Free AMA Citation Generator

What Is an AMA Citation Generator?

An AMA citation generator is a free online citation tool that turns the details of a source into a numbered AMA reference and its superscript in-text citation. The tool writes surnames with initials, keeps up to 6 authors, sets the journal name in italics, builds the year;volume(issue):pages block, and ends online sources with an access date and a URL or a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). It works as a reference generator for one source and a bibliography generator for a whole paper’s numbered list.

Medical students and health sciences students in nursing, pharmacy, and public health use it for case reports, literature reviews, and theses. Residents, researchers in biomedical research, and medical writers use it for manuscripts submitted to JAMA Network journals and the other medical journals that follow AMA citation style.

What Is AMA Style?

AMA style is the citation and writing style of the American Medical Association (AMA), set out in the AMA Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors. The JAMA Network editors write the manual, and Oxford University Press publishes it. AMA style is a numbered citation system with 2 working parts:

Parts of an AMA Reference

An AMA style citation for a journal article has 6 parts: the authors, the article title, the abbreviated journal name, the year, the volume, issue, and pages, and the DOI. The color-coded reference below comes from the generator on this page.

A period closes each part, and a semicolon joins the year to the volume. No period follows the DOI.

AMA vs. Vancouver, APA, and Chicago

AMA differs from APA, MLA, and Chicago author-date in 2 ways: it cites sources by superscript number, and it orders the reference list by first citation instead of by author surname. Vancouver, the style that grew out of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) requirements, numbers sources the same way, and so does IEEE, the engineering style. The table compares how each style cites page 51 of a 2018 source by Maria Lopez.

How to Use Our AMA Citation Generator

To use the AMA citation generator, follow these 6 steps at the top of the page:

1. 1
   Pick the source type

   Website, Book, Journal, and Video have their own tabs. Open More for the other 40 source types, such as Preprint, Government Report, and Conference Paper, and type in its search box to find one fast.

2. 2
   Search for the source

   Type an article or book title and pick your source from the results, or paste an identifier, a video link, or a web address and press Cite. The form fills with the details the search returns.

3. 3
   Type the journal abbreviation

   Replace a full journal name with its abbreviation from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Catalog. The tool prints the name you type and never guesses an abbreviation.

4. 4
   Add the access date

   Type the date you viewed an online source in the Date accessed field. A source with a DOI needs none.

5. 5
   Check the capitalization

   Keep Apply AMA title capitalization on to set article titles in sentence case and book titles in title case, then capitalize names and places in article titles again.

6. 6
   Copy the reference or build your list

   Press Copy to paste the reference into your paper with its italics intact. Press Add to references to number each source in the order you add it, then Copy all.

The search box takes 7 kinds of input: a DOI, a PubMed ID (PMID), an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), an arXiv ID, a YouTube or Vimeo link, any other web address, and a book or article title. PubMed fills the form for a PMID, so a PubMed citation needs only the PMID shown on the article’s PubMed record. The DOI registries Crossref and DataCite fill it for a DOI or an arXiv ID, Crossref for an article title, and Open Library for an ISBN or a book title. For a web address, the tool reads the title, author, site name, and date that the page states; a few sites block this, and then only the link is added.

Source Types the Generator Covers

The generator covers 44 source types in 8 groups:

The tool formats one paper’s references at a time, copies them to Microsoft Word or Google Docs, and does not export RIS or BibTeX files. Reference managers such as Zotero, EndNote, and Mendeley keep long-term libraries; Zotero offers an American Medical Association 11th edition style.

How to Cite Sources in AMA Style

To cite a source in AMA style, write the source’s number in superscript where you use it, and give the full reference under that number in the reference list. Every reference runs from the most specific detail to the broadest: who wrote it, what it is called, where it appeared, when, and how to find it online.

AMA Reference Templates by Source Type

AMA reference templates show where each detail goes for the 7 most cited source types:

Italics mark whole works: books, reports, journals, newspapers, and preprint servers. A book citation sets the book title in italics, while a website citation keeps the page title in roman type, as do article and chapter titles.

Citing Online Sources: Access Dates, URLs, and DOIs

An online source ends with the word Accessed and the date you viewed it, then the URL with no period after it. 4 rules decide the end of an online reference:

1. Use the DOI in place of the URL, written as doi: and the DOI number with no space, as in doi:10.xxxx, and leave out the access date.
2. Write Published before the date a webpage went live, or Updated when the page shows only a revision date.
3. Leave out the website name, when it matches the organization in the author position.
4. Start with the page title, when a page names no author or organization.

Sources AMA Cites in the Text Only

AMA keeps 3 kinds of sources out of the reference list and cites them in the running text or in a note. A reader cannot retrieve them the usual way. The generator shows a short reminder under each one.

Legal cases and statutes take either form: a numbered reference or a citation in parentheses in the text. AMA writes them in Bluebook order with no periods in abbreviations, as in 464 F2d 772.

AMA Citation Examples

AMA citation examples show the reference list entry and the in-text superscript for 12 source types. The examples below come from the generator on this page, follow the 11th edition, and use source number 1.

