Skip to Main Content

How To Cite Sources: AMA

This guide provides links to tip sheets for commonly used citation styles.

AMA References

Basic Info

Author(s). Article title. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;vol(issue#): pages of article. DOI.

Example

1. Ganss C, Neutard L, von Hinckeldey J, Klimek J, Schlueter N. Efficacy of a tin/fluoride rinse: a randomized in situ trial on erosion. J Dent Res. 2010;89(11):1214-1218. doi:10.1177/0022034510375291

Discussion

Take note that…

  1. The first word of the subtitle (portion of the title after the colon) is not capitalized. This differs from some other formatting styles.
  2. There is no comma between an author’s last name and initials. Nor is there a period after the initials. The period only occurs at the end of the list of authors, prior to the article title.
  3. For articles with up to six authors, all authors should be listed in the reference list entry. Articles with more than six authors should list the first three authors followed by et al.
  4. Most – an overwhelming majority – of all scholarly articles accessed online will have a DOI (digital object identifier). While DOIs may appear in at least two different forms (with and without the https://, etc.), the 11th edition preference is to present the DOI as metadata rather than as a resolvable URL, like so: doi:10.1177/0022034510375291
  5. If there is no DOI, end the reference citation at the end of the article’s pages.
  6. Some journals that publish primarily online no longer use continuous, volume-and-issue spanning page numbers, instead preferring to use an article number. Use that article number, if provided, in the place where you would otherwise place page numbers.
  7. If the journal or index in which you find an article does not provide the official abbreviated journal title, you can look the journal up in the NLM Catalog (link below)

Basic Info

Author(s). Title of Dissertation. Type of document. University Name; Year. Access date [if accessed online]. URL [if accessed online]

*There are, as a rule, only two document types to choose from for this kind of material: Dissertation or Master's Thesis.

Examples

1. Austin LD. Oral Status of Residents of Long-term Care Facilities in Kentucky. Dissertation. University of Louisville; 2009.

2. McCurry CL. A Story-Centered Approach to AP English Literature, Curriculum, and Assessment. Master's thesis. University of New Orleans; 2020. Accessed May 27, 2022. https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/2761/

Basic Info

Author(s). Title. Name of dept/bureau/etc.; Publication date/year. Additional publication numbering or series info. Accessed [date]. URL

Example

Henry M, Mahathey A, Morrill T, Robinson A, Shivji A, Watt R; and Abt Associates. The 2018 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress. Part 1: Point-in-Time Estimates of Homelessness. Office of Community Planning and Development, US Dept of Housing and Urban Development; 2018. Accessed January 11, 2019. https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/2018-AHAR-Part-1

Discussion

Format for organizational and government reports varies widely – especially if you wander into the world of numbered codes and resolutions. In these cases, use your best judgment, consult the AMA manual online (see Chapter 3, sections 3.13.2 and 3.15.5), or (if needed) reach out to a librarian for assistance.

Basic Info

Author(s). Title of page or document cited. Name of Website. Date of publication, if available. Updated date, if available. Accessed date. URL

Example

1. Health disparities in oral health. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. August 14, 2024. Accessed October 1, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/oral-health/health-equity/index.html

Discussion

Websites are tricky fun.

  • Author: Sometimes the author of a particular page or section of a site is an individual, other times it’s an organization. If you see individual names as authors somewhere on the page, list them. If not, default to the organization as author.
  • Site Title: Sometimes the organizational author and the name of the website are the same. In those cases,  as in the example here, it is acceptable to avoid the repetition and treat the website as a source without an author, putting the organization in the site name spot.
  • Dates: Not all sites provide updated and published dates. If they are available, provide them. Always provide the date you accessed the site.

Think of these as a mashup of a journal and website citation.

Basic Info

Author. Title of article. Name of Newspaper. Date published. Section [if present]. Page numbers [if present]. Accesed date. URL

Example

1. Wootson CR Jr. Dentists keep dying of this lung disease. The CDC can’t figure out why. The Washington Post. March 10, 2018. Accessed September 4, 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/03/10/dentists-keep-dying-of-this-deadly-lung-disease-the-cdc-cant-figure-out-why/?utm_term=.015450faf8d3

Discussion

Chances are you will most likely be citing online news sources. If this is the case, you will often not see a “section” or page numbers because news publishers reformat content for online environments and remove things like page numbers - which would mean nothing to online readers. However, if you do see this information online, include it! Additionally, if you are citing a print newspaper – or a PDF of an old print newspaper in a database, this is important information to include.

