Citation Guides

Reference Examples: Audiovisual Recordings (AMA 3.14.1)

Citations for audio-only, visual-only, and audiovisual media all follow the same format. Provide as much of the following information as applicable (and available) to each citation.

1. Surname and initials of primary significant creator.
   • The primary significant creator might include the podcast host, a song's musical artist, an album's composer, etc.
2. Title of the item (in italics) followed by a period.
3. Medium, if in physical form (DVD, Audio CD, etc.).
   • If the medium type is included in the name of the item, this may be left out, as in example 2 below.
4. The publisher/distributer.
   • This may be the producing studio, publishing house, etc.
5. Date of publication.
6. Accessed date, if viewed/listened to online.
7. URL, if viewed/listened to online.

Film or Video

Transcript of Audiovisual Broadcasts (Television, Radio, etc.)

Podcast

Reference Examples: Book (AMA 3.12)

The vast majority of printed books will follow the basic template given here. Keep reading for examples of adapting this template for specific circumstances such as a translated work, a specific chapter from within an anthology, and more.

Note that titles of books follow what is traditionally called title casing (all significant words in the title are capitalized), while titles of chapters, as with journal articles, follow sentence casing (only the first word in the title is capitalized).

Book author and/or editor surname and initials [and translator, if any]. Book Title: Subtitle [if any]. Volume number and title, if applicable. Edition number [not needed for first edition]. Publisher; Year of Copyright. Page numbers [if specifically cited].

Entire Book

This applies to all traditionally printed/published books, as well as their electronic versions. For items specifically published via media, such as audiobooks or e-books, see below.

Chapter from a Book or Work within an Anthology

If citing only from a specific chapter/anthology item rather than the entire book, list the inclusive page titles of the entire item being cited. Also, as noted above, remember that chapter titles only have the first word capitalized (often called "sentence casing"), while titles of books follow traditional title casing and have every major word capitalized.

The format for citing a specific chapter begins with the chapter's author(s) and the title of the chapter, followed by the tag "In:". The rest of the citation follows the usual pattern for an entire book, with the addition of noting the specific pages covered by the chapter being cited, as shown here.

Edited or Translated Book without an Author

Electronic Books and Audiobooks

Books published in an electronic format are cited in mostly the same way as a printed book, with a few variations. If published or accessed through a website, an access date should be included, as well as the book's URL, and the last date that the item was updated, if that information is available (see examples 8-9 below). In this case, it is not necessary to specify the medium the book is published in.

On the other hand, a book that requires a specific piece of equipment or software to access should have that medium specified, such as a typed book viewed through a physical CD or CD-ROM (see examples 10-11 below), or a kindle or audiobook requiring an app (see examples 12-14 below).

Note that as many electronic books do not have stable pagination, and audiobooks don't have pages at all, use chapter or section numbers in place of page numbers.

Reference Examples: Thesis or Dissertation (AMA 3.13.4)

Note that these guidelines apply only to unpublished theses or dissertations. If published, they should be treated as a normal book reference.

Author(s) surname and initials. Title: Subtitle [if any]. Type of document. University Name; Year of completion. Online accessed date [if applicable]. Web address [if applicable].

Reference Examples: Government or Legal Document

The American Medical Association bases its guidelines for Legal References largely on The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, published by the Harvard Law Review Association. The AMA Manual aims to provide a condensed guideline for the majority of common legal and public document references, but highly recommends that students and faculty who perform extensive work in this area (particularly at a graduate level or higher) have a copy of The Bluebook on hand. For a more in-depth breakdown of the specifics of legal and public document references, see chapter 3.16 of The AMA Manual of Style, and find a helpful Bluebook quick guide here: The Bluebook Online (legalbluebook.com).

Referencing Court Materials (AMA 3.16.2)

U.S. Supreme Court Decision

Supreme Court Decisions should be cited to the most official reporter available at the time of citing, starting with the US Reports (abbreviated as US), followed in preference by Supreme Court Reporter (SCt), US Reports, Lawyer's Edition (LEd), or US Law Week (USLW).

First party v Second Party, Reporter volume number Official reporter abbreviation First page of case, specific pages used (Year of decision).

U.S. Court of Appeals

Decisions from the Court of Appeals should be cited to the Federal Reporter, with the series number indicated (F, F2d, or F3d). The circuits are referred to by number (1st Cir, 2d Cir, etc.) except for the District of Columbia (DC Cir) and the Federal Circuit (Fed Cir).

First party v Second Party, Reporter volume number Official reporter abbreviation First page of case, specific pages used (Deciding circuit court and year of decision).

U.S. District Court and/or Claims Court Decision

Decisions made at the District Court level should be cited to the Federal Supplement (F Supp). There are over 100 District Courts, and they are designated by their geographic location (WD for Western Division, ND for Northern Division, etc.) and state.

First party v Second Party, Reporter volume number Official reporter abbreviation First page of case, specific pages used (District Court where case is tried Year of decision).

