Citing Sources

AMA style is used in medicine, health sciences, public health, and biomedical research.

AMA stands for American Medical Association, and was created by editors of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA.)

Big Picture

AMA style features numbered in-text parenthetical citations and a corresponding References page.

In-Text Citations

• cite each source in numerical order using superscript Arabic numerals (^{1, 2, 3}…). Use a comma to separate multiple sources.
• if the same reference is cited multiple times, use the same number throughout the document.
  • Approximately 20 million new cases of bacterial or viral STIs occur each year in the US, and about one-half of these cases occur in persons aged 15 to 24 years.^1,2 Rates of chlamydial, gonococcal, and syphilis infection continue to increase in all regions.²
• in cases of citing multiple citations that are in sequence, use a hyphen to enter the range.
  • In the US, common STIs with significant clinical and public health effects include HIV, herpes simplex virus, human papillomavirus (HPV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), Chlamydia trachomatis, Neisseria gonorrhea, Treponema pallidum (syphilis), and Trichomonas vaginalis.^1-4
• insert the numbers immediately next to the fact, concept, or quotation being cited. This may occur at the end of the sentence.
  • Two interventions with moderate contact time were also significantly associated with increased condom use^14,35 or abstinence.³⁶ 
• add page numbers to direct quotations in parentheses after the citation number.
  • "Difference in STI rates among racial/ethnic groups may reflect differences in social determinants of health."^2(p.23)

References Page...

• is a separate page at the end of your paper.
• has the title, References, left justified at the top of the page.
• is single spaced, with an exception of double spacing between the References heading and the first entry.
• references are listed numerically in the order they are cited in the paper. Put a period after each number.
• for author names, list the last name first followed by the first and middle initials. There is no punctuation between the first and middle initials. 
• for two to six authors: Place a comma between authors.
  • Payán DD, Sloane DC, Illum J, Farris T, Lewis LB.
• for more than 6 authors, list the first three authors followed by et al.
  • Bravo RL, Gutierrez A, Young ME, et al. 
• for editors instead of authors, add eds. after the editor names.
  • Backes EP, Scrimshaw SC, eds.
• if there is no author, begin with the title of the item cited. 
• for the item cited, capitalize only the first word of the title and proper nouns.
• abbreviate and italicize names of journals according to the National Library of Medicine database.

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