AMA CITATION STYLE GUIDE

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Updated August 2015

 AMA Citation Style Guide | 3

When writing a research paper, it is important to cite any sources that you
consult in your research and subsequently use to support the ideas that
you put forth in your paper. Failure to acknowledge the use of information
gathered or ideas posed by other authors, whether you directly quote them or
not, may be construed as plagiarism.

Plagiarism is the presentation of the ideas and/or the work of others as one’s
own and is a serious offence.
This guide is meant to serve an introduction to the 10th edition of the American Medical Association (AMA)
citation style. For more information, see Chapter 8 in Cite right: a quick guide to citation styles by Charles Lipson
(PN 171 F56 L55 2011, BCIT Library, Burnaby) or one of the many web resources that offer instruction in the
use of the citation style. The AMA citation guides produced by the Library at the College of Saint Scholastica
(http://libguides.css.edu/ama) and by the Library at Brescia University College (http://brescia.uwo.ca/library/
research/citation-guides/) are highly recommended resources.

AMA CITATION STYLE (10TH EDITION)

When using the AMA citation style, indication of and information about a cited work, piece of information or idea
must appear in two places. You must insert a note within the text of your paper when you make use of a borrowed
piece of information and/or idea. These notes (or in text citations) are to be numbered sequentially in the order that
they appear within the text of your paper. For more information, see the In Text Citations section of this guide. At
the end of the paper, you are to compile a comprehensive list of references that features prescribed information
about each of the sources that you borrowed pieces of information and/or ideas from and used in your paper. The
format for references for various types of materials appears in the List of References section of this guide.

IN TEXT CITATIONS
In text citations – the notes that you make within the text of your paper when you use a borrowed piece of
information and/or idea – should be identified using superscript numbers. If you use a direct quotation from
another work, you should enclose the quotation within quotation marks. If the direct quotation is longer than four
lines the quotation should be set off and indented in a distinct block, should be presented in reduced type, and
should appear without quotation marks. The superscript numbers that identify your use of a borrowed piece of
information and/or idea should appear outside (or to the right) of commas, periods, and quotation marks and
should appear inside (or to the left) of colons and semicolons. If you borrow pieces of information and/or ideas
from more than one source in a single passage or sentence, be sure to identify each of the sources with a unique
superscript number. Multiple superscript numbers should be separated by commas and should not have spaces
between them. Pieces of information and/or ideas borrowed from personal communications – including interviews,
emails and letters – should be cited parenthetically within the text of your paper. You should include the person’s
name as well as the type and the date of the communication in the citation. Personal communications should not
be assigned a superscript number and should not be included in the list of references at the end of your paper.

Listed below are examples of in text citations using the AMA citation style.

>> Indirect quotation (citation after comma, period):

The house was reported to be built on solid ground,34 but some observers felt that the area was prone to
landslips.35,36, 37
4 | British Columbia Institute of Technology

>> Direct quotation (citation after quotation mark)

The engineer announced that “the house was built on solid ground.” 38

>> Indirect quotation (citation before semicolon, after period)

The engineer insisted that the house was built on solid ground 39; the observers were not so sure about
that.40, 41,42

>> Direct quotation (more than four lines)

In an article in The Globe, the engineer stated:
The house was built on solid ground. I assure you that it was. We tested it before we began construction. The
observers are simply looking for a scapegoat, for someone to blame for what was truly a natural catastrophe that
no one could have predicted.43

>> Indirect quotation (personal communication [cited parenthetically], citation after period)
The engineer assured me that the house was built on solid ground (Mandy Martin, email communication,
March 10, 2013), but the observers were not so sure about that.44

LIST OF REFERENCES
When using the AMA citation style, you are to compile a comprehensive list of references at the end of your paper.
The list of references should present detailed information about the sources that you consulted in your research
and borrowed pieces of information and/or ideas from to use in your paper.

GENERAL RULES
Your list of references should be appear on a fresh page at the end of your paper. The page should feature
the header: References. The references are to be listed numerically in the order that the borrowed pieces of
information and/ideas appear within the text of your paper. In other words, the superscript number that you use to
identify a borrowed piece of information and/or idea within the text of your paper should match the number of the
corresponding reference in the list at the end of your paper. The entries in your list of references should be single
spaced and should not be indented.

The type, the order and the format of the information that you are to include in a listed reference varies depending
on the type of source that you borrowed the piece(s) information and/or idea(s) from. For information on how to cite
a variety of difference types of sources, see the source-specific instructions below.

