Reference entries are listed numerically in the order in which they occur in the text. To indicate a citation, an Arabic numeral is placed as a superscript after a period or comma and before a colon or semi-colon. Parenthetical citations are not used unless the publication does not use a reference list.
The main components of an AMA citation include:
| Component |
Ending
Punctuation
|
Description |
| Author Last Name Initial(s). |
Period |
Can be an individual, multiple people, group, organization, government, etc. There is no comma between last name and initials and no space between initials. Each author is separated by a comma. If there are more than six, list the first three followed by "et al." |
| Title of resource within a larger publication: and subtitle. |
Period |
Any resource that is part of a larger publication, e.g. article, chapter, web page, etc. Only the first letter and proper nouns are capitalized. Any word in a language other than the primary language of the resource is italicized. |
| Title of Publication. |
Period |
Larger source that is its own entity. E.g. journal, edited work, website (when it is the publisher of a resource). Journal names are abbreviated (find abbreviations at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/advanced) and italicized. |
| Edition Number |
Period |
Not needed for first edition. |
| Publisher; |
Semi-colon |
Usually clear for books; may also be an organization, government agency, etc. |
| Publication date. |
Period |
Use the most recent date. May also be a date of revision, forthcoming date, etc. If there is no date and the source is not static, include when the source was accessed. |
| Volume(Issue):page range. |
Period |
Needed for journal articles. Note the location of the parenthesis and colon. The page range is separated by a hyphen. |
| Published Month Day, Year |
Period |
For online resources. |
| Updated Month Day, Year |
Period |
For online resources. |
| Accessed Month Day, Year |
Period |
For online resources. |
| DOI/URL |
None |
The Digital Object Identifier (DOI), if provided, or URL. The DOI is preferred and in the following format: doi:xxxxxxx |
Notes:
- Not all may apply.
- Each component uses specific formatting for punctuation marks, italicization, and capitalization.
