The AMA reference pattern
AMA lists authors as surname plus initials with no periods and no spaces between initials (Drake RL), gives article titles in sentence case without italics, abbreviates and italicises the journal name, and packs year, volume, issue and pages into one compact string: 2016;316(5):525-532. The DOI follows as "doi:" with no space and no final full stop.
Obama B. United states health care reform: progress to date and next steps. JAMA. 2016;316(5):525-532. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.9797
In-text citation (superscript): 1
Book chapters, websites and news in AMA
Trabulsy P. Complementary and alternative medicine. In: Stein GS, Luebbers KP, eds. Cancer: Prevention, Early Detection, Treatment and Recovery. 2nd ed. Wiley Blackwell; 2019:499-530. doi:10.1002/9781119645214.ch27
In-text citation (superscript): 1
Hughes GRV, Erb N. The Antiphospholipid (Hughes) Syndrome. LUPUS UK. Accessed May 5, 2021. https://www.lupusuk.org.uk/medical/lupus-diagnosis-treatment/diagnosis-of-lupus/associated-illnesses/hughes-syndrome/
In-text citation (superscript): 1
Store initials with periods in the form (for example "R. L.") and the generator prints them the AMA way ("RL"). Initials typed without periods may be read as one name.
AMA in-text citations
AMA cites with superscript Arabic numerals placed after periods and commas and before colons and semicolons. Number sources in the order you first cite them; reuse a source's number when you cite it again. Ranges use a hyphen: 2-4. Insert the superscript with your word processor and keep the reference list in the same order.
Tips for health science papers
- Use the PubMed journal abbreviation; registry data may give the full title.
- List up to six authors; with more than six, list three followed by "et al."
- Include the DOI when one exists; it is more stable than a URL.
- For guidelines and reports from agencies, use the organisation as author in the manual form.
Paraphrasing clinical sources needs care with numbers and terms. The academic paraphrasing tool protects figures, units and technical terms so a dosage or a statistic does not change.
Guide and edition used
The generator uses the official american-medical-association.csl style for the AMA Manual of Style, 11th edition. The manual itself is behind a paywall, so the examples here were recreated from university library guides that follow the 11th edition: University of Northern Colorado and Augusta University, checked October 25, 2026. Rephrasa is not affiliated with the American Medical Association.
AMA for news and grey literature
Tourne R. Townsville Hospital in poor health: hospital troubles persist. Townsville Bulletin. February 26, 2011:5.
In-text citation (superscript): 1
Reports from agencies, theses and conference posters count as grey literature. Enter them with the manual form, use the organisation as author when no person is named, and include a URL and access date for anything online.
Why medicine prefers numbered references
Clinical papers cite many sources in dense paragraphs. Superscript numbers keep sentences readable and let readers jump to the list. The compact journal format (year;volume(issue):pages) also saves space in print. Students in nursing and allied health often meet AMA alongside APA, so check each module brief.