State Court Decision

State Court Decisions will be reported by a variety of reporters, as they are handled by the individual states and aren't as uniform as reports on the federal level. For these cases, cite to the appropriate official (meaning sanctioned and funded by the state) reporter, if there is one, and the appropriate regional reporter*, in that order. In a few cases, a third, unofficial, reporter is published as well, which should be listed first (essentially, they should be listed in "smallest to largest" order, with the unofficial reporter before the state before the region).

Some states do not have an official reporter, and so can only be cited by region. In that case, also cite the name of the court itself in parentheses with the year of the decision. The full name of the court is abbreviated (if not listed with the report itself, we recommend googling to find the appropriate abbreviation of the court's name).

*The regional reporters are the Atlantic Reporter (A, A2d or A3d), North Eastern Reporter (NE, NE2d, or NE3d), South Eastern Reporter (SE or SE2d), North Western Reporter (NW, NW2d, or NW3d), South Western Reporter (SW, SW2d, or SW3d), and Pacific Reporter (P, P2d, or P3d).

First party v Second Party, Reporter volume number Official state reporter abbreviation First page of case, specific pages used Regional reporter and page number (Year of decision). 

If a case has been reviewed by a higher court, the citation must reflect the subsequent history of the case. (If the year is the same for both, the year is given only once at the end, as in example 9 below.) The decisions made by the higher court should be set off by commas, italicized, and abbreviated*.

*Subsequent decisions by higher courts include aff'd (affirmed by a higher court), rev'd (reversed), vacated (made legally void or annulled), cert denied (application for a writ of certiorari, ie, a request that a court hear an appeal has been denied), or appeal dismissed.

Referencing a Government Report (AMA 3.13.2,3)

Report author(s) surname and initials [if given]. Report Title: Subtitle [if any]. Name of issuing governmental division*. Date of Publication. Page numbers [if specified]. Publication number [if any]. Series number [if given]. Online accessed date [if applicable]. Web address [if applicable].

*Note that "Department" should be abbreviated as "Dept" in this context. Further, if the US Government Printing Office is listed as the publisher, it would be preferable to track down the name of the actual issuing bureau, agency, or department.

Report by a Government Agency or other Organization

Serial Publications

Referencing a Press Release (AMA 3.15.10)

Headline as given in the release. News release [if specified]. Name of issuing agency/company; Date of Release. Online accessed date [if applicable] Web address [if applicable].

Reference Examples: Journal/Periodical Article (AMA 3.11)

In general, reference entries for all journal articles will follow the same basic pattern. Depending on the source, some information may be left out, or the form may change a little, such as how specific the date is, but these changes are slight. See the example below for the basic template for a complete reference.

Note that titles of journal articles follow Sentence Casing (only the first word in the title is capitalized).

Continue reading for specific examples for a variety of circumstances.

Author surname and initials. Title: subtitle [if any]. Abbreviated name of journal. Year;Volume#(Issue#):In-Document Location [page[s] or e-locator]. DOI [or Access Date and URL if DOI is unavailable]

Basic Journal, Magazine, or Newspaper Article
in Print or from most Academic Research Databases

With a DOI

Without a DOI, with a Non-database URL

Multiple Authors

For articles written by 2-6 authors, list all of the authors with a comma between each name and a period after the last name (examples 4 and 5 below). For articles with more than 6 authors, list only the first three followed by "et al" (example 6 below).

Preprint Online Publication

There are several forms of preprinted articles, from ones officially called "preprints" to early, unedited versions which are cited as "accepted manuscripts," which may have several versions themselves. Be aware that preprinted articles are often unedited, unformatted, and may not yet be peer-reviewed for accuracy. When possible, you should always reference the latest version of any article that you can find. However, always cite the version that you actually use, even if you use a preprinted article which is later officially published.

Comment Posted Online

Some journals provide a place for readers to submit responses to articles online (such as BMJ's Rapid Responses). For most articles, this is indicated by preceding the article title with "Re:" (example 10 below), but if the platform allows for comments to have their own title, that may be used as well (example 11 below). See the examples below to demonstrate. Note that this format is also used to cite comments on non-journal data repositories, blogs, and other websites (example 12 below).

Reference Examples: News Publication or Blog (AMA 3.13.1)

Newspapers (both print and online) and blogs are cited according to the basic template below. Note that newspaper names are not abbreviated. If the city name is not already in the title of the newspaper (as it is in the Chicago Tribune), it should be added as a part of the title for clarity (as in example 3 below). Continue reading for specific examples.

Book author [if given]. Article Title. Name of Newspaper. Date of Publication.Section [if applicable] Page number [if applicable]. Access date [if viewed online]. Website address [if viewed online].

Newspaper Article in Print (includes issues scanned as images)

Note that many articles originally published in print (especially pre-internet) have been made available online as a text-only article and may not have images of the original printed page. In this case, which will cover the vast majority of articles accessed in your research, the section or page number is not necessary to include in the citation. However, some archives preserve scanned images of the original printing, and those should include the pagination, as in example 2 below.

As always, cite the version you use, regardless of whatever formats are available.