AMA Journal Abbreviations and Author Rules

AMA abbreviates journal names to the form the National Library of Medicine (NLM) assigns and lists up to 6 authors by surname and initials. Journal names and author lists appear in nearly every medical reference, so these 2 rules shape most entries.

How to Find the NLM Journal Abbreviation

To find a journal’s AMA abbreviation, search the full journal name in the NLM Catalog and copy the NLM Title Abbreviation field. The abbreviation has no periods. 3 examples:

One-word titles stay whole: JAMA, Pediatrics, Vaccine. Newspapers keep their full names. PubMed records show the same abbreviation in the journal line of each article. The NLM abbreviations date back to Index Medicus, the printed index of medical journals that NLM published until December 2004. A journal name typed in full prints in full:

• Duarte I, Grant P. Statin use after a first ischemic stroke. New England Journal of Medicine. 2021;384(7):640-648.

How Many Authors to List Before “et al”

List all authors for a source with 1 to 6 authors, and the first three authors followed by et al for a source with 7 or more. The 8-author article below keeps 3 names:

• Adams R, Ito B, Mendes C, et al. Hand hygiene audits in 12 intensive care units. Am J Infect Control. 2024;52(3):301-307.

Editors follow the same limit, with ed or eds after the names. In the sentence itself, a source with 3 or more authors reads Adams et al, with no period after al.

How to Write Author Names in AMA

AMA writes each name as the surname, a space, and the initials with no periods or spaces between them. A hyphenated given name keeps its hyphen, and Jr or III follows the initials without a comma:

• Martin J-P, Murray CJL, McNeil DG Jr. Vaccine uptake in rural clinics. Vaccine. 2023;41(9):88-95.

Group authors, such as a government agency or a study group, are written in full exactly as the source gives them.

AMA In-Text Citations and Superscript Placement

An AMA in-text citation is the source’s reference number set in superscript, with no brackets or parentheses around it. Sources are numbered in the order they are cited: the first source you cite is 1, the next new source is 2, and a source cited again keeps its first number.

Where the Superscript Number Goes

Place superscript numbers outside periods and commas, and inside colons and semicolons. The number follows the fact, quotation, or author name it supports:

Page Numbers and Several Sources in One Citation

A cited page goes inside the superscript in parentheses, after p for one page or pp for a range: ^2(p112) or ^2(pp112-115). The generator adds the page from the Page cited field.

Several sources at one point take commas with no spaces, and a hyphen joins 3 or more numbers in a row: ^1,3-5.

How to Format an AMA Reference List

To format an AMA reference list, follow these 5 rules:

1. Title the list References and place it at the end of the paper.
2. Number the entries in the order of first citation, never alphabetically.
3. Start each entry with its number followed by a period, as the generator does.
4. List each source once, under the number it received first.
5. Leave out personal communications, which appear in the text only.

AMA Manual of Style Edition Guidelines

The AMA Manual of Style 11th edition (2020) made 4 reference changes to the rules of the AMA Manual of Style 10th edition (2007). The generator follows the 11th edition, which the JAMA Network keeps current through updates to the online manual.

What Changed in the 11th Edition

The 4 AMA 11th edition changes to references are these:

The 11th edition added reference patterns for preprints, data repositories, social media posts, and apps. It lowercased internet and website and dropped the hyphen from email.

Which AMA Edition Should You Use?

Use the 11th edition, unless your instructor or journal names the 10th. The JAMA Network journals use the 11th edition and its online updates, such as the guidance on AI tools and chatbots. To adapt a reference from this tool for a 10th edition paper, add the publisher’s city and state before the publisher and move the URL ahead of the dates.

Common AMA Citation Mistakes to Avoid

There are 6 common AMA citation mistakes, from periods in author initials to superscripts placed inside the period. Each mistake below shows a wrong version and the corrected version.

1. 1Adding periods to author initials

   WrongHaddad O., Petrova E.

   RightHaddad O, Petrova E.

2. 2Writing out the journal name

   WrongPediatric Emergency Care. 2021;37(2):55-60.

   RightPediatr Emerg Care. 2021;37(2):55-60.

3. 3Ending the DOI with a period or a doi.org link

   Wronghttps://doi.org/10.5555/pec.2021.0055.

   Rightdoi:10.5555/pec.2021.0055

4. 4Keeping the publisher's city in a book reference

   WrongNew York, NY: Example University Press; 2021.

   RightOkafor DR. Clinical Reasoning in Primary Care. 3rd ed. Example University Press; 2021.

5. 5Putting the superscript before the period

   WrongNight shifts raise blood pressure¹.

   RightNight shifts raise blood pressure.¹

6. 6Capitalizing every word of an article title

   WrongVitamin D Levels in Adolescent Athletes

   RightVitamin D levels in adolescent athletes

Why Use Our AMA Citation Generator?

Use our AMA citation generator for 3 reasons: its output matches AMA’s own examples, it leaves missing details empty instead of guessing, and it is a free citation generator with no sign-up.

An AMA citation generator turns each source into a numbered reference and a superscript citation in the same order the AMA Manual of Style sets out. Check every reference against the source before you submit, since a database record can carry a misspelled name or a full journal title.