🩺 AMA Citation Generator for Journal Articles and Websites
By ToolNimba Editorial Team · Reviewed by ToolNimba Editorial Review, academic citation and style · Updated 2026-06-22
This tool formats the details you enter into AMA style; it does not verify that author names, journal abbreviations, DOIs, or dates are correct, and it cannot fetch source data for you. Always confirm names, the official NLM journal abbreviation, and titles against the original source, and check your instructor or journal requirements, since the AMA Manual of Style is periodically updated.
Enter authors as Surname then initials with no periods, separated by commas: Smith JA, Doe RB. List up to 6; with 7 or more, only the first 3 are kept and "et al" is added.
Use the official abbreviated journal title where possible (for example, JAMA or N Engl J Med).
Required for websites; optional for journal articles that you read online.
AMA style numbers references in the order they appear in your text. Drop this entry into your numbered reference list and match it to its superscript citation.
AMA style, set by the American Medical Association, is the reference format used across medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and the health sciences. This generator turns the details of a journal article or website into a correctly punctuated, superscript-ready AMA reference that you can paste straight into a numbered reference list. Fill in the fields, copy the result, and move on. Everything runs in your browser, so nothing you type is ever uploaded.
What is the AMA Citation Generator?
AMA style uses a citation-sequence system. Inside your text you mark each source with a superscript number in the order it first appears, and your reference list is numbered in that same order rather than alphabetised. That is the biggest difference from APA or MLA, which both sort references by author surname. Because the number, not the author name, is what ties a citation to its reference, getting the order and the formatting of each entry right is what matters most. The current standard is the AMA Manual of Style, 11th edition, and the rules below follow that edition.
The shape of a journal reference is consistent: authors, then the article title in sentence case, then the abbreviated journal name in italics, then the year, volume, issue in parentheses, and page range, each separated by precise punctuation. A typical entry reads Author AA, Author BB. Article title. Journal Abbrev. Year;Volume(Issue):Pages. AMA lists up to six authors in full. When a work has seven or more authors you list the first three and add the phrase et al, which keeps long clinical author lists from overwhelming the reference.
Websites follow a related but looser pattern because online pages rarely have volumes or page numbers. You give the author or organisation, the page title, the site or publisher name, a publication or update date when one is shown, the full URL, and, critically, the date you accessed the page. AMA treats the access date as essential for web content because online pages change or disappear, so it records when the version you cited was live. Our tool flags a missing access date for websites so you do not ship an incomplete reference.
Digital object identifiers matter in the 11th edition. When a journal article or other online work has a DOI, AMA wants you to include it, written as the full https://doi.org link, because a DOI is a stable, permanent address that does not break when a site reorganises. If a DOI exists you do not also need a URL, and you only add an access date when you are relying on a plain URL rather than a DOI. This DOI-first rule is one of the clearest changes from older AMA guidance, and it is easy to miss if you learned the style years ago.
Books and book chapters use their own pattern. A whole book reads Author AA. Book Title. Edition. Publisher; Year. A chapter in an edited book adds the editors and the page range: Author AA. Chapter title. In: Editor AA, ed. Book Title. Edition. Publisher; Year:pages. Note that AMA puts the publisher and year together with a semicolon and uses a colon before page numbers, a small habit that trips up writers coming from other styles.
A few formatting conventions trip people up regardless of source type. Author initials carry no periods or spaces (Smith JA, not Smith J. A.), journal titles use the official NLM abbreviation rather than the full name, and titles are written in sentence case, meaning only the first word and proper nouns are capitalised. The generator applies the punctuation and the et al rule for you, but you still supply names and titles in the right form, so it pays to know these conventions rather than trusting any tool blindly.
When to use it
- Building a numbered AMA reference list for a medical school paper, case report, or literature review.
- Citing a clinical trial or research article from a journal such as JAMA, The Lancet, or N Engl J Med, with its DOI.
- Referencing a guideline or fact page from a health organisation website like the CDC or WHO, with the required access date.
- Citing a textbook or a single chapter from an edited clinical reference work with the correct editor and page formatting.
- Quickly checking the correct AMA punctuation and author order before submitting a manuscript to a journal.
- Teaching or learning AMA style by seeing how each field maps onto a finished, correctly punctuated reference.
How to use the AMA Citation Generator
- Choose the source type, journal article, book, or website, so the right fields appear.
- Enter the authors as surname plus initials with no periods (Smith JA, Doe RB), then add the title in sentence case.
