AMA Citation (11th Edition) Help

• Authors’ names are inverted, and use only initials for first and middle names. Do not put periods between initials.
• If there are six authors/editors or less, include the names of all authors/editors.
• If there are more than six authors/editors, include the first three names, then shorten with et al.
• Only the first word and proper nouns in article titles that are ordinarily capitalized are capitalized.
• Italicize and abbreviate the journal titles.
• Use issue numbers in parentheses after the volume number. If there is no issue number specify the month before the year.
• When the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is provided, it is preferable to cite it rather than the URL. The DOI is provided immediately after “doi:” with no spaces. No accessed date is required for the DOI, making it the last item in the reference. You only need to include an Accessed date if you have used a URL.
• For some electronic journals, the articles are never published in a print format, and do not get meaningful page numbers. Use the article's identifier in the place of page numbers.    

For more information look at the chapter on journals in the AMA Manual of Style. 

Standard article pattern (print):

Author AA, Author BB. Title of article. Journal abbreviation. Year;volume(issue):pp-pp.

Standard article pattern (electronic):

Author AA, Author BB. Title of article. Journal abbreviation. Year;volume(issue):pp-pp. Accessed Month DD, YYYY. DOI or URL

Journal article (1-6 authors):

Hu P, Reuben DB. Effects of managed care on the length of time that elderly patients spend with physicians during ambulatory visits. Med Care. 2002;40(7):606-613.

Journal article with more than six authors:

Geller AC, Venna S, Prout M, et al. Should the skin cancer examination be taught in medical school? Arch Dermatol. 2002;138(9):1201-1203. 

Journal article with no named author or group name: 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Licensure of a meningococcal conjugate vaccine (Menveo) and guidance for use--Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), 2010. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2010;59(9):273.

Online Journal Article with DOI (Digital Object Identifier): 

Coppinger T, Jeanes YM, Hardwick J, Reeves S. Body mass, frequency of eating and breakfast consumption in 9-13-year-olds. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2012; 25(1): 43-49. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-277X.2011.01184.x

Online Journal Article without a DOI:  

Coppinger T, Jeanes YM, Hardwick J, Reeves S. Body mass, frequency of eating and breakfast consumption in 9-13-year-olds. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2012; 25(1): 43-49. Accessed March 27, 2018. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-277X.2011.01184.x

You will need (minimum information in bold):

• Author(s)
• Article title 
• Journal Abbreviation 
• Year
• Volume number
• Issue number
• Part or supplement (if relevant)
• Inclusive page numbers
• DOI or URL (if online)
• Accessed date (if online - only if using URL)

AMA citations require that you use the abbreviations for journal titles.

Chapter 13.10 in the AMA Manual of Style offers guidance for abbreviations and a list of abbreviations for common titles. 

You can also find the abbreviations easily in PubMed. To find the abbreviations in PubMed, start by going to the library website and clicking on PubMed@QU.

Next, click on "Journals" on the PubMed homepage. It is located on the lower right corner under "Explore."

On the next screen, type the journal title in the search box. Then click search.

On the next screen, you will get a list of journal title results. After you select the title you will find information that will have the correct abbreviation for the title.

Additionally, abbreviation rules for journal titles from the NLM is available if you would like to abbreviate a title by hand.