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Public Health 100 (Ha)

Introduction to Epidemiology

AMA Style

AMA stands for American Medical Association. This citation style is used primarily in the fields of medicine and science.

Some Characteristics

  1. The reference list at the end of your document is titled References.
  2. References are listed in the order in which they are referred to in your paper.
  3. Initials are used for first and middle names; initials are not separated by periods e.g. Bertocci GE, Pierce MC, Deemer E, Aguel F.
  4. Journal names are abbreviated & italicized (see PubMed for abbreviations).
  5. Months for dates are not abbreviated. See samples in Online Journals.
  6. Page numbers include all digits e.g. 1215-1240  (NOT 1215-40).
  7. No spaces between many elements
  8. DOIs (digital objective identifiers) are preferred over URLs. Use CrossRef (if needed) to locate DOIs.
  9. No access date required if using a DOI doi:10.1002/14651858.CD1001054.
  10. For journal articles and book chapters, only capitalize the first letter of the first work, and proper names.  See details at English-Language Titles. 

AMA Manual of Style Online

You may find yourself using Section I  Preparing an Articles for Publication > References > 3.15 Electronic Reference often. Sample pages:

AMA Examples

Examples of Citations in AMA Style:

Citation for a journal article (see PubMed)

1. Meng YY, Rull RP, Wilhelm M, Lombardi C, Balmes J, Ritz B. Outdoor air pollution and uncontrolled asthma in the San Joaquin Valley, California. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2010;64(2):142-147. doi: 10.1136/jech.2009.083576.

Citation for a report (also referred to the book information and electronic reports)

2. Bengiamin, M, Capitaman JA, and Chang X. (2011). Healthy people 2010: A 2010 profile of health status in the San Joaquin Valley. Fresno, CA: California State University, Fresno; 2011. https://www.fresnostate.edu/chhs/cvhpi/documents/healthy-people-2010-review-12-12-2011.pdf. Accessed September 7, 2015.

APA Style

APA stands for the American Psychological Association. APA style features in-text parenthetical citations, with a focus on author/date, and a corresponding Reference page.

In-Text Citations

  • elements include author's last name, year of publication and page number(s)
  • elements in are separated by commas - Example:  (Arnold, 2015, p. 378)
  • a direct quote requires a page number preceded by p. - Example: ... as the "individuals pronounced vocally and fearlessly" (Smith, 2016, p. 201)
  • page numbers are still encouraged for summary and paraphrase though not necessary - Example: (Goriava & Woodland, 2017)
  • author's name may be excluded if found in the introductory text - Example: Patel (2013) found that .... " " (p. 67)
  • p. used for page; pp. used for multiple pages - Example: (Ramble, 2014, pp. 45-49)
  • works by two authors use the ampersand in the parentheses - Example: (Goriava & Woodland, 2017)

In-Text Citations: The Basics (OWL Purdue)
In-Text Citations: Author/Authors (OWL Purdue)
When and How to Include Page Numbers in APA Style Citations (APA Blog)
Citing References in Text (Basics of APA Style Tutorial)

Reference List ...

  • has the title of References, centered at top
  • includes hanging indents after the first line for each entry
  • is organized alphabetically by the last name of the first author
  • gives initials to first names of authors
  • italicizes book and journal titles
  • capitalizes the first word and the first word after a semi-colon of a journal article title
  • capitalizes all major words in journal titles
  • common elements & order of citation elements:

Reference List: Basic Rules (OWL Purdue)
Reference List: Author/Authors (OWL Purdue)

APA Examples

Note: hanging indents not included