American Medical Association (AMA) Citation Guide
Note: These reference guides do not take the place of assignment guidelines.
In-Text Citations
In AMA, when you reference a source, you indicate it with a superscript Arabic number. The first citation is
“1,” the second is “2,” etc. The superscript numbers should appear OUTSIDE periods and commas and INSIDE
colons and semicolons.
In 2010, diabetes remained the 7th leading cause of death in the United States with 234,051
death certificates listing diabetes as a contributing or underlining cause of death1;
researchers believe this number will only continue to grow.2
If using the author’s name (or authors’ names) in a sentence, only use the surname(s). If there are three or
more writers, use only the first writer’s surname followed by “et al.”
Munro and Moore have estimated that, by 2015, the number diabetes-related fatalities will
more than double because of the growing number of type II diabetes cases seen in children
and young adults3; Johnson et al., on the other hand, estimate that the number of diabetesrelated fatalities will not double until 2020 because of the public’s growing awareness of the
causes of and the lifestyle changes needed to overcome type II diabetes.4
In instances where a source is referenced for a second time in the same document, reuse the original
superscript number but include the specific page number you are citing in parenthesis.
Over 90% of diabetes cases are type II diabetes.1(p234)
When citing more than one source at the same time, hyphenate the first and last number of an
uninterrupted series. Use a comma for sources not in an uninterrupted series. Do not put spaces before or
after the commas in the superscript series.
Despite disagreements about the growth rate of diabetes-related fatalities, the literature
agrees that drastic changes are needed in treatment methods to prevent hundreds of
thousands of Americans from dying from treatable type II diabetes.1-3,4,6-10
Avoid placing superscript citations immediately after abbreviated units of measurement (cm2) and number
(2345) so the citations aren’t mistaken for exponents.
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American Medical Association (AMA) Citation Guide
Note: These reference guides do not take the place of assignment guidelines.
References
In AMA, the title “References” should appear in the center of the top of the page. List and label the
references numerically as they appeared in the text (i.e. the first reference should be “1,” the second “2,”
etc.). Citations are single-spaced but leave an empty space between citations.
List up to six authors by their surname followed by their first and (if applicable) middle initial. Place
commas between different authors but not between an author’s surname and first and middle initials. Do
not use “and” before the final author in a series. If there are more than six authors, provide the names of
the first three followed by “et al.”
The same rules for formatting authors’ names apply to editors, translators, and editor-translators with one
exception: place a comma after the final name and add “ed(s),” “tran(s),” or “ed-tran(s)” to indicate the
appropriate role. If there is no author given, use the editor in place of the author. If there is no editor or
author, use the organization responsible for the document.
Books
Reference Number. Author(s). Chapter title. Editor(s)/Translator(s)/Editor-Translator(s).
Book Title. Edition number if not the first edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Copyright
year:Specific Page Numbers.
References
1. Leone KT, Kumar N, Leben C, et al. Only eat tofu. Farrell J, ed. The Future of
Healthcare in America. 3rd ed. Lubbock: Iron Horse Press; 2000:7-33.
2. Peter PE, Thomas T, eds. Livers: Do we need them? New York: BC Decker Inc; 1985.
Journals
In AMA, journal names are abbreviated. To check for a journal’s abbreviation, go to pubmed.gov. Select
“NLM Catalog” in the dropdown menu and type the journal name in the search bar. Search and select the
journal from the list of options. The journal abbreviation will be listed next to “NLM Title Abbreviation.”
With articles accessed online, the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is more preferable than the URL. Put
“doi: ” before the actual number. If there is no DOI, use the URL and access date. If you use a DOI, you do
not need an access date. Put “Accessed” before the accessed date. Put the date in this form: October 31,
1999.
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American Medical Association (AMA) Citation Guide
Note: These reference guides do not take the place of assignment guidelines.
Print
Reference Number. Author(s). Article Title. Journal Abbreviation. Year;volume(issue
number):Pages.
3. Carmello A. Pasta gives you cancer. Psychol Sci. 2010;3(2):66-78.
Online
Reference Number. Author(s). Article Title. Journal Abbreviation. Year;volume(issue
number):Pages. DOI or URL. Access date.
4. Garwitch A, Beach ED, Mackey MJ, et al. “Mixed-martial arts and brain trauma.” J
Neurotrauma. 2013;27(1):100-112. doi: 10.369/k.4442-589h.2012.00036.x.
5. Michael J. “Babies’ influence on parents’ blood pressure.” Pediatrics. 1988;72 (3):83-90.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/103/2/f52. Accessed September 30,
2013.
Websites
The published and updated dates should appear in the same form as the accessed date (detailed above).
Put “Published” and “Updated” before the published and updated dates.
Author or organization. Title. Name of Website. URL. Published Date. Updated date.
Accessed date.
6. World Health Organization. Half of preterm babies born in hospitals miss out on life-saving
drug. World Health Organization.
http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/topics/maternal_perinatal/corticosteroids/en/.
Accessed August 22, 2014.
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