How to Read and Prepare an

AMA Bibliographic Citation

The American Medical Association (AMA) is one of many organizations that has developed a
format for bibliographic citation. Other popular styles of citation include the MLA, APA and
Chicago stylesthe Library has handouts for these sources as well.
A bibliography is a list of works on a given subject or by a given author.
Bibliographies are common tools used to cite referenced work in everything from transcribed speeches,
college research papers, and professional journal articles. The bibliography is titled: References.
Sources are listed numerically in the order they appear in the text.
Each entry of a bibliography is called a citation.
A typical citation has three parts: author, title and publication information. When using AMA
format, different information is needed for different types of materials
(i.e. books, journals, websites etc.). See below for examples:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

Books
Herrnstein RJ, Murray C. The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in
American Life. New York: Free Press; 1994.
Author(s). Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher; Year.
Add Chapter Title before title if pertinent. Add page numbers after date of publication when specific
pages are cited. (Year). Add Volume number and title after book title if there is more than 1 volume.
Include up to 6 authors, if there are more than 6, list the first 3 followed by et al.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

Articles
Zampiere C, Di Fabio RP. Balance and Eye Movement Training to Improve Gait in
People With Progressive Supranuclear Palsy: Quasi-randomized Clinical
Trial. Physical Therapy. 2008;88:1460-1473.
Author(s) of article. Title of article. Journal Title. Year;Volume:Page numbers.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

Encyclopedia Articles
Evans GA. Gene Mapping. In: Dulbecco R, ed-in-chief. Encyclopedia of Human
Biology. Vol 4. San Diego: Academic Press; 1997:179-184.
Article author(s). Title of article. In: Editors of Book. Title of Book. Volume. Place of publication: Publishers; Year of Publication: Page numbers.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

Articles From a Database

Burfeind D. Dermatology Nursing News.. Dermatology Nursing. October 2008;20
(5):408-415. Available from: Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition.
Accessed February 6, 2009.

Morton College
Library
3801 S. Central Ave.
Cicero, IL 60804
www.morton.edu/library
708-656-8000 x 321

Author(s). Title of Article. Title of Journal, Date of Publication: Volume (issue number): Page numbers.
Name of Database. Date of Access.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

Websites
Smith GL. Get Fit Quick. American Diabetes Association Web Site. 2008.
Available at: http://www.diabetes.org/food-nutrition-lifestyle/fitness.jsp.
Accessed February 6, 2009.
Author(s). Title of Page. Name of Web Site. Year of Web Page. URL. Date of Access.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________

For more information, see AMA Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors.
JAMA & Archives Journals, 2007.
Cathy Lantz, 2/2009