AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION (AMA) STYLE

 

The style manual for papers submitted in this class is the American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style, (Baltimore, MD: Williams & Wilkins). Also acceptable are the uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals JAMA. 1997;927-934.)

 

Basics of AMA Style

 

A. In the text:

 

1.   Reference authors with superscripts numbered consecutively.

2.   Reference authors in the text each time they are mentioned. Use the same number for a given author as the first time that author was cited.

3.   Give only the surname(s) of the author(s) when mentioning the author(s). If a reference has more than two authors, use only the surname of the first author followed by "et al." If a reference has only two authors, list both.

4.   If a reference is cited more than once, and separate parts of the reference are used, place the page number in parenthesis following the superscript citation. Always give the page number when using a direct quote.

5.      Superscript numerals appear outside periods and commas and inside colons and semicolons. Hyphens separate consecutive references and commas separate other parts of a multiple citation.

 

Example:

 

Jones,1 Smith2(p.315) and Garcia and Zabihi3 all agreed on the mode of transmission. Several authors have commented, however, that Jones and her colleagues base the treatment approach on more conservative and traditional norms.2(p.95),4-7 Haskins et al5 espouse a more daring style.

 

B. In the reference list:

 

1.      Present references in the order cited in the paper in a separate list (labeled “References”) at the end of the manuscript. List only references cited in the text.

2.      Works with no more than six (6) authors: include all authors' surnames and first and middle name initials separated by commas. Do not use periods for initials (e.g. Garcia EF, Zabihi GH. Transmission …).

3.      Works with seven (7) or more authors: list only the first three (3) names followed by "et al" (e.g. Haskins AR, Himburg SP, George V, et al. Daring to be…).

4.   Journals: Minimum information needed for journal citations are the name(s) of the author(s), article title, journal, year, volume, and inclusive page numbers. Issue numbers are NOT included UNLESS each issue begins with page 1.  Note the use of abbreviations, capitalization, spacing and punctuation in the example below; journal titles and book titles are italicized and capitalized, while article titles are not, except that the first word in the title or the first word after a colon is capitalized. Full-text journal articles obtained via the web but available in hard copy are not cited as on-line serials, but as a regular journal article.

5.   Books: Minimum information needed for book citations are the name(s) of the author(s), title, place of publication, publisher, and year. Page numbers are included when only certain parts of the book are cited. If the entire book is used and cited throughout the paper, page numbers need not be given in the reference list, but page numbers are included in the superscript citation in the text (see example on previous page). Note the use of abbreviations, capitalization, and punctuation in the example below.

6.      Journal titles are abbreviated using Index Medicus abbreviations.

7.      Web site references must include as much information as available, type of material [in brackets], date cited [in brackets] and the URL.

8.   Personal communications: Do not include "personal communications"  (e.g. conversations, interviews, and unpublished correspondence such as letters or e-mails) in the list of references. Personal communications are cited in the text. The following examples are based on examples given the AMA Style Manual:

Examples:

 

Journal article: Jones AB. Modes of treatment: A traditional approach.  Phys Ther. 1999;80:20-26.

Book (one author; entire book cited): Smith CD. Transmission modes and treatment approaches. 3rd ed. Miami (FL): Florida University Presses; 1999.

Book (two authors;specific pages cited): Garcia EF, Zabihi GH. Transmission modes. New York (NY): NYU Press; 1999:308-338.

Chapter in book: Mohamed IJ. Principles of treatment. In: Needles DD, Thread OE, editors. What it's all about? Putnam (NY): Happy Days Press; 1998:29-39.

Magazine article (more than six authors): Haskins AR, Himburg SP, George V, et al. Daring to be different: A less traditional style.  Clin mgmt in educ. 2000;26(10):9-19.

Article on web site (not available in hard copy): Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs [serial on the Internet]. 2002 Jun [cited 2002 Aug 12];102(6):[about 3 p.]. Available from: http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htm

Unauthored web page: Wyndham Mount Laurel. Meetings and Conferences Page. Available at: http://www.wyndhammountlaurel.com/meetings.html. Accessed January 9, 2004.

 

Example of reference list:

 

1.      Jones AB. Modes of treatment: A traditional approach.  Phys Ther. 1999;80:20-26.

2.      Smith CD. Transmission modes and treatment approaches. 3rd ed. Miami (FL): Florida University Presses; 1999.

3.      Garcia EF, Zabihi GH. Transmission modes. New York (NY): NYU Press; 1999:308-338.

4.      Mohamed IJ. Principles of treatment. In: Needles DD, Thread OE, editors. What it's all about? Putnam (NY): Happy Days Press; 1998:29-39.

5.      Haskins AR, Himburg SP, George V, et al. Daring to be different: A less traditional style.  Clin mgmt in educ. 2000;26(1):9-19.

6.      Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs [serial on the Internet]. 2002 Jun [cited 2002 Aug 12];102(6):[about 3 p.]. Available from: http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htm

7.      Wyndham Mount Laurel. Meetings and Conferences Page. Available at: http://www.wyndhammountlaurel.com/meetings.html.  Accessed January 9, 2004.

 

Refer to recent issues of JAMA for examples and variations. The AMA style manual is available in the University library. Additional web sites for AMA and Uniform Requirements are:

 

AMA Style:

http://www.liunet.edu/cwis/cwp/library/workshop/citama.htm (very basic)


http://healthlinks.washington.edu/hsl/styleguides/ama.html (more detailed)


Uniform Requirements:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html (very detailed)


Revised: 8/11/2005

Awilda R. Haskins, PT, EdD, Associate Professor

Department of Physical Therapy

haskins@fiu.edu