Your target journal asks for AMA style, but your reference list is alphabetized and your citations are in author-date form. Converting by hand means renumbering every source in order of first citation. This guide shows the AMA 11 pattern and a worked example first, then the numbering rules, more source types and how AMA differs from APA.
In the text, put a superscript number after the punctuation. In the reference list, number the entries in the order of first citation.
The AMA Manual of Style, 11th edition (2020), is published by the American Medical Association. It is a numeric system: a source receives its number the first time it is cited, and each number leads to an entry in the reference list. Programs that prepare nurse practitioners, and journals that publish clinical research, often ask for it. If your syllabus, project template or target journal names AMA, follow that source wherever it differs from this page. Details that changed from earlier editions include the removal of the publisher's location from book references and the routine use of an "Accessed" date for online sources.
About the examples. Authors, journals and links below are fictional or placeholders, apart from one clearly labeled real textbook. They show the pattern only. Copy the details for your reference list from the sources you actually used.
Because the number stands in for the author, you may still name an author in a sentence when it helps, followed by the superscript number.
Ask for your citations and reference list to be converted to AMA 11. You see the price before you pay, and revisions are free for 14 days after delivery.
A web page has no italics in its title, and the site name is added after the title when it differs from the author. Guidelines and datasets follow their own patterns; see the guideline guide and the dataset guide.
| Feature | AMA 11 | APA 7 |
|---|---|---|
| In the text | Superscript number | (Author, Year) |
| Reference order | Order of first citation | Alphabetical |
| Authors listed | Up to 6; then first 3 and et al. | Up to 20 |
| Journal name | Abbreviated, italic | Full, italic |
| Year in a journal reference | After the journal name | After the authors |
| DOI | doi:10.xxxx/xxxxx | https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx |
| Web access date | Always | Only for content designed to change |
The Vancouver system is also numeric, and it looks much like AMA on the page. See the Vancouver guide for how they differ.
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Alphabetizing a numeric reference list | Order strictly by first citation |
| Giving a source two numbers | Reuse the first number |
| Superscript placed before a period | Put it after periods and commas |
| Full journal titles in the list | Use NLM abbreviations |
| Adding a city for the publisher | Leave it out in the 11th edition |
Academic integrity. A numbered citation still has to credit the true source of every idea, and your institution's academic-integrity rules apply. The official rules are in the AMA Manual of Style.
Neither. Use whatever the journal or your program names. When neither does, ask your chair or check the journal's author instructions.
It appears mostly in nurse practitioner and other clinically focused programs. APA is still the more usual choice in nursing overall, and your program handbook is the deciding source.
Yes. The numeral still follows, for example: Voss and colleagues reported a reduction.2