AMA Citation Guide: Reference List and Sample Paper

Include a reference list (named 'References') with full citations at the end of your document. Your reference list must be in numerical order to reflect the order of your in-text citations.

Make sure to always include the last name and first and middle initial of the authors without punctuation. Use a comma to separate more than one author in a single bibliographic group (e.g. Silvera A, Albertalli B).

Each reference is divided with periods into bibliographic groups. Each bibliographic group contains bibliographic elements, which may be separated using the following punctuation marks:

• Comma: if the items are closely related or sub-elements of a bibliographic element (e.g. authors' names)
• Semicolon: if the elements in the bibliographic group are different (e.g. between publisher's name and copyright year), before volume identification data, if there are multiple occurrences of logically related elements within a group
• Colon: after a connective phrase, before the publisher's name, between title and subtitle

AMA Reference List Examples

EXAMPLE: Journal article with DOI

1. Heidenreich S, Mohr A, Puck J. Political strategies, entrepreneurial overconfidence and foreign direct investment in developing countries. Journal of World Business. 2015;50(4):793-803. doi:10.1016/j.jwb.2015.03.002.

2. Florez H, Martinez R, Chakra W, Strickman-Stein M, Levis S. Outdoor exercise reduces the risk of hypovitaminosis D in the obese. J Steroid Biochem Mol Bio. 2007;103(3-5):679-681. doi:10.1016/j.jsbmb.2006.12.032.

EXAMPLE: A whole book

3. Galanter M, ed. Services Research in the Era of Managed Care. New York, NY: Kluwer Academic/Plenum; 2001.