There are some rules that govern references from the entire spectrum of sources. For instance, regardless of the
type of source that you are referencing, you should never insert a comma between the last name and the first
initials of an author, editor or director. If you borrow a piece or information and/or idea from a specific page or
range of pages with – in a printed work or a paginated web resource, you should identify said page(s) at the end of
the corresponding reference. When you identify a page number(s) in an entry in your list of references, be sure to
insert the numbers in full (for example: use 111–112, not 111–2).
 AMA Citation Style Guide | 5

BOOKS
Single Author Author AA. Title of Work. Location: Publisher; Year:Page-Page.
Saver, Cynthia. Anatomy of Writing for Publication for Nurses. Indianapolis, IN: Sigma
Theta Tau International; c2011:31-33.
Two to Six Authors Author AA, Author BB. Title of Work. Location: Publisher; Year:Page-Page.
Doane GH, Varcoe C. Family Nursing as Relational Inquiry: Developing Health –
Promoting Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; c2005:25-28.
Seven or More Authors Author AA, Author BB, Author CC, et al. Title of Work. Location: Publisher; Year:Page-
Page.
London ML, Ladewig PW, Ball JW, et al. Maternal & Child Nursing Care. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson Education; c2011:101-103.
Editor(s): no Author(s) Editor AA, ed. Title of Work. Location: Publisher; Year:Page-Page.
Gusek JJ, Figueroa LA, eds. Mitigation of Metal Mining Influenced Water. Littleton, CO:
Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration; c2009:100-105.
Author(s) and Editor(s) Author AA. Title of Work. Editor AA, Editor BB, eds. Location: Publisher; Year:Page-
Page.
Goodman LS, Brunton LL, Chabner B, Knollmann BC. Goodman & Gilman’s The
Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics. Brunton LL, ed. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill;
2011:99.
Group as Author Group (Acronym if applicable). Title of Work. Location: Publisher; Year.:Page-Page.
WorldatWork. The WorldatWork Handbook of Compensation, Benefits & Total Rewards:
A Comprehensive Guide for HR Professionals. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons;
2007:72.
Chapter in book Chapter Author AA. Title of chapter. In: Editor AA, ed. Title of Work. Location: Publisher;
Year:Page-Page.
Grimsey E. An overview of the breast and breast cancer. In: Harmer V, ed. Breast
Cancer Nursing Care and Management. 2nd ed. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell;
2011:35-42.
Electronic Book Author AA. Title of Work. Location: Publisher; Year:Page-Page. URL. Accessed date.
Reed PG, Shearer NB. Nursing Knowledge and Theory Innovation: Advancing the
Science of Practice. New York, NY: Springer; 2011:45-47. http://0-lib.myilibrary.com.
innopac.lib.bcit.ca/Open.aspx? id=301779. Accessed September 18, 2012.
Multiple Editions Author AA. Title of Work. Nth Ed. Location: Publisher; Year:Page-Page.
Nieswiadomy RM. Foundation of Nursing Research. 6th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson;
c2012:31-33.
Dictionary or Entry Author AA. Title of entry. In: Editor AA, ed. Title of Work. Location: Publisher;
Encyclopedia Year: Page-Page.
Pesut DJ. Change Agents and Change Agent Strategies. In: Feldman HR, ed. Nursing
Leadership: A Concise Encyclopedia. New York, NY: Springer; c2008:103-105.
Dictionary or Entry Author AA. Title of entry. In: Editor AA, ed. Title of Work. Name of website. URL.
Encyclopedia: Online Accessed date.
Maceration. In: Koren H. Illustrated Dictionary and Resource Dictionary
of Environmental & Occupational Health. CRCnetBASE Website.
http://0-www.crcnetbase.com.innopac.lib.bcit.ca/ isbn/9781420032239.
Accessed September 18, 2012.
6 | British Columbia Institute of Technology

JOURNAL ARTICLES & OTHER PERIODICALS

In listed references that report on pieces of information and/or ideas borrowed from journal articles, the names of
journals are to be italicized and abbreviated according to the list that appears in Section 14 of the AMA Manual
of Style. An authoritative list of journal title abbreviations can be found online in the National Library of Medicine
Catalog: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals. One word journal titles (for example: Science) are not
abbreviated.

