Citation Style Guides: AMA

Arranging Sources on Reference Page Sec. 3.5:

AMA does not alphabetize the References Page.  Instead, items on the References Page are arranged in the order in which they are cited in the text.  This system is further reinforced by the numbering of the references (Sec. 3.5). 

Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)?

Yes, AMA has accepted the use of DOIs in citations.  It is used in place of URLs.  When citing references with DOIs, you do not need to include the date when an item was accessed. 

Parenthetical References (in-text) Sec. 3.3:

AMA generally discourages using parenthetical references unless there is no References Page, or you are quoting (directly or paraphrasing) another author.  Consequently, the parenthetical style is not strict. 

The citation depends upon how much information you say in the text.  If you identify the author(s) or title of the work, you only need to identify the page number: (p. 45).

Assuming there is a References page, you will need to identify the author(s), the year of publication, and the page number: (Busch, 1984, p. 45).

For works that do not have a References Page, the citation is more complex, and users are directed to the AMA Manual.

AMA does not allow you to use Ibid. in your references.

URLs and DOIs?

AMA Style asks for as much information as possible; but Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) are often changing in electronic format.  A small group of publishers organized the Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) system to keep a persistent identifier for scholarly articles.  APA prefers DOIs to URLs.  Sometimes DOIs are difficult to locate.  Some database aggregators, such as Ebscohost and JSTOR, change URLs or do not have DOIs for all of their content.  In such cases, you may cite the database (JSTOR) and the date accessed. 

Double or Single Spacing?

The main text should be double-spaced. 

Use single-spacing for abstracts, notes, titles, headings, block quotes, captions, and references.

If in doubt, double-space.

Spacing (Section 22.3 of 10th edition)

"Readability of type depends on the spacing between letters, words, and lines; none of these is independent of the others."  This effectively leaves the decision up to the writer or professor.  The AMA Manual of Style 10th ed. (2007) appears to use one space after punctuation marks. 

Citation Generator

KnightCite by Calvin College

MyBib (add-on for most browsers)

Zotero (add-on for most browsers)