AMA Format and Style Guide

In-Text Citations in AMA Style

Here is an example of a paragraph using “in-text” citations and then the corresponding reference list. The following article can be found on page 493 of the August 3, 2011 issue of JAMA.  The following quote is the first, long paragraph that features in-text citations within this article. Please note the use of superscript. The superscript numbers will correspond to the citations listed in the reference list at the end of the article. Here is the first paragraph  from the article:

POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD) is among the most common and disabling psychiatric disorders among military personnel serving in combat theaters.^1-3  Antidepressants are the predominant pharmacotherapy for PTSD. Two serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs), sertraline and paroxetine, have Food and Drug Administration approval for the treatment of PTSD based on multicenter trials. ^4-7  Within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), 89% of veterans diagnosed with PTSD and treated with pharmacotherapy are prescribed SRIs.⁸  However, SRIs appear to be less effective in men than in women⁴  and less effective in chronic PTSD than in acute PTSD. ^9,10 Thus, it may not be surprising that an SRI study in veterans produced negative results.¹¹

References Listed

AMA Style does not use double-space or hanging indentations. Some of the punctuation and spacing are different. The reference list is presented numerically and not alphabetically by author’s last name or the first word in the title. The superscripted number within the text of the article corresponds to the number in the “References.”  Following is what the first eleven citations in the “References” looks like taking into consideration the superscripted numbers listed within the paragraph typed above:

REFERENCES

1. Kulka RA, Schlenger WE, Fairbank J. Trauma and the Vietnam War Generation. New York:         
    NY: Bruner-Mazel; 1990.
2. Hoge CW, Castro CA, Messer SC, McGurk D, Cotting DI, Koffman RL.Combat duty in Iraq
    and Afghanistan, mental health problems, and barriers to care. N Engl J Med. 2004;351(1):
    13-22.
3. Thomas JL, Wilk JE, Riviere LA, McGurk D, Casatro CA, Hoge CW. Prevalence of mental
    health problems and functional impairment among active component and National Guard
    soldiers 3 and 12 months following combat in Iraq. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2010;67(6):614-623.
4. Brady K, Pearlstein T, Asnis GM, et al. Efficacy and safety of sertraline treatment of
    posttraumatic stress disorder. JAMA. 2000;283(14):1837-1844.
5. Davidson JR, Rothbaum BO, van der Kolk BA, Sikes CR, Farfel GM. Multicenter, double-
    blind comparison of sertraline and placebo in the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder.
    Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2001;58(5):485-492.
6. Marshall RD, Beebe KL, Oldham M, Zaninelli R. Efficacy and safety of paroxetine treatment
    for chronic PTSD. Am J Psychiatry. 2001;158(12):1982-1988.
7. Tucker P, Zaninelli R, Yehuda R, Ruggiero L, Dillingham K, Pitts CD. Paroxetine in the
    treatment of chronic posttraumatic stress disorder.  J Clin Psychiatry. 2001;62(11):860-868.
8. Mohamed S, Rosenbeck RA. Pharmacotherapy of PTSD in the US Department of Veteran
    Affairs. J Clin Psychiatry. 2008;69(6):959-965.
9. Herzberg MA, Feldman ME, Beckham JC, Kudler HS, Davidsen JR. Lack of efficacy for
    fluoxetine in PTSD. Am Clin Psychiatry. 2000;12(2):101-105.
10. van der Kolk BA, Dreyfus D, Michaels M, et al. Fluoxetine in posttraumatic stress disorder.
      J Clin Psychiatry. 1994;55(12):517-522.
11. Friedman MJ, Marmar CR, Baker DG, Sikes CR, Farfel GM. Randomized, double-blind
      comparison of sertraline and placebo for posttraumatic stress disorder in a Department of   
      Veterans Affairs setting. J Clin Psychiatry. 2007;68(5):711-720.

Please note how the superscripts within the text of the first paragraph correspond to the references listed at the end of the article.

Example 1: “POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD) is among the most common and disabling psychiatric disorders among military personnel serving in combat theaters.^1-3” 

The superscript   ^1-3  refers the reader to the first, second, and third (1-3) citations on the reference list. This means that the author of the article gives credit for this statement to the first three references (citations) in the reference list at the end of the article.

In other words, the information within the following three “references” were used to help make the statement “POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD) is among the most common and disabling psychiatric disorders among military personnel serving in combat theaters.^1-3”  
The superscript  ^1-3  refers to:

1. Kulka RA, Schlenger WE, Fairbank J. Trauma and the Vietnam War Generation. New York:         
    NY: Bruner-Mazel; 1990.
2. Hoge CW, Castro CA, Messer SC, McGurk D, Cotting DI, Koffman RL.Combat duty in Iraq
    and Afghanistan, mental health problems, and barriers to care. N Engl J Med. 2004;351(1):
    13-22.
3. Thomas JL, Wilk JE, Riviere LA, McGurk D, Casatro CA, Hoge CW. Prevalence of mental
    health problems and functional impairment among active component and National Guard
    soldiers 3 and 12 months following combat in Iraq. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2010;67(6):614-623.

Example 2: “However, SRIs appear to be less effective in men than in women⁴ ”  

This sentence indicates that more information about how SRIs appear to be less effective in men than in women can be found in the reference (citation) listed as number 4 on the list of references. In this example the superscript  ⁴  refers to number four on the reference list:

4. Brady K, Pearlstein T, Asnis GM, et al. Efficacy and safety of sertraline treatment of
    posttraumatic stress disorder. JAMA. 2000;283(14):1837-1844.
 

More Examples of Citing “In-Text” Using AMA Style

The following examples of “in-text” citing come from The College of St. Scholastica at http://libguides.css.edu/content.php?pid=36664&sid=269772

Examples:

The report¹ found that...

As has been noted previously,²

This argument was refuted in another study.³

Other reports^4,5confirm these findings. (Note: Two sources are cited.)

"...as has been the conclusion of this author."⁶ (Note: Use after direct quotation.)

In recent reports^1,3-5,9surgical outcomes have been...(Note: Multiple sources cited; not all are consecutive.)

You may cite the same source more than once by using the same endnote number. However, when you repeat a number, you should include a page number, in parentheses, next to the note number.

Example:

The data^1(p44) disproves the previous assertion…

The following information about citing “in-text” comes from St. Kate’s Library Guide at http://library.stkate.edu/sites/default/files/sites/citingwriting/citeAMA.pdf

Cite references that are retrievable in text, tables, and figures in consecutive order using superscript Arabic numbers. Use commas to separate multiple citation numbers in text. Corresponding references should be listed in numeric order at the end of the document. Unpublished works and personal communications should be cited parenthetically (and not on the reference list).  Superscript numbers are placed outside periods and commas, and inside colons and semicolons.

When citing the same source more than once, give the number of the original reference, then include the page number (in parentheses) where the information was found. 

In-Text Example:

Of the respondents, 95% felt that discharge arrangements were adequately explained to them.¹  Further examination of the data in this study revealed other significant discrepancies. ^1(p275)

References

1. Cleary M, Horsfall J, Hunt GE. Consumer feedback on nursing care. J Adv Nurs. 2003;42:269-277.

Note: The first superscripted 1 (in-text) corresponds to the reference source  Cleary M, Horsfall J, Hunt GE. Consumer feedback on nursing care. J Adv Nurs. 2003;42:269-277.

The second superscripted 1 provides the page number within the article because the same source was cited, in-text, for a second time. The rule is, “When citing the same source more than once, give the number of the original reference, then include the page number (in parentheses) where the information was found.”