- Fill in the source details: journal, year, volume, and pages for an article, publisher and edition for a book, or site name, URL, and access date for a website.
- Add the DOI when the source has one, since AMA prefers a DOI over a plain URL.
- Read the formatted reference in the result box and click Copy to drop it into your numbered reference list.
Formula & method
Worked examples
You are citing a two-author review article: Walker and Stickgold, "Sleep, memory, and plasticity," Annual Review of Psychology, 2006, volume 57, pages 139 to 166.
- Set the source type to Journal article.
- Enter the authors as Walker MP, Stickgold R (surnames then initials, no periods).
- Put the title in sentence case and give the abbreviated journal name Annu Rev Psychol.
- Enter year 2006, volume 57, and pages 139-166. There is no issue number to add.
Result: Walker MP, Stickgold R. Sleep, memory, and plasticity. Annu Rev Psychol. 2006;57:139-166.
You are citing one chapter written by Guyton inside an edited textbook, Hall's Textbook of Medical Physiology, 13th edition, published by Elsevier in 2016, pages 773 to 784.
- Set the source type to Book chapter.
- Enter the chapter author Guyton AC and put the chapter title in sentence case.
- Add the editor as Hall JE, ed., then the book title in title case and the edition 13th ed.
- Enter the publisher Elsevier, the year 2016, and the page range 773-784.
Result: Guyton AC. The autonomic nervous system. In: Hall JE, ed. Textbook of Medical Physiology. 13th ed. Elsevier; 2016:773-784.
You are citing a public health page from the CDC website that you read on June 20, 2026.
- Set the source type to Website.
- Use the organisation as the author: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- Add the page title, the site name, and the published year if one is shown.
- Paste the full URL and pick the date you accessed the page so the access date is included.
Result: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About sleep and chronic disease. CDC. Published 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/sleep. Accessed June 20, 2026.
AMA reference parts and how they are punctuated
| Element | How to format it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Authors | Surname then initials, no periods, commas between authors, period at the end | Smith JA, Doe RB. |
| Seven or more authors | List the first three, then add et al | Smith JA, Doe RB, Patel MK, et al. |
| Article title | Sentence case, only first word and proper nouns capitalised, ends in a period | Effects of sleep on memory. |
| Journal name | Official NLM abbreviation, italic, followed by a period | N Engl J Med. |
| Year, volume, issue, pages | Year;Volume(Issue):Pages with no spaces | 2024;389(12):1071-1080. |
| DOI | doi: prefix then the identifier, or the full https://doi.org link, no period after | doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2034577 |
| Access date (web) | Accessed Month D, YYYY | Accessed June 20, 2026. |
AMA reference patterns by source type
| Source type | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Journal article | Authors. Title. Journal Abbrev. Year;Vol(Issue):Pages. doi | Smith JA. Sleep and memory. N Engl J Med. 2024;389(12):1071-1080. |
| Whole book | Authors. Title. Edition. Publisher; Year. | Hall JE. Textbook of Medical Physiology. 13th ed. Elsevier; 2016. |
| Book chapter | Authors. Chapter title. In: Editors, eds. Title. Edition. Publisher; Year:Pages. | Guyton AC. The autonomic nervous system. In: Hall JE, ed. Textbook of Medical Physiology. 13th ed. Elsevier; 2016:773-784. |
| Website | Author or Org. Title. Site Name. Published date. URL. Accessed date. | CDC. About sleep. CDC. Published 2024. https://cdc.gov/sleep. Accessed June 20, 2026. |
| Online article with DOI | Authors. Title. Journal Abbrev. Year;Vol(Issue):Pages. doi:xx | Lee K. Insomnia care. JAMA. 2023;330(4):301-309. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.1234 |
How AMA differs from APA and MLA
| Feature | AMA | APA | MLA |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-text marker | Superscript number | Author, year | Author, page |
| Reference list order | Order of first appearance | Alphabetical by author | Alphabetical by author |
| Author names | Surname plus initials, no periods | Surname, initials with periods | Full first and last names |
| Author cutoff | First 3 then et al at 7+ | First 20 then et al | First author then et al at 3+ |
| Title case | Sentence case for articles | Sentence case | Title case |
Common mistakes to avoid
- Putting periods after author initials. AMA writes author initials with no periods and no spaces, so it is Smith JA, not Smith J. A. The surname keeps normal capitalisation and the initials run together right after it.
- Listing every author on a large study. When a work has seven or more authors, AMA lists only the first three followed by et al. Typing out a dozen names is a common error that lengthens the reference and breaks the style.