 

Basic Info

Author(s). Chapter title. In: Editor(s). Book Title. Edition. Publisher name; copyright year:pages of chapter or cited section. Accessed date [for books online]. URL [for books online/ebooks]

Print Book Example

1. Dillman DA, Smyth JD, Christian LM. Mixed-mode questionnaires and survey implementation. In: Internet, Phone, Mail, and Mixed-Mode Surveys: The Tailored Design Method. 4th Ed. Wiley; 2014:398-448.

eBook Example

2. Harrington S. Citing sources is a basic skill learned early on. In: Ball CE, Loewe DM, eds. Bad Ideas About Writing. West Virginia University Digital Publishing Institute; 2017:242-246. https://textbooks.lib.wvu.edu/badideas/badideasaboutwriting-book.pdf

 

Discussion

1. If the author of the chapter cited is also the editor of the book, omit editor information.
2. To cite a book as a whole, rather than referring to an individual chapter or specific pages, do this: Author(s). Book Title. Edition. Publisher; year of publication. Accessed date (if online/ebook). URL (if online/ebook)
3. No edition number is needed for the first edition of a text. 

Basic Info

Author. Title or brief description.; year published. Accessed date. URL

Basic Info

Author/Presenter. Title of presentation. Type of presentation: audience/conference; Date of presentation. Accessed date, if working URL present and used [use this for conference presentations; skip for in-class lextures]. Location [or URL, if one is available that works for all viewers]

Example

Coan LL. How people make decisions about their health: theories of health behaviors. Lecture delivered to: the Spring 2023 course of DTHY 318: Preventive Oral Health at the University of Southern Indiana; February 5, 2023. Evansville, IN.

Discussion

Presentations made in class can be a little tricky; AMA is not a student-oriented style, and does not have a special format for class presentation citations. The example presented here is a local practice at USI, and does not represent any official position presented in the manual itself. The best place to look in the manual for assistance is 3.13.9.1: Items Presented at a Meeting. For most of the presentations made in classes at USI, even if there are videos or slides shared in BlackBoard, you're better off omitting a URL (as you won't be able to provide one that works for all users).

For most serious research work done in CNHP programs at USI, Continuing Education materials are not appropriate sources. That said, occasionally a student may find them useful for background information. We offer two models here, depending on how the material in question is published. The models suggested here are local to USI -- the AMA Manual itself does not specifically address them.

Model 1: StatPearls and Similar Documents

Continuing education content published by a company called StatPearls frequently turns up in PubMed search results, and it is typically classified by its metadata in PubMed's database as a book. For the sake of simplicity, a slightly modified book/monograph model generally works best for StatPearls content. Typically, the publication date is actually the last date this content was updated. Other continuing education materials may also appear in this "book" format, but the most commonly seen in PubMed is published by StatPearls; obviously, if it's published by someone else but still functions like a book, replace "StatPearls" with the appropriate publication information.

Basic Info

Author(s). Document Title. StatPearls Publishing; publication date. Accessed date. URL [use the PubMed Bookshelf ID link, for the sake of convenient access to full text]

Example

Mohensi M, Boniface MP, Graham C. Mononeucleosis. StatPearls Publishing; August 8, 2023. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470387/ 

 

Model 2: NetCE Materials and Similar Documents

Companies like NetCE offer a wide range of continuing education courses for healthcare professionals. You may come across older/expired course content elsewhere, but the current, up to date material is only available from NetCE's own site. NetCE and other providers often offer course materials in both plain webpage and ebook formats. If you have NetCE content in ebook format (as a pdf or epub document, for example), use the book model we used for StatPearls above, with NetCE as the publisher and the listed course faculty (look toward the end of the document) as the authors. Treat the release date as the publication date.

Otherwise, cite NetCE like an authored webpage on a website:

Basic Info

Author(s). Title of page or document cited. Name of website/organization. Date of release. Updated date, if available. Accessed date. URL

Example

Frey WE, Nichols M. Dental ethics: a brief review. NetCE. February 1, 2024. Accessed February 6, 2024. https://www.netce.com/coursecontent.php?courseid=2736&productid=12521

 

For additional information and examples about the citation and formatting guidance provided in the 11th edition, consult the online version of the manual here:

Get help

Profile Photo
Laura Bernhardt
Contact:
Zoom ID: 742-597-2521
Office phone: 812-465-1638
Subjects: Faculty