AMA Style – A Beginner’s Guide with Examples

In This Guide

When writing in the fields of medicine and medical sciences, you may come across the AMA citation style.

Developed by the American Medical Association, it is one of the two most popular academic formats for medical writing (the other being the NLM format).

So what are the requirements and guidelines of the AMA style? In this guide, you will get the rules of formatting your page, citations, and reference list entries in AMA.

Let’s get into it!

AMA Paper Formatting

The AMA presents some general and standard guidelines regarding the paper format. Its recommendations are very similar to APA and some other common citation styles, so they are very easy to apply.

Here are the aspects of page formatting that you should follow:

Line Spacing:	Use double line spacing throughout the paper consistently.
Font:	Apply Times New Roman and 12-pt size.
Margins:	1-inch margins on all sides.
Page Numbering:	Add page numbers on the top-right corner.
Indentation:	All new paragraphs should have a 0.5” first line indent.
Headings:	There are no specific rules about different levels of headings. However, you must use consistent and intuitive format for headings throughout the paper.

Formatting In-Text Citations in AMA Format

In the AMA style, you need to use superscript numbers (for instance: ⁵) for adding in-text citations. Here’s what you need to know about formatting the in-text citations in AMA style:

Where to Add the Superscript Number?

Add the superscript arabic numeral at the point where you need to indicate the use of an external source. Each source should have a unique number, which is assigned based on when it appears in the paper. That is, the first source to be cited would be marked by ¹, while the second would be ², and so on.

You can add it after an author’s name. Or, if you’re quoting, summarizing, or paraphrasing a source, write the superscript number at the end of the sentence. Moreover, the superscript should appear after the punctuation (i.e. after the period, comma, or quotation marks).

Here’s are some examples:

Smith⁷ conducted a comprehensive study on diabetes, showing that…
As suggested by John,⁸the debate remains significant among the academic community.
Studies have shown a significant correlation between smoking and lung cancer.⁵

What if You Need to Use the Same Source Again?

If you need to cite a source that you have cited previously in the paper, then you should use the same superscript number that you used for it the last time.

Citing Multiple Sources at Same Point

If citing multiple sources within the same sentence, separate the superscript numbers with commas.

For example:

Several factors contribute to cardiovascular disease, including obesity, hypertension, and high cholesterol.^6,13,16

However, if the superscript numbers for multiple sources are consecutive, you can use an en dash to denote the range.

Here’s an example:

Recent studies have shown a significant correlation between diet and heart disease.^5–7

Page Numbers for Direct Quotations

When you include direct quotations within your paper, you should provide page number(s) in the in-text citation. The page numbers should be added within parentheses after the superscript. Use “p.” for a single page and “pp.” when citing more than one page.

The example below shows how it’s done:

Single Page:

According to Smith, "The prevalence of obesity is increasing globally".^{1(p. 25)}

Range of Pages:

Jones stated, "Physical activity is essential for maintaining overall health".^{2(pp. 56-57)}

AMA Reference List Format

The reference list at the end of your paper provides complete information of all the sources you’ve used in your paper. The information you need to provide and its structure depends on the author’s name(s), title of the source, publication date, and publisher etc.

Reference entries are numbered in the order they were first cited in the text. Each source appears only once on the reference page.

Here are the formats and examples of the most common types of sources:

Books

Format	Author’s last name First name Initials. Book Name. Publisher; Year.
Example	Smith, John A. Introduction to Medicine. Medical Press; 2018.

Journal Articles

Format	Author’s last name First name Initials. Article Name. Name of the Journal. Year;Volume(Issue):Page range. DOI.
Example	Jones, Sarah R. The Role of Exercise in Cardiovascular Health. Journal of Cardiology. 2020;35(2):123-135. doi:10.1234/jcard.2020.12345

Website

Format	Author’s last name First name Initials. Title of the Page. Website Title. Published Month Day, Year. Accessed Month Day, Year. URL.
Example	Brown, Michael D. Understanding Diabetes. Mayo Clinic. Published January 15, 2023. Accessed February 10, 2024. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/basics/definition/con-20033091

In Conclusion

As a medical student, you will encounter the AMA format at some point of your academic journey. Whenever that point comes, this blog will be your ultimate resource. If you’re writing a paper that needs to be formatted in AMA style, simply remember to revisit this blog.

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Note: All information given in this article about the AMA Style Referencing has been obtained from the official manual, which can be accessed at: https://academic.oup.com/amamanualofstyle

WRITTEN BY

Cathy Aranda (Marketing, and Public Relations)

Cathy is a highly dedicated author who has been writing for the platform for over five years. With a Master's degree in Mass Communication, she is well-versed in various forms of writing such as articles, press releases, blog posts, and whitepapers. As an essay writing guide author at PerfectEssayWriter.ai, she has been helping students and professionals improve their writing skills by offering practical tips on research, citation, sentence structure, and style.

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