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Citation Style Guides RCL

AMA Citation Examples

Formats & Examples

Book Article or Chapter

Basic Format:
Author(s) AA. Article/chapter title. In: Author(s) or Editor(s) AA, ed. Title of book. Publisher city, Publisher state abbreviation: Publisher; Year: inclusive pages.

Example:
Lakhan SE,Veira KF. Nutritional therapies for mental disorders. In: Coles L, ed. Functional Foods: The Connection Between Nutrition, Health, and Food Science. Toronto: Apple Academic Press; 2014:91-108.

Electronic books

Basic Format:
Author AA. Title of Book. Publisher City, Publisher State Abbreviation: Publisher; Year. URL. Access Date.

Example:
Randall, C. Water Economics. Boston, MA: Publications; 2009. ww.netlibrary.com. Accessed 12 November 2009.

Online Journal Articles (DOI)

Basic Format:
Author(s) AA. Article Title. Journal Name. year;vol(issue No.);complete page numbers or e-locator. DOI (if not provided, omit and replace with an accessed date and a URL)

Example:
Kitajima TS, Kawashima SA, Watanabe Y. The conserved kinetochore protein shugoshin protects centromeric cohesion during meiosis. Nature. 2004;427(6974):510-517. doi:10.1038/nature02312.

Online Journal Articles (URL)

Basic Format:
Author(s) AA. Article Title. Journal Name. year;vol(issue No.):inclusive pages. URL. Published [date]. Updated [date]. Accessed [date].

Example:
Duchin JS. Can preparedness for biological terrorism save us from pertussis? Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2004;158(2):106-107. http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/158/2/106. Accessed June 1, 2004.

Scholarly Journal Articles

Basic Format:
Author(s) AA. Article Title. Journal Name. year;vol(issue No.):inclusive pages. 

Example:
Seagle HM, Strain GW, Makris A, Reeves RS.Position of the American Dietetic Association: weight management. J Am Diet Assoc. 2009;109(2):330-346.

Websites

Basic Format:
Author AA. Title of article. Name of website.Websiteurl. Access month date, year.

Example:
DeNoon DJ. FDA Panel Opposes New Type of Diabetes Drug. WebMD Web site. http://diabetes.webmd.com/news/20110719/fda-panel-9-6-no-vote-on-new-typediabetes-drug.  Accessed August 19, 2011.

Online Image

Basic Format:

Creator AA. Title of image (if known). Name of website. Website. URL. Published date. Accessed date. 

Example:

Jin, T. USDA Food Pyramid. Wikimedia Commons. Website. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:USDA_Food_Pyramid.gif. Published April 4, 2006. Accessed March 19, 2018. 

General Formatting

General Formatting

  • List all references in numerical order at the end of a paper. 
  • Make sure the reference section is single-spaced within each listing and double-spaced between each listing.
  • Include all authors up to six authors. After the third author, include "et al".
  • List the authors' names in the order that they appear in the published source. This order is determined by their role in the research described in the article. Do not list the names alphabetically.
  • List the author’s name, using the last name first, followed by the first and middle initials. There is no comma after the last name and no commas, spaces, or periods between first and middle initials.
  • Capitalize only the first word and proper nouns, the title of an article should be in all lowercase letters.
  • Abbreviate periodical titles according to the US National Library of Medicine's catalog found at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals .; if a title does not appear on these lists, abbreviate it according to the Construction of the National Library of Medicine Title Abbreviations Fact Sheet https://www.nlm.nih.gov/tsd/cataloging/contructitleabbre.html. 
  • Write one-word journal titles in full. Examples: Pediatrics, Cancer, Diabetes.
  • Italicize and capitalize periodical and book titles.

Guidelines

Other Important Guidelines:

  • For periodicals, there is no space between the year, the volume, or the page numbers.
  • Page numbers are always written as "257-259" not "257-59."
  • Website materials that are only online (i.e. not an online version of a journal or other print publication) should include author or organization, the title of the page, the URL, and the access date. The title should not be italicized.
  • Publication and update dates and access dates for Internet sites cited must be included. For example, Smith J. Risk Factors for Cancer. Cancer Risk Factors Web site. http://www.cancerriskfactors.gov. Published December 1, 2000. Updated January 15, 2008. Accessed February 1, 2008.
  • When a DOI is provided, use the DOI rather than the URL to cite. The DOI goes immediately after "doi:" and the accessed date is not required.