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If you’re writing a research paper in the biomedical sciences, you inevitably end up having to refer to existing knowledge and previously published research. Citing these the correct way is important, to build your credibility as an author and researcher, and to ensure that your own contribution to extant knowledge is appreciated. So in this article, we’ll dive into how to create in-text citations, on the basis of the AMA Manual of Style, one of the most popular style guides in the fields of medicine and life sciences.
The Basics: Creating an In-Text Citation in AMA Style
The 11th edition of the AMA style guide requires authors to use the number system for in-text citations. Simply put, you’ve to do the following:
- Each source in the text is given a number, based on order of appearance.
- Numbers are Arabic (1, 2, 3), not Roman (i, ii, iii).
- Numbers are superscripted.
- Place citation numbers immediately after the material you’re referencing. This means they don’t always need to appear at the end of a sentence.
- Author last names may or may not be used in the main text. You can use author names for flow or clarity, but the citation number is essential.
- The year of publication is rarely needed in the main text, unless it’s important in some way (e.g., In 2008, Parson4 observed that….but these observations were not supported by research conducted after the emergence of CRISPR technology5-9).
- When you’re citing multiple works, separate them with a comma, and if these works are a range, indicate that with an en dash (–).
Now that we’ve got these basics down, let’s look at some unusual cases.
AMA Style In-Text Citations with Page Numbers
More often than not, it won’t be absolutely necessary to use page numbers in AMA style in-text citations. Think of it: much of medical research is published in journal articles, conference papers, or edited, multi-author books (i.e., book chapters). These are relatively short works, spanning less than 10 pages, and readers can quickly track down the source information they’re searching for. So page numbers go mostly in the reference list, rather than as part of the main text in AMA style.
But there may be some one-off cases where you do need to use a page number in the main text. In that case, you use a lowercase “p” (or “pp” for multiple pages) to denote the page number, alongside the citation number. Take for example:
The 2023 report4(pp 65-69) provides an optimistic view that “mortality trends have relatively stabilized between June and December 2022.”
How Can I Cite Works with No Author or Multiple Authors in AMA Style?
If you’ve got two author names, just use “and” between them in running text. If there are 3 or more author names, use “et al.” in running text after the first author’s last name. Naturally, since just a superscript number works as a citation, you don’t need to bother about formatting author names in parenthetical citations. If there’s no author, you can use the institution’s or organization’s name in running text, or simply reword the sentence such that you only need the citation number.
Recent fMRI studies by Takemura et al.6-9 do not support this viewpoint.
An earlier report by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare10 suggested that…
