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Citation Guide : AMA

Basic AMA Rules

Follow these general guidelines when using the AMA citation style:

Within the text:

  • Each source should be cited in the text, tables or figures in consecutive numerical order using superscript Arabic numerals. Only one number is assigned is to a particular source even if it is cited more then once in the text. The full citation of the source is found in the reference list at the end of the document.
  • Superscript numbers should be placed outside periods and commas and inside colons and semicolons.

   Example: More women than men reacted positively to this type of treatment.5             

  • If a source is cited more than once in the text, use the original number assigned the source followed by the page number(s) referred to.

           Example: Patients showed a variety of reactions to this new drug.4(pp5-6)           

  • Parenthetical citations (ones that include authors, journal titles or book titles, etc.) should not be used within the text except in cases where the material has not been accepted for publication yet or when the source is a personal communication.

In the reference list:

  • Cited works are listed in numerical order in a reference list at the end of the document.
  • Arabic numerals are assigned based on the order that the reference initially appears in the document.
  • Two or more resources should not be cited under the same reference number in the reference list.
  • Authors' names are written last name first followed by the initials of their first and middle name. Do not use periods after the initials and do not separte the last name and initials with a comma (e.g. Smith KM).
  • If there are 6 or less authors, all authors are listed with commas seperating each one. Do not use "and" to separate any of the names.
  • If there are more than 6 authors, include the names of the first 3 authors followed by et al. (e.g. Smith KM, Victor TE, Benson R, et al.)
  • Abbreviations for junior (Jr) or senior (Sr) or Roman numerals follow the author's initial(s) without a comma separating them. (e.g. Harris BT Jr, Williams SE II)
  • Standard abbreviations for journal titles should be used. A list of the abbreviations for commonly cited journals can be found in AMA Manual of Style or you can search for NLM-accpeted abbreviations in PubMed.