality after nontraumatic major lower-limb amputations in Medicare patients at a large metropolitan prosthetic facility. J Prosthet Orthot. 2023;35(4):250. doi:10.1097/JPO.0000000000000463

This is provided first because online journal articles are likely to be the most commonly cited resources in student writing. Please see the AMA Manual of Style for information on full citations for other types of resources. The Writing Center of University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences put together this handy Quick-Reference Guide for citing various types of sources using AMA. We highly recommend it!

Format for Citing an online journal article:

Author. Title of article. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;vol(issue):pages or e-Locator. doi:xx.xx.xx

Example:

Krueger MD. Mortality After Nontraumatic Major Lower-Limb Amputations in Medicare Patients at a Large Metropolitan Prosthetic Facility. J Prosthet Orthot. 2023;35(4):250. doi:10.1097/JPO.0000000000000463

The Writing Center of University of St Augustine for Health Sciences put together this handy Quick-Reference Guide for citing various types of sources using AMA. We highly recommend it!

Author Names

• List authors by last name followed by first and middle initial (if applicable) with a single space separating last name and first initial. Commas are used to separate authors but not between an individual author's last name and first initial. A period is used after the initial(s) of the final author to indicate the completion of the author citation element. Ex. Winston SA, Price C, Newberry JM.
• List all authors for works with 1-6 authors or editors. If a work has 7 or more authors, list the first three then abbreviate with et al.
• Place a period after the final author. Place one space between the period and the article or chapter title.

Titles

• Capitalize journal article titles and the titles of book chapters in sentence case. (Capitalize the first letter of the first word, proper nouns and acronyms that are part of the title.)
• For titles of books and government documents, capitalize the first letter of each major word. Do not capitalize articles (a, an, the) or prepositions less than three letters ( at, by, in, on, of, to).
• Journal titles are italicized and abbreviated.
  • Use PubMed abbreviations for journal titles. You can lookup journal abbreviations in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) catalog by entering the full name of the journal in the search bar.
    • If the journal is not found in the NCBI catalog, use the standard abbreviations in the AMA Manual of Style, 11th Edition to create an abbreviated title.
• End both the title of the article and journal title with a period. Place one space after each period.

Journal Date, Volume, Issue & page numbers

• Year, volume, issue, and pages are listed without any spaces in between.
  • Separate year and issue with a semicolon.
  • The volume number immediately follows the semicolon.
  • Put the issue number in parenthases followed by colon
  • Include page range with a dash between first and last page, followed by a period.

DOI or URL

• When available, it is preferable to include a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) rather than an URL. However, some journals do not use DOIs.  If no DOI is available, provide the URL for the article preceded by the date you accessed it.  See the examples below.

  • Journal article viewed online with DOI available:

    Towfighi A, Markovic D, Ovbiagele B. Utility of Framingham coronary disease risk score for predicting cardiac risk after stroke. Stroke. 2012;43(11):2942-2947. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.112.668319

  • Journal article viewed online, but the journal does not use DOI:

    Ng L, Karunasinghe N, Benjamin CS, Ferguson LR. Beyond PSA: are new prostate cancer biomarkers of potential value to New Zealand doctors? N Z Med J. 2012;125(1353). Accessed April 15, 2020. https://www.nzma.org.nz/journal-articles/beyond-psa-are-new-prostate-cancer-biomarkers-of-potential-value-to-new-zealand-doctors/

• Do not place a period after the DOI or URL

For help with AMA formatting, see the contact information for your health sciences librarian on the left of this page.