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AMA Style Guide, 11th ed.

In-Text Citations

When you quote, paraphrase, or summarize an author’s work, an in-text citation should appear in your research paper as a superscript Arabic numeral. Superscripts should appear outside of periods and commas, but inside colons and semicolons. Use the same superscript number if citing from the same source multiple times in your paper. Refer to section 3.6 (p 64) in the AMA Manual of Style.

Examples:

  • Johnson et al,1 described that...
  • Cheng2 shows that...
  • Multiple studies3-5,10,15

In-Text Examples

Quote:

Among journalists, plagiarism has become a well known issue.  In fact, to a certain extent, “Every journalist lives in fear of inadvertent plagiarism (only idiots do it deliberately).”1

Paraphrase:

Renzetti2 attributes the rise in inadvertent plagiarism to a number of key developments. First, she claims that the widespread availability of technology has created a “mash-up generation” that assumes everything is free game. In addition, she states that …

AUTHOR(S) MENTION IN-TEXT

If the source (book, article, website, etc.) has more than 2 authors, list the first author followed by the words “et al”. Please see section 3.7 (p. 65) in the AMA Manual of Style for more information.

Examples:

  • 2 authors in-text: According to Smith and Mathews,3 the research shows...
  • More than 2 authors in-text: Smith et al4 reported that….

 

PAGE NUMBERS IN-TEXT

According to section 3.6 (p. 64) in the AMA Manual of Style, you can refer to specific page numbers within the superscript citation.

Examples:

  • Smith3(pp50-52) reported that...
  • Harrison4(p10) reported that...

SECONDARY SOURCES (A SOURCE WITHIN ANOTHER SOURCE)

This rule is not included the AMA Manual, 11th edition. Ask your professor if secondary sources are acceptable to cite in assignments.

Imagine you read an article that cites another research paper. For example, an article by Buss & Duntley quoted, summarized, or paraphrased information from Kleiman's article. In your assignment, you want to cite Kleiman. Try to locate the original article written by Kleiman. However, cite the secondary source, written by Buss & Duntley, if you cannot locate Kleiman's article. Refer to section 3.13.10 (pp. 61-62) for more information.

Example:

Name the original author(s) in your research assignment: Kelly et al1 stated that....

Cite the original document, and secondary source in your reference list:

1Kelly S, Brown L, Coburn J, Zinder S, Gardner L, Nguyen D. The effect of single versus multiple sets on strength.J Strength Cond Res. 2007;21(4):1003-1006. Cited by: Vetter R E, Symonds M L. (2010). Correlations between injury, training intensity, and physical and mental exhaustion among college athletes. Strength Cond Res. 2010;24(3),587-96. Accessed October 12, 2020. doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181c7c2eb