AMA Style

The largest physician group in the United States, the American Medical Association (AMA) has been publishing a style manual for its scientific journals since the early 1960s.

Instructions

Number references and list them in the same order they were first cited in the text.

Names: Use initials (without periods or spaces) for first and middle names.

Titles: For articles and parts of books, capitalize only the first word, proper nouns, and abbreviations that are ordinarily capitalized. For publications and books, capitalize the first letter of every major word. Abbreviate journal titles according to Index Medicus.

Dates: Use the order: month day year, spelled out.

When citing EBSCOhost, EBSCO is always uppercase; host is always lowercase italics.

Journal Article

Pattern:

FirstAuthorLastName FN, SecondAuthorLastName FN. Title of the article. Abbreviated Journal Title [serial online]. PublicationYear;VolumeNumber:StartPage-EndPage. Available from: Database Name, Ipswich, MA. Accessed Month Day, Year.

Example:

Crainer S, Dearlove D. Windfall economics. Business Strategy Review. 2003;14(4):68-72. Business Source Premier [serial online]. Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 5, 2005.

Magazine Article

Pattern:

FirstAuthorLastName FN, SecondAuthorLastName FN. Title of the article. Magazine Title [serial online]. FullPublicationDate;VolumeOrIssueNumber:StartPage-EndPage. Available from: Database Name, Ipswich, MA. Accessed Month Day, Year.

Example:

Grossman L. The geek shall inherit the earth. Time [serial online]. October 3, 2005;166(14):98-98. Available from: Business Source Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 5, 2005.

Newspaper Article

Pattern:

FirstAuthorLastName FN, SecondAuthorLastName FN. Title of the article. Newspaper Title [serial online]. FullPublicationDate;SectionTitleOrNumber:StartPage-EndPage. Available from: Database Name, Ipswich, MA. Accessed Month Day, Year.

Example:

Kolata G. Experts unlock clues to spread of 1918 flu virus. New York Times [serial online]. October 6, 2005;155(53359):A1-A20. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 5, 2005.

Book Chapter

Pattern:

FirstAuthorLastName FN, SecondAuthorLastName FN. Title of the chapter. Book Title [e-book]. PublishersCity, PublishersState: PublisherName; PublicationYear:StartPage-EndPage. Available from: Database Name, Ipswich, MA. Accessed Month Day, Year.

You can get the publisher's name and location from the Publication Details page, found by clicking the Source field in the citation.

Example:

Freedman MJ. Libraries in today's world. World Almanac & Book of Facts [e-book]. New York, NY: World Almanac Education Group Inc.; 2004:16-17. Available from: MasterFILE Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 5, 2005.

These are only basic examples of the AMA style. More detailed information is available through the American Medical Association Manual of Style (9th edition). In addition, a variety of third-party style guides and web sites can provide further assistance.