A Detailed Guide To AMA Style Of Referencing: Everything You Need To Know!

By Christopher Smith Jun 30, 2025

You’re writing a paper for a health sciences class. You’ve gathered incredible research from medical journals and trusted health websites. But now comes the final step: citing your sources. Your professor has asked you to use "AMA style," and it can seem like a confusing set of rules.

Don’t worry! This guide is here to break it all down for you. Think of AMA style as the language doctors and medical researchers use to talk about science. It’s a super clear and organized way to show where your information came from.

Learning how to cite correctly is a crucial skill. It’s how you give credit to other researchers and show that your work is trustworthy. This guide will give you simple, step-by-step instructions and clear examples to help you master AMA style with confidence.

What Is AMA Style and Why Is It Used in Medicine?

AMA stands for the American Medical Association. This group is one of the leading voices in medicine in the United States, and they created the AMA Manual of Style to be the gold standard for all medical and scientific writing.

Why is having one style so important in a field like medicine?

Precision Matters: In healthcare, being precise is everything. AMA style ensures that every source is listed in the same clear way, so a doctor or scientist can find the original study without any confusion.
It Builds Trust: When you use proper AMA citations, you are showing your professor and other readers that you have done careful research. It proves that your statements are backed up by real evidence.
It Prevents Plagiarism: Citing is the honest and ethical way to use other people’s ideas in your work. It's a fundamental part of academic integrity and helps you avoid plagiarism while incorporating research in your writing.

The Two Simple Parts of AMA Citation

Like other citation styles, AMA has two parts that work together:

In-Text Citations: These are tiny superscript numbers (like this¹) that you put inside your sentences. They act like little flags to show that an idea came from another source.
The Reference List: This is a numbered list at the end of your paper. Each number on the list matches a number in your text and gives the full details of that source.

The in-text number points your reader to the full source information in your reference list. It's a simple and clean system.

Part 1: How to Use In-Text Citations in AMA Style

AMA uses a straightforward number system. Here’s how it works:

The sources are numbered in the order that you first mention them in your paper. The first source you cite is ¹, the second is ², the third is ³, and so on.
If you mention the same source again later in your paper, you just reuse its original number. You do not give it a new number.
The superscript number should be placed after the comma or period in your sentence.

Here’s what it looks like in practice:

Citing one source:
- Recent studies have shown that a balanced diet is crucial for overall health.¹
Citing multiple sources at once: You can group numbers together with commas.
- Several researchers have confirmed these findings in their work.¹,³,?
Citing a direct quote: If you use a direct quote, you should include the page number in parentheses right after the citation number.
- The lead author stated, "The results were conclusive and showed a significant improvement."²??²??

Part 2: How to Build Your AMA Reference List (With Examples!)

Your reference list at the end of your paper will be titled "References" and will be a numbered list (1, 2, 3...). The numbers will match the order in which you first cited them in your paper.

Here are the templates for the most common types of sources you’ll use in medical and health writing, based on the current AMA 11th edition.

Example 1: Citing a Journal Article

This is the most common type of source in medical research.

Template: Author(s). Title of article. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;Volume(Issue):Pages.
Real Example: Smith JD, Jones AB. A new treatment for hypertension. JAMA. 2024;331(5):450-455.
Key Tips:
- Authors: Use the last name followed by the first and middle initials with no periods (e.g., John David Smith becomes Smith JD).
- Capitalization: The article title is written in sentence case. This means only the first word and proper nouns (like names or places) are capitalized.
- Journal Title: The journal title is abbreviated and in italics. You can find the official abbreviations in the NLM Catalog online.

Example 2: Citing a Book

Template: Author(s). Title of Book. Edition number (if not the first). Publisher; Year.
Real Example: Fauci AS, Kasper DL. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. 21st ed. McGraw-Hill; 2022.
Key Tips:
- Capitalization: The book title is in title case, where you capitalize the main words.
- Publisher: You do not need to include the city of publication in the newest AMA edition.

Example 3: Citing a Website

Template: Author or Organization Name. Title of Webpage. Title of Website. Published [date]. Updated [date]. Accessed [date]. URL
Real Example: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About the CDC. CDC.gov. Published May 15, 2023. Accessed June 30, 2025. https://www.cdc.gov/about/index.html
Key Tips:
- Include as many dates as you can find: when it was published, when it was last updated, and the date you accessed it. The accessed date is very important.

Example 4: Citing a Chapter in an Edited Book

Template: Author(s) of chapter. Title of chapter. In: Editor(s), ed. Title of Book. Edition number. Publisher; Year:pages of chapter.
Real Example: Relling MV, Evans WE. Pharmacogenomics. In: Brunton LL, Chabner BA, eds. Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics. 13th ed. McGraw-Hill; 2018:115-134.
Key Tips:
- Notice the "In:" before the editors' names and the use of "ed." or "eds."

Final Tips for AMA Perfection

Handling Many Authors: For sources with 1 to 6 authors, list them all. For sources with 7 or more authors, list the first 3, followed by "et al."
Be a Punctuation Detective: AMA style is very specific. Pay close attention to every period, comma, and colon in the templates. A small mistake can make your reference list incorrect, which is why citation errors lower your grade and how to avoid them.
Double-Check Everything: Online citation generators can be a helpful start, but they often make mistakes. Always check the citations they create against a trusted guide like this one or the official AMA manual.

You Can Master AMA Style!

Learning a new citation style takes a little practice, but AMA is one of the most logical and organized systems out there. Its focus on clarity and precision is what makes it perfect for medical science.

By taking the time to cite your sources correctly, you are showing that you are a careful, professional, and ethical researcher. It's a fundamental skill that will serve you well throughout your education and career in healthcare. Use this guide, be patient with the details, and you'll be citing with confidence in no time.