AMA Citation Checklist: Your Complete Guide

General Formatting Checklist

Document Setup

• 12-point Times New Roman or Arial font
• 1-inch margins on all sides
• Double-spaced throughout
• Page numbers in top right corner
• Title page includes title, author name(s), and institutional affiliation

In-Text Citations

• Superscript numbers placed after punctuation marks
• Citations numbered consecutively in order of appearance
• Same number used when referencing the same source multiple times
• Multiple citations separated by commas without spaces
• Citation ranges shown with a hyphen (e.g., 1-3)

Reference List Checklist

General Reference Guidelines

• References numbered in order of appearance in text
• All citations in text have corresponding reference entries
• References double-spaced
• References formatted with hanging indent
• No extra spacing between references

Author Names

• Last name first, followed by initials without periods
• No spaces between initials
• List all authors for up to 6 authors
• For more than 6 authors, list first 3 followed by "et al"
• Authors separated by commas
• Final author preceded by comma

Journal Articles

• Author names correctly formatted
• Article title in sentence case
• Journal name abbreviated according to PubMed standards
• Year, volume, issue, and page numbers included
• No issue number for continuously paginated journals
• DOI included when available

Books

• Author/editor names correctly formatted
• Book title in title case
• Edition number (if not first edition)
• Publisher location: Publisher name
• Year of publication
• Specific pages cited (if applicable)

Websites

• Author or organization name
• Title of webpage
• Website name
• Publication date
• Update date (if available)
• URL included
• Accessed date included for online-only content

Common Elements to Double-Check

Numbers and Dates

• Use Arabic numerals for all numbers
• Dates formatted as Month Day, Year
• Page ranges use en dashes
• Inclusive page numbers abbreviated correctly

Punctuation

• Periods after author names, title, and source
• Semicolons separate major elements
• Colons separate publisher location and name
• Commas separate multiple authors
• No period after URL

Special Cases

• Personal communications cited in text only
• Unpublished works properly attributed
• Conference proceedings formatted correctly
• Supplementary materials noted appropriately

Final Review

• All citations match between text and reference list
• References in correct numerical order
• No missing or incomplete references
• Consistent formatting throughout
• All URLs are functional
• No grammatical or typographical errors

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