One to Six Authors Author AA, Author BB, Author CC. Title of article. Abbreviated Journal Title.
Year;Volume(Issue):Page-Page.
Wolf ZR. Nursing practice breakdowns: Good and bad nursing. Medsurg Nursing.
2012;21(1):16-36.
Seven or More Authors Author AA, Author BB, Author CC, et al. Title of article. Abbreviated Journal Title.
Year;Volume (Issue):Page-Page.
Bond AE, Eshah NF, Bani-Khalid M, et al. Who uses nursing theory? A univariate
descriptive analysis of five years’ research articles. Scand J Caring Sci.
2011;25(2):404-409.
Electronic Journal Author AA. Title of article. Abbreviated Journal Title. Year;Volume(Issue):Page-Page.
Article URL. Published or Last updated date. Accessed date.
Davidson Baer E. Key ideas in nursing’s first century. Am J Nursing. 2012;112(5):48-
55. http:// journals.lww.com/ajnonline/Abstract/2012/05000/Key_Ideas_in_
Nursing_s_First_Century.27.aspx Published May 2012. Accessed September 23,
2012.
Electronic Journal Author AA, Author BB. Title of article. Abbreviated Journal Title.
Article: DOI Year;Volume(Issue):Page-Page. doi:xx.xxxx/xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.
Watts T. Initiating end-of-life care pathways: A discussion paper. J Adv Nursing.
2012;68(10):2359-2370. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2011.05924.x.
Newspaper or Magazine Author AA. Title of article. Title of Magazine or Newspaper. Month Day, Year:Page-
Article Page.
Masoud T. The tyrant’s brutal legacy. Newsweek. July 2, 2012:34-39
Electronic Newspaper Author AA. Title of Article. Title of Magazine or Newspaper. Month Day, Year:Page-
or Magazine Article Page. URL. Published date or Last updated date. Accessed date.
Galloway G. Liberals go on the attack after )Harper says they stand for nothing. The
Globe and Mail. September 19, 2012. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/
liberals-go-on-the-attack-after-harper-says-they-stand-for-nothing/article4554914/.
Updated September 19, 2012. Accessed September 19, 2012.

REPORTS, CONFERENCE PAPERS, THESES & DISSERTATIONS, LECTURES & PRESENTATIONS

Online Report Author AA. Title of Report. URL. Published/Updated/Revised date. Accessed date.
International Monetary Fund. World economic outlook update. http://www.imf.org/
external/pubs/ft/weo/2012/update/02/. Published July 16, 2012.
Accessed September 19, 2012.
Conference Paper or Presenter AA. Title of paper or presentation. Paper or Poster presented at: Conference
Proceedings Title; Month Day, Year; Location. URL. Accessed date.
Cronin C. Memoing: An active tool in research. Poster presented at: RCN Annual
International Nursing Research Conference; April 23, 2012. London, UK.
http://www.rcn.org.uk/_data/assets/pdf_file/0005/445802/Research2012Mo01.pdf.
Accessed September 23, 2012.
 AMA Citation Style Guide | 7

Thesis or Dissertation Author AA. Title of Work. [dissertation or master’s thesis]. Location: Institution;
Year:Page-Page.
Taylor RL. Downsizing the Dial: The Reinvention of Private Radio in Canada.
[PhD thesis]. Burnaby, BC: British Columbia Institute of Technology; 2008.
Course Lecture or Professor AA. Title of Lecture. [class lecture or class lecture notes]. Location:
Lecture Notes Institution; Date.
Presentation (including Author or Presenter AA. Title of presentation. Presented at: Event; Month Day, Year;
PowerPoint) Location. URL. Accessed date.

GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS
Government Report Author AA. Title of Report. Location: Publisher; Date:Page-Page.
Local Government Elections Task Force. Report of the Local Government Elections Task
Force. Victoria, BC: Local Government Elections Task Force; 2010:21.

WEBPAGES
Webpage: Author Author AA. Webpage title. Name of Website. URL. Published or Updated date.
Accessed date.
Webpage: Organization Webpage title. Name of Website or Organization. URL. Published or Updated date.
Accessed date.
What nurses do. College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia.
https://www.crnbc.ca/ WhatNursesDo/Pages/Default.aspx. Published 2012.
Accessed September 23, 2012.
Website: No Author or Webpage title. Name of Website. URL. Published or Updated date. Accessed date.
Organization

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Lipson C. AMA citations for biomedical sciences, medicine, nursing, and dentistry. In: Cite Right: A Quick Guide to
Citation Styles – MLA, APA, the Sciences, Professions and More. Chicago: University of Chicago Press;
2011:158-164.

Citing help for AMA. The College of Saint Scholastica Library. http://libguides.css.edu/AMA . Published 2011.
Accessed September 23, 2012.

AMA citation guide. Beryl Ivey Library, Brescia University College. http://brescia.uwo.ca/library/research/citation-
guides. Updated 2012. Accessed September 16, 2012.
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