LibGuides: Citation Resources: AMA

The American Medical Association (AMA), both a professional organization and a publisher, establishes citation style rules to encourage accuracy and consistency in scholarly communication.

This guide was created as a supplement to the AMA Manual of Style (11th edition) for our students at National University and addresses the most common style questions and formatting issues. For more specific information, please refer to directly to your AMA Manual of Style.

Access the AMA Manual

AMA Manual of Style, 11th Edition

Access an electronic copy of the AMA Manual of Style using the link below.

AMA Manual of Style
The AMA Manual of Style is a must-have resource for anyone involved in medical, health, and scientific publishing. Written by an expert committee of JAMA Network editors, this latest edition addresses issues that face authors, editors, and publishers in the digital age. Extensive updates are included in the References chapter, with examples of how to cite digital publications, preprints, databases, data repositories, podcasts, apps and interactive games, and social media. Full-color examples grace the chapter on data display, with newer types of graphic presentations and updated guidance on formatting tables and figures. The manual thoroughly covers ethical and legal issues such as authorship, conflicts of interest, scientific misconduct, intellectual property, open access and public access, and corrections. The Usage chapter has been revised to bring the manual up-to-date on word choice, especially in writing about individuals with diseases or conditions and from various socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, and sexual orientation populations. Specific nomenclature entries in many disciplines are presented to guide users in issues of diction, formatting, and preferred terminology. Guidance on numbers, SI units, and math has been updated, and the section on statistics and study design has undergone a major expansion. In sum, the answer to nearly any issue facing a writer or editor in medicine, health care, and related disciplines can be found in the 11th edition of the AMA Manual of Style.

Example Citations

Citing Articles

A Note About Journal Abbreviations

To cite articles you will need to know the proper journal abbreviation. You can look them up in the NLM Catalog.

Article Type	Example
Print journal article - one author	Heinrich C. Health literacy: the sixth vital sign. J Am Acad Nurse Pract. 2012; 24(4): 218-223.
Print journal article - more than one author (If more than six authors, list the first three followed by et al.)	Cnattingius S, Torrang A, Ekbom, A, Granath F, Petersson G, Lambe M. (2005). Pregnancy characteristics and maternal risk of breast cancer. JAMA. 2005; 294(2): 2474-2480.
Online journal article with doi	Fillo J, Breza J, Levcíkova M, et al. Occurrence of erectile dysfunction, testosterone deficiency syndrome and metabolic syndrome in patients with abdominal obesity. where is a sufficient level of testosterone? Int Urol Nephrol. 2012;44(4):1113-1120. doi: 10.1007/s11255-012-0132-1.
Online journal article with no doi (use URL and accessed date instead).	Bannon M. Editor's choice: risk assessment and thromboprophylaxsis. QJM. 2010; 103(8): 543-544. http://qjmed.oxfordjournals.org/content/103/8/543.long. Accessed August 10, 2012.
Online encyclopedia article or work in anthology	Brodsky R. (2002). Multiple Sclerosis. In Blanchfield DS, Longe J, eds. The Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. Vol.3. 2nd ed. Detroit: Gale; 2002: 2249-2254. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3405601044&v=2.1&u=nu_main&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=w. Accessed March 14, 2012.

Citing Books

Books	Example
One author	Groopman JE. Your Medical Mind: How to Decide What is Right for You. New York: Penguin Press; 2011.
Two to six authors (If more than six authors, list the first three followed by et al.)	Beck CAJ, Sales BD. Family Mediation: Facts, Myths, and Future Prospects. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2001.
No author or editor	Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary. 10th ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster; 1993.
Ebook	Pearce J, Witten K. Geographies of Obesity: Environmental Understandings of the Obesity Epidemic. Farnham, Surrey, UK: Ashgate; 2010. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/jfku/docDetail.action?docID=10367802. Accessed November 9, 2011.
An edited book (anthology or compilation)	Benson SG, ed. Hispanic American Almanac: A Reference Work on Hispanics in the United States. Detroit, MI: Gale Research; 2003.
Two editors	Larson GS, Pepper G, eds. How to Read a Book. 2nd ed. New York, NY: Sage; 2008.
Book chapter in anthology	Adams J. Interracial marriage cannot be treated identically to same-race marriage. In Szumksi B, ed. Interracial America: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven; 1996: 216-219.
Encyclopedia article	Kuehl WF. Peace. In Encyclopedia Americana. Vol. 21. Danbury, CT: Scholastic Library Publishing; 2005: 263-266.

Citing Websites, Video, etc.

Source	Example
Website	King MW. The Medical Biochemistry Page. http://themedicalbiochemistrypage.org. Updated August 6, 2012. Accessed August 20, 2012.
Interview	Personal communications, such as interviews, are not included in the reference list. They are cited only in the text.
Videotape or DVD	Collins M, Wolfinger K. Bioterror. [videotape]. Boston, MA: WGBH Boston Video; 2002. OR Collins M, Wolfinger K. Bioterror. [DVD]. Boston, MA: WGBH Boston Video; 2002.
Online Audio	Complications, contradictions in a FLa. swing county. [Morning Edition audio]. National Public Radio. August 9, 2012. http://www.npr.org/2012/08/09/158419238/complications-contradictions-in-a-fla-swing-county. Accessed August 9, 2012.