AMA (American Medical Association) Manual of Style
You will be using the AMA citation style. You can find information about how to correctly format in-text citations and you list of reference in the 11th Edition of the AMA Manual of Style.
Journals (Complete Data)
The basic format for an online journal in the AMA (American Medical Association) citation style is presented below. The following information has been taken from the 11th Edition of the AMA Manual Style. The examples of citations below come from this manual as well as online library guides by other librarians. You can also link the the Manual of Style Committee's original chapter about online journals here: AMA Manual of Style: 3.11 (References to Journal Articles)
A complete reference to a journal article includes the following:
Note
Online Journals (DOIs and URLs)
The basic format for an online journal in the AMA (American Medical Association) citation style is presented below. The following information has been taken from the 11th Edition of the AMA Manual Style. The examples of citations below come from this manual as well as online library guides by other librarians. You can also link the the Manual of Style Committee's original chapter about online journals here: AMA Manual of Style: 3.11.4 (Online Journals, Preprints, and Manuscripts)
When the DOI is provided, it is preferable to use the DOI rather than the URL.
If a DOI is available, the basic format for a reference to an article in an online journal is as follows.
Author(s). Title. Journal Name Abbreviation. Year;vol(issue No.):inclusive pages. doi:xx.xx | |
Kitajima TS, Kawashima SA, Watanabe Y. The conserved kinetochore protein shugoshin protects centromeric cohesion during meiosis. Nature. 2004;427(6974):510-517. doi:10.1038/nature02312 | |
Morrison G, Van Langenberg DR, Gibson SJ, Gibson PR. Chronic pain in,inflammatory bowel disease: characteristics and associations of a hospital-based cohort. Inflamm Bowel Dis. 2013;19(6):1210-1217. doi:10.1097/MIB.0b013e318280e729 |
If a DOI is not available, the basic format for reference to an article in an online journal is as follows.
Author(s). Title. Journal Name Abbreviation. Year;vol(issue No.):inclusive pages. URL [insert date]. Accessed [insert date]. | |
Duchin JS. Can preparedness for biological terrorism save us from pertussis? Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2004;158(2):106-107. http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/158/2/106. Accessed June 6, 2019. | |
Hay PJ. Understanding bulimia. Aust Fam Physician. 2007;36(9):708-712. http://www.racgp.org.au/afp/200709/18554. Accessed June 1, 2019. |
Print Journals
Print journals have a similar format. The only difference between an online citation is the lack of a DOI or URL and when the online journal was published or accessed.
Author(s). Title. Journal Name Abbreviation. Year;vol(issue No.):inclusive pages. | |
Rainer S, Thomas D, Tokarz D, et al. Myofibrillogenesis regulator 1 gene mutations cause paroxysmal dystonic choreoathetosis. Arch Neurol. 2004; 61(7):1025-1029. |
Online vs. Print Journals
If the same article is available both in print and online, there is no need to use the print version over the online version. In fact, including the DOI or URL will be useful to your reader, especially if this is for a class assignment and your audience is your professor. It makes it easier for people reading your paper to link to the source material.
The nature of online publishing technologies, particularly the ability to hyperlink between literature, is changing traditional reference standards. In many journals that simultaneously publish their content in print and online, the print version will not include the DOIs for the citations in the reference list. Even if those cited articles do have DOIs, they (and their long character strings) will probably be omitted from the print version. This is because they serve no purpose in print. Online, however, these DOIs can act as links you to the items that are being referenced by the author of the article you were just reading.
Print Version | |
Deeks JJ, Smith LA, Bradley MD. Efficacy, tolerability, and upper gastrointestinal safety of celecoxib for treatment of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis: systematic review of randomised controlled trials. BMJ. 2002;325(7365):619-623. http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/325/7365/619. Accessed June 6, 2019. |
Online Version (URL): | |
Deeks JJ, Smith LA, Bradley MD. Efficacy, tolerability, and upper gastrointestinal safety of celecoxib for treatment of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis: systematic review of randomised controlled trials. BMJ. 2002;325(7365):619-623. http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/325/7365/619. Accessed June 6, 2019. |
Notice, the only difference is that the reference for the online version has a URL and an Accessed Date. If it had a DOI, adding the doi would be the only difference between the print and online version
.
Websites
There’s no perfect way to cite a web resource. The idea is to give as much information as you have – especially enough for the person reading the paper to know how to get their hands on the item so they can review it themselves. Some of your website citations might look bare, but it might be unavoidable if you only have a few identifying components to work with.
The following comes directly from the AMA Manual of Style: 3.15.3 (Websites).
In citing data from a website, include the following elements, if available, in the order shown:
* The names of all authors should be given unless there are more than 6, in which case the names of the first 3 authors are used, followed by “et al”)
The AMA Style committee recognizes that websites do not always provide consistent information. Unlike books, there are no standards for the creation of something like a uniformly used title page. The acknowledge that it is difficult to construct the reference for a website, but that it is best to use as much relevant information as possible. This includes published date (if available), updated date (if it was updated), and when you accessed it. If you see an updated date, but not the original published date, use just the updated date. If a website is continually updated, you may only find the original published date. Always include the Accessed Date.
Another more concise way to put it would be as follows:
Author(s) or responsible body. Title of the item cited. Name of website. Published [insert date]. Updated [insert date]. Accessed [insert date]. URL. | |
International Society for Infectious Diseases. ProMED-mail. Accessed February 10, 2016. http://www.promedmail.org | |
Charlton G. Internal linking for SEO: examples and best practices. SearchEngineWatch. Accessed February 10, 2016. https://searchenginewatch.com/sew/how-to/2428041/internal-linking-for-seo-examples-and-best-practices | |
Zika travel information. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. January 26, 2016. Updated August 11, 2016. Accessed June 18, 2019. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/page/zika-travel-information | |
Sample size calculation. Grapentine Co Inc. Accessed December 6, 2005. http://www.grapentine.com/calculator.htm | |
Scientific Responsibility, Human Rights & Law Program. American Association for the Advancement of Science. Accessed June 18, 2019. https://www.aaas.org/program/scientific-responsibility-human-rights-law | |
Recommendations for primary care practice. US Preventive Services Task Force. Accessed March 9, 2019. https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Name/recommendations | |
Carlson SJ. Step up your activity to help lower risk of diabetes. Mayo Clinic website. Published June 4, 2015. Update July 2, 2016. Accessed August 20, 2017. http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetes/expert-blog/lower-diabetes-risk-withactivity/bgp-20142203. |
A closer look at some of the examples: