The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published its first style guide in 1962. The AMA Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors, currently in its 11th edition, provides guidelines for writing, editing, and citations for articles to be published in the journals of the American Medical Association (AMA). This style is used in many health-related scientific journals and in academic textbooks.
In the academic environment, you may also be expected to conform to the AMA standard when writing. This usually means that you should create an accurate reference list, using proper format, and provide citations within the text to give credit for an idea or concept to the source from which you obtained the information.
In AMA style, capitalization, italicization, and punctuation are crucial components of citation. You must always check your citations against the AMA Manual of Style for these small, but important, details.
Many online databases provide citations in a variety of styles, including AMA, for the resources in their collection. There are also online citation generators that will create citations for your resources in your chosen style. While these can be useful tools, the citations they provide often have inaccuracies. Again, we recommend that you carefully review your citations before submitting your paper for grading or publication.
NSU Writing Center offers online or in-person assistance with proofreading, writing, grammar, and citations. Walk-ins are welcome during regular business hours (these differ from library hours), or you can request services at any time through the website.
Please note that assistance may not always be available for the AMA citation style; however, the Writing Center is still an excellent resource for help with proofreading and grammar. For AMA citation assistance, contact your professor or your friendly librarian.
AMA Manual of Style
