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Citation Help

This guide explains MLA, APA, ASA, and Chicago Style citations.

American Medical Association

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Format Your Paper

FORMATTING YOUR PAPER

AMA citation style is intended to prepare a scholarly article for publication in a medical research journal, such as JAMA or New England Journal of Medicine.  AMA does not address formatting a college research paper. There are no standards on formatting like we'd expect to find. For example, line spacing, page numbers, etc.

Many NWACC instructors provide assignments that spell out the formatting requirements. When the assignment does not provide specific formatting instructions, use these recommended guidelines.

Formatting Guidelines
  1. Font: Times New Roman 12 pt.
  2. Line Spacing: Single
  3. Margins: 1 inch
  4. Page Numbers: Arabic numerals in the upper right corner (1, 2, 3, etc.)
  5. Student's Name and Information: Upper left of first page, flush against the margin.. Include:
    1. Your Name
    2. Instructor Name
    3. Course Name
    4. Date Due
  6. Title of Paper: Centered on the page in bold type.
  7. Section Headings: See samples above.
    1. LEVEL ONE: All caps, bold, flush on the left margin. Begin content on the line below.
    2. Level Two: Title case, bold, flush on left margin. Begin content on the line below. What is "title case?" Title Case is when the first letter of each main word is capitalized. Example of Title Case.
  8. REFERENCES
    1. Section heading: REFERENCES or REFERENCE LIST are both acceptable.
    2. Numbered list (1, 2, 3, etc.)
    3. Sources are listed in the order used in the paper.
    4. Single space entries.
    5. Double space between entries.

FORMATTING REFERENCE LIST ENTRIES

Because the current version of AMA Citation Style has some ambiguities, NWACC classes use the formatting shown below. Use of citation generators may not produce the same results and result in scoring or grade deductions. For NWACC assignments, use the following format. More information can be found in the Quick Guide pdf document above.

Customize Our Template

Cite a Book Part / Chapter / Entry in a Book

If it is an ebook or online source, just add the URL & an access date. If it's a print book, just leave those off.
  • No period after the URL

Author (if any). Entry or chapter title. In: Editor’s name, ed. Title of Book. Vol. x (if any). nth ed. Publisher’s name; copyright year:page range (if any). Accessed [date]. URL

[Replace x and n with numbers.]
Davidson T, Frey RJ. Cholera. In: Longe JL, ed. Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine. 6th ed. Gale; 2020. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://go.openathens.net/redirector/nwacc.edu?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsearch.credoreference.com%2Fcontent%2Fentry%2Fgalegm%2Fcholera%2F0%3FinstitutionId%3D5073

Cite a Website

[If author & name of website are the same, use it as the author and skip listing website.]

Author (if given). Article title. Name of Website. Date of publication. Updated [date]. Accessed [date]. URL

Cholera - Vibrio cholerae infection. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Reviewed October 30, 2020. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/cholera/index.html

Fanous M, King K. Cholera. StatPearls. Updated July 1, 2022. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://www.statpearls.com/ArticleLibrary/viewarticle/19457

Cite a Journal Article

  • List the names of all authors unless there are more than 6, in which case the names of the first 3 authors are used, followed by “et al.”
  • Journal titles should be listed using their National Library of Medicine (NLM) abbreviation. Find the journal abbreviation in the NLM Catalog.
  • Only include the Accessed date if using a URL.
Author(s). Article title. Journal name (using NLM abbreviations*). Year; volume(issue):page range or e-Locater(if any). Accessed [date]. DOI or URL
Cho JY, Liu R, Macbeth JC, Hsiao A. The interface of Vibrio cholerae and the gut microbiome. Gut Microbes. 2021;13(1):1937015. Accessed October 24, 2022. doi:10.1080/19490976.2021.1937015
Gomez HJ, Cirillo VJ, Moncloa F. The clinical pharmacology of lisinopril. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 1987;9:S27-S34. Accessed July 27, 2022. https://journals.lww.com/cardiovascularpharm/ abstract/1987/00003/the_clinical_pharmacology_ of_lisinopril.8.aspx

Cite a Book or an eBook

Book1 or eBook2 

(citing the entire book)

1.Author. Title. nth ed. Publisher’s name; copyright year.

[Replace n with number.]
1. Tortora GJ, Funke BR, Case CL. Microbiology: An Introduction. 12th ed. Pearson; 2016.

​

2. Author. Title. nth ed. Publisher’s name; copyright year. Accessed [date]. URL
2. Burchum J, Rosenthal L. Lehne’s Pharmacology for Nursing Care E-Book. 10th ed. Saunders; 2019. Accessed July 21, 2022. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=nlebk&AN=1836708&site=eds-live

Reference an Image in Text

Image from a Book1 or a Website2

1. 10391: Zolpidem. In: O'Neil MJ, Hekcelman PE, Dobbelaar PH, Roman KJ, eds. The Merck  Index. 15th ed. The Royal Society of Chemistry; 2013.

2. 2D Structure - Zolpidem.. In: National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Summary for CID 5732, Zolpidem. Accessed July 21, 2022. https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/5732