Using in-text citations tells the reader where the author obtained any and all information that did not come from inside their own head. This is more obvious when you are directly quoting from a source, but it is also needed when you have summarized or paraphrased from a source and even if you got an idea from somewhere else. This not only avoids plagiarism and supports academic honest, but it also builds credibility with the audience.
AMA style uses superscript Arabic numerals to number each of the sources in the text. The sources are numbered consecutively and refer to the sources listed on the References page at the end of the paper.
Examples:
- If the author's name is used in sentence, the number goes immediately after: The report by Johnson1 found that...
- If the source has two authors, use both names (Johnson and Anderson1), but if it has three or more, use et al. (Johnson et al.1)
- When using a direct quotation, the number goes immediate after "...as has been the conclusion of this author."6
- Number goes outside commas and periods, but inside semi-colons and colons: As has been noted previously,2
This argument was refuted in another study.3 The studied confirmed this5; however, it was noted...
- If multiple sources are cited, use a comma or a dash in between but no spaces: Other reports4,5confirm these findings.
In recent reports1,3-5,9surgical outcomes have been...
- For page numbers, include them in the superscript in parentheses with no space between the parentheses and the number: 5(p.10)
If the same source is cited more than once throughout the paper, the same endnote number is used.
