Quick Reference to AMA Style Reference Lists (11th
Edition)
General Rules
Reference List
• References are listed numerically in the order they are cited in the text. Two references should not be
combined under a single reference number.
• Use the author's surname followed by initials without periods or spaces. The names of all authors should
be given unless there are more than 6, in which case the names of the first 3 authors are used, followed
by “et al.” Do not use and between names.
• References to material not yet accepted for publication or to personal communications (oral, written,
and electronic) are not acceptable and instead should be included parenthetically in the text.
• Abbreviate and italicize names of journals. Use initial capital letters. Abbreviate according to the listing
in the PubMed Journals database. For information on how journal title abbreviations are constructed,
see https://www-ncbi-nlm-nih-gov.proxy.cc.uic.edu/books/NBK7282/box/A33351/?report=objectonly
• In article titles, capitalize only the first letter of the first word, proper names, and abbreviations that are
ordinarily capitalized in the reference.
In-text Citations
• Use Arabic superscript numerals outside periods and commas, inside colons and semicolons. When
more than 2 references are cited at a given place in the manuscript, use hyphens to join the first and last
numbers of a closed series; use commas without spaces to separate other parts of a multiple citation.
As previously,1,3–8,19
The derived data were as follows3,4
:
Minimum information required by type with examples
Scholarly Article
When the DOI is provided, it is preferable to cite it rather than the URL. Note: The DOI is provided
immediately after “doi:” with no spaces.
If there is no DOI, then include the URL and accessed date for articles accessed electronically.
Electronic article: minimum information
Author(s). Title. Journal Name. Year;vol(issue #):inclusive pages. DOI.
Print article: minimum information
Author(s). Title. Journal Name. Year;vol(issue #):inclusive pages.
Examples:
Wheelis M. Investigating disease outbreaks under a protocol to the biological and toxin weapons
convention. Emerg Infect Dis. 2000;6(6):595-600. Accessed October 26, 2010.
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol6no6/wheelis.htm.
Lissarassa YPS, Vincensi CF, Costa-Beber LC, et al. Chronic heat treatment positively impacts
metabolic profile of ovariectomized rats: association with heat shock response pathways. Cell Stress
Chaperones. 2020;25(3):467-479. doi: 10.1007/s12192-020-01087-z.
Book (print, electronic, or chapter)
Regardless of the book type, include any of the following elements that are known in this order:
Author(s) (whole book or chapter), Chapter title, Editors (if second or above) and translators, Book title
with subtitle, Volume number and title (when there is more than 1), Publisher name, Copyright year,
page numbers. Examples below do not include all possible elements.
Print book: minimum information
Author(s). Book Title. Volume # and title. Edition #. Publisher name; copyright year.
Example:
Walker J, Pollard, J, Murray E. Methods in Molecular Biology. Volume 2. Humana Press; 1984.
E-book: minimum information
Author(s). Book Title. Volume # and title. Edition #. Publisher name; copyright year. Accessed date.
URL.
Example:
Modell AH. Imagination and the Meaningful Brain. MIT Press; 2003. Accessed October 31, 2010.
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uic/docDetail.action?docID=10173553.
Chapter within Book: minimum information
Author(s). Chapter title. In: Editor(s). Book Title. Edition number. Publisher name; copyright
year:inclusive pages.
Example:
Sisk JE. Cardiac catheterization. In: Krapp K, ed. The Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing & Allied Health.
Gale Group; 2002:407-412.
Website
Minimum information
Author(s) (or, if no author is available, the name of the group responsible for the site). Title of the
specific item (or, if no title is available, the name of the organization responsible for the site). Name of
the Web site. Date published. Date updated. Date Accessed. URL.
Example:
U.S. National Library of Medicine. Back Pain. MedlinePlus. n.d. Updated April 30, 2020. Accessed
May 14, 2020. https://medlineplus.gov/backpain.html
Link to the full AMA style guide, 11th
Edition, can be found on our Citation and Style Guide Help Page.
https://researchguides.uic.edu/styleguides/ama