Online Newspaper Article or Blog (includes originally printed issues replicated online)

If referencing an online newspaper article, it is not necessary to specify the section or page numbers, even for legacy articles replicated for electronic access. For articles that have been scanned as an image, follow the guidelines for print newspapers found above.

Reference Examples: Personal Communication (AMA 3.13.10)

According to the AMA Manual of Style, personal communications should never be included in the list of references. Personal communications may be included as in-text only citations, but should be used sparingly and well-documented. It is possible that a professor may request personal communications to be included in a reference list for a class assignment, in which case their instructions (as always) overrule the guidance presented here.

For in-text citations of personal communications, the date of the communication and the method (letter, email, etc.) should be provided. The person's highest academic degree(s) should be included, as well as any affiliations that may be needed to establish the person's authority on the subject being discussed. See the examples below for some ideas for how to incorporate a personal communication into the text of your project.

According to a letter from H. E. Marman, MD, in August 2015...

---

Similar findings have been noted by Roberts⁶ and by H. E. Marman, MD (email, August 15, 2015).

---

According to the manufacturer (H. R. Smith, PhD, Pharma International, written communication, May 1, 2015), the drug became available in Japan in January 2014.

Reference Examples: Presentations (AMA 3.13.8-9)

This page addresses how to cite live presentations viewed in person at a conference or symposium or via webinar, whether live or recorded. Conference papers and presentations that have been published in a journal or book should be cited as the format in which they were published.

Both recorded and live presentations are cited according to the template below. Note that recorded presentations should also include the access date and URL, but presentations viewed only in person may leave them off.

Presenter surname and initials [if any]. Presentation title: subtitle [if any]. Item presented at: Name of Conference; Date of presentation; Location of Conference. Live Videocast URL [if applicable]. Accessed Date [if applicable]. URL of recording [if applicable]

Conference Presentation Viewed In Person

Conference Presentation Viewed from Video Stream or Recording

Note that Example 4 below refers to a presentation viewed for the first time via its recording, while Example 5 shows how to cite a presentation first viewed live via video stream (such as Zoom) and later made available via recording.

Teleconference Transcript

Webinar

Reference Examples: Reference Work

Reference works are generally cited as a typical book, but there are a few differences due to the entry-organization system of dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc.

Note that specific entries do not need to be specified within parenthetical/narrative citations, only in the complete reference in the reference list. Any required mention of the specific entry should be worked into the text itself.

Entry in Dictionary, Thesaurus, or Encyclopedia

Diagnostic Manual (AMA 14.15)

AMA Guidance Regarding Scripture and Classical Works

Religious texts and classical works such as ancient philosophers, poets, and historians are often cited in ways that differ from the usual means of citation, regardless of which style manual you are using. Theological texts can also include non-traditional means of publishing, as in the case of papal encyclicals. A few examples from the AMA Manual of Style are provided here, but the manual suggests referring to The Chicago Manual of Style for additional guidance in citing classical references. See the Chicago/Turabian page within this guide and select the "Scripture and Classical Works" tab for further guidance.

Should you need it, there is also a much more expanded guide designed for our Theology and Philosophy departments, which includes guidance from The SBL Handbook of Style. See the "Theological/Philosophical Citations" page on this guide.

Reference Examples: Scripture and Classical Works (AMA 3.13.11)

Note that many scriptural and classical works possess their own numbering system based on sections, lines, chapters, verses, etc., rather than page numbers. As seen in the examples below, AMA style makes use of the traditional numbering system rather than page numbers whenever possible.

Also be aware that in most cases, publication details are not necessary for classical or scriptural works due to their longevity and widely-known usage, unless in a situation where the specific translation, editor, or edition is significant in some way. In those cases, cite the item like a traditional book (but continue using the item's numbering system).

Religious Work

Ancient Greek or Roman Work

Shakespeare

Reference Examples: Websites and Social Media

Authors' surnames and initials [if given]. Title of the specific item cited [if none given, use the name of the organization responsible for the site]. Website name [if not given in the title]. Date of Posting. Updated Date [if applicable]. Accessed Date. URL.

Comment on an Online Periodical Article or Post

Some journals provide a place for readers to submit responses to articles online (such as BMJ's Rapid Responses). For most articles, this is indicated by preceding the article title with "Re:" (example 1 below), but if the platform allows for comments to have their own title, that may be used as well (example 2 below). See the examples below to demonstrate. Note that this format is also used to cite comments on non-journal data repositories, blogs, and other websites (example 3 below).

Mobile App

Webpage on a Website with a Group Author

Social Media Post

Use the poster's (or commenter's) real name, if provided. If only the username is available, it may be used with the first letter of the username capitalized.

Many social media posts and comments do not have titles, so if a title isn't available, provide the text of the post, instead. Replicate emojis, if possible in the format you are using, or describe them within square brackets, if not. Include a description of any audiovisuals within square brackets, as well.

Post Individual or Group Author. Post title [if any] or text of the post. Website name [if not given in the title]. Date of Posting. Updated Date [if applicable]. Accessed Date. Post URL.