- Capitalising every word of the title. Article and page titles use sentence case in AMA: capitalise only the first word and any proper nouns. Title case (capitalising most words) belongs to other styles, not AMA. Book and journal titles are the exception and keep their standard capitalisation.
- Leaving out the access date for a website. Online pages change, so AMA requires the date you accessed any web source, written as Accessed Month D, YYYY. A website reference without an access date is incomplete and may be marked down.
- Adding a URL when a DOI is available. In the 11th edition AMA prefers a DOI over a plain URL. If the article has a DOI, include the DOI and drop the URL, and you do not need an access date because the DOI is permanent.
- Using the full journal name instead of the abbreviation. AMA wants the official NLM abbreviation, so New England Journal of Medicine becomes N Engl J Med. Spelling out the full title is a frequent slip that journals will flag.
Glossary
- AMA style
- The citation and formatting system from the American Medical Association, standard in medicine and the health sciences.
- Citation-sequence system
- A method where references are numbered in the order they first appear in the text rather than alphabetically.
- Superscript citation
- The small raised number placed in the text to point to the matching numbered entry in the reference list.
- et al
- Latin for "and others," used in AMA after the first three authors when a work has seven or more.
- NLM abbreviation
- The official short form of a journal title from the National Library of Medicine, used in place of the full name.
- DOI
- A digital object identifier, a permanent link to an online work that AMA prefers over a plain URL in the 11th edition.
- Access date
- The date you viewed an online source, recorded in AMA because web pages can change or disappear over time.
- Sentence case
- Capitalising only the first word of a title and any proper nouns, the style AMA uses for article and chapter titles.
Frequently asked questions
What is AMA citation format?
AMA citation format is the reference style of the American Medical Association, used widely in medicine, nursing, and the health sciences. It marks each source in the text with a superscript number and lists references numerically in the order they first appear, rather than alphabetically by author. The current standard is the AMA Manual of Style, 11th edition.
How do I cite a journal article in AMA style?
List the authors (surname plus initials, no periods), then the article title in sentence case, the abbreviated journal name, and the year, volume, issue, and pages. The pattern is: Author AA, Author BB. Article title. Journal Abbrev. Year;Volume(Issue):Pages. Add the DOI at the end when the article has one. This generator assembles and punctuates that for you.
How many authors does AMA list before using et al?
AMA lists up to six authors in full. When a work has seven or more authors, you list only the first three and add the phrase et al. The generator applies this rule automatically based on how many names you enter.
How do I cite a book or a book chapter in AMA?
A whole book is Author AA. Book Title. Edition. Publisher; Year. A chapter in an edited book adds the editors and pages: Author AA. Chapter title. In: Editor AA, ed. Book Title. Edition. Publisher; Year:Pages. The book title stays in title case while the chapter title uses sentence case.
Do I need an access date for a website in AMA?
Yes. AMA requires the date you accessed any online source, written as Accessed Month D, YYYY, because web content can change or be removed. Our tool flags a missing access date when you build a website reference so the entry is not left incomplete. If the source instead has a DOI, you do not need an access date.
When do I include a DOI versus a URL in AMA?
In the 11th edition AMA prefers a DOI whenever one exists, because a DOI is a permanent, stable link. Include the DOI and you do not need a URL or an access date. Use a plain URL only when there is no DOI, and in that case add the access date.
Does AMA use title case or sentence case for titles?
AMA uses sentence case for article and chapter titles, meaning you capitalise only the first word and any proper nouns. Journal names use their standard abbreviated capitalisation, and book titles keep title case. Title case for an article title is not used in AMA.
Is AMA the same as APA or MLA?
No. AMA uses superscript numbers in the text and orders the reference list by first appearance, while APA and MLA use author-date or author-page citations and alphabetise their lists. AMA also formats author names and the et al cutoff differently, so references are not interchangeable between the styles.
What is the difference between AMA 10th and 11th editions?
The 11th edition, published in 2020, is the current standard. The clearest change is the stronger preference for DOIs over URLs and refinements to how online sources and access dates are handled. If your instructor or journal specifies the 10th edition, check that edition, but most current programs use the 11th.
Where does the superscript number go in the text?
In AMA you place the superscript number immediately after the fact, name, or quotation it supports, outside commas and periods but inside colons and semicolons. The same number is reused every time you cite that source, and the reference list entry keeps that number throughout the paper.
Sources
- AMA Manual of Style , American Medical Association
- Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers , National Library of Medicine
- AMA Style Guide , Purdue Online Writing Lab