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Hello and welcome to the M.S. Nutrition and Dietetics Program guide on how to use citations and AMA citation style. Included in this guide are video tutorials about AMA citation style and other resources. My name is Alayna Vander Veer. I'm a reference and instruction librarian at SUNY Oneonta. I can be contacted via email at alayna.vanderveer@oneonta.edu. My work hours are from 8-4 p.m. Mon-Fri. You can use the library's online chat feature to ask questions at anytime.
When and Why We Cite Sources
Use a citation when you are incorporating a direct quote or paraphrasing someone's words or study.
For example:
Cats are mysterious creatures. Although they are known for their aloofness and seeming indifference to their owners, cats are popular pets. Many households throughout the world have one or more cats, yet little is known about their idiosyncratic behavior. Still, cats have a grip on the hearts of their owners. One of the most common questions a cat owner asks is: Does my cat know I’m calling their name?
A study done by Saito et al.1 sought to find an answer to whether or not cats recognize when their owner calls their name. They found that cats do know their name. In another study by Saito and Shinozuka2, cats’ vocal recognition of their owners was tested. A recording of their owner’s voice and strangers’ voices was played in an empty apartment with the cats to evaluate whether the cat reacted to the owner’s voice.2 Cats displayed signs that they recognized the owners voice by looking around, twitching their ears, or moving while cats did not respond to the strangers’ voice.
So next time you are calling for your cat and they don’t respond, it's not that they don’t realize you are calling for them, it’s just that they are ignoring you.
1. Saito A, Shinozuka K, Ito Y, Hasegawa T. Domestic cats (Felis catus) discriminate their names from other words. Sci Rep. 2019;9:5394. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-40616-4
2. Saito A, Shinozuka K. Vocal recognition of owners by domestic cats (Felis catus). Anim Cogn. 2013;16(4):685-690. doi:10.1007/s10071-013-0620-4
AMA Citation Style
- AMA Citation GuideThis link directs users to the Sheridan College Library's libguide about using AMA style to format papers and citations. There is a comprehensive explanation of AMA citations and numerous examples of AMA in-text citations and reference citations.
AMA Manual of Style: A guide for authors and editors by ISBN: 0190246588Publication Date: 2020The AMA Manual of Style is a must-have resource for anyone involved in medical, health, and scientific publishing. Written by an expert committee of JAMA Network editors, this latest edition addresses issues that face authors, editors, and publishers in the digital age. Extensive updates are included in the References chapter, with examples of how to cite digital publications, preprints, databases, data repositories, podcasts, apps and interactive games, and social media. Full-color examples grace the chapter on data display, with newer types of graphic presentations and updated guidance on formatting tables and figures. The manual thoroughly covers ethical and legal issues such as authorship, conflicts of interest, scientific misconduct, intellectual property, open access and public access, and corrections. The Usage chapter has been revised to bring the manual up-to-date on word choice, especially in writing about individuals with diseases or conditions and from various socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, and sexual orientation populations. Specific nomenclature entries in many disciplines are presented to guide users in issues of diction, formatting, and preferred terminology. Guidance on numbers, SI units, and math has been updated, and the section on statistics and study design has undergone a major expansion. In sum, the answer to nearly any issue facing a writer or editor in medicine, health care, and related disciplines can be found in the 11th edition of the AMA Manual of Style.
One Author:
AuthorLastname FirstInitialMiddleInitial. Title in sentence case. Abbreviated Journal Title in Title Case. Year;volume(Issue#):PP-PP. doi: ##
Two Authors:
AuthorLastname FirstInitialMiddleInitial, AuthorLastname FirstInitialMiddleInitial. Title in sentence case. Abbreviated Journal Title in Title Case. Year;volume(Issue#):PP-PP. doi: ##
Example AMA Reference List:
1. Wheeler T, Watkins PJ. Cardiac denervation in diabetes. BMJ. 1973;4(2):584-586.
2. O'Keefe M, Coat S. Consulting parents on childhood obesity and implications for medical student learning. J Paediatr Child Health. 2009;45(10):573-576.
Example AMA in-text citations:
Each reference should be cited in the text using superscript arabic numerals. These superscript numbers should be outside periods and commas but inside colons and semicolons. Multiple references may be cited in the same instance. If you are citing sequential references, these should be indicated with a hyphen. Nonsequential references should be separated with commas. There should not be a space between numbers. For example:
As Smith et al have reported,1-3,5
Smith et al reported5:
AMA recommends that you do not place a superscript reference citation immediately following a number, and advises that you revise the sentence to prevent any possible confusion with an exponent.