When mentioned in the text, only surnames of authors are used. For a 2-author reference, list both surnames; for references with more than 2 authors or authors and a group, include the first author’s surname followed by “et al”.
The numbers in text are in superscript1 and occur at the end of the clause in which you used the information. They occur outside “quotation marks”2, commas3, (parentheses)4, and full stops.5 However, they occur inside semicolons6 and colons7.
Do not leave a space between the last letter or punctuation mark and the number.
Citations should be numbered sequentially – that is, the first source you cite is 1, the second source is 2, and so on.
However, once you have given a source a number, it will keep that number throughout your paper. So, if you use your first source again, no matter how often you use it, it is still 1.
Use commas to show that more than one work is being cited, and use hyphens for several works that would be numbered sequentially:
Your reference list follows the order of the numbers used in the text. The first source you cite in the text is 1, and the reader will look for number 1 in the reference list to find the full citation; the fifth source you use is 5, and the full citation is listed at number 5 in the reference list, etc.
Avoid placing a superscript reference citation immediately after a number or an abbreviated unit of measure to avoid any confusion between the superscript reference citation and an exponent.
In the medical sciences, you should only use a direct quote if the exact wording is important. You should be paraphrasing the information as much as possible. When paraphrasing, it is not standard practice to use page numbers, but they can be used if you feel it is necessary for clarification.
However, if you do need to refer to the exact wording used by the authors, you must put the quote in "quotation marks" and use a page number next to the in-text citation.
You put the page number in brackets directly after the reference number, with no space: 1(p6). This all goes in superscript.
Figures, tables, and boxes are given a number and a header in AMA. If you have more than one, you number them sequentially, according to their order of appearance in the text and the type of figure (e.g.: Box 1, Box 2, Table 1, Table 2, Figure 1, Figure 2, and so on).
Continue numbering based on what has been used in the main text. If the last number used in the text was 3, then the first number in your table/figure/box will be 4 (unless it is the same source, in which case it will be 3 again).
If the entire table, figure or box has been taken from (or represents information taken from) the same source, place the superscript number at the end of the header.
Table 1. Leading causes of mortality in Australia in 2018.4
|
Gender |
Cause of death |
|
Males |
Heart disease |
|
Females |
Dementiaa |
aIncluding Alzheimer's disease.
If the information has been taken from various sources, place the superscript number after the relevant piece of information:
Table 2. Incidence of asthma in Queensland and Tasmania 2018
|
Queensland |
Tasmania |
|
11% of children 0-4 years.7 |
12.2% of children and young people.8 |
|
10.6% overall population.9 |
12.6% overall population.10 |
The sequence of numbers within a table should be logical and consistent.
When setting out tables, figures and boxes in your document, you should give the give it a label (e.g. Table or Table 1) and a title next to the label. The label should be in bold, the title should not be in bold, and should be in sentence case.
Further notes explaining the table or figure can be placed in smaller font as a footnote under the table/image. Footnotes inside a table or figure that do not relate to referencing should be superscript letters, rather than superscript numbers.