AMA Style Guide: Other Sources

Comments on publications are becoming increasingly commonplace. With this new avenue for critical commentary on the literature, you may need to cite a comment in a paper or manuscript. Take for example this comment left in PubMed.

Use following elements where applicable:

Author AA. Title of the paper [Title of the forum]. Title of the Journal Abbreviated. Year; volume(issue). URL. Published Month, Day, Year. Updated Month, Day, Year. Accessed Month, Day, Year.

There are two types of conference materials that you may be interested in citing: Presented papers/posters and proceedings. The key difference between the two is that proceedings are published, typically in a journal.

Use following elements where applicable:

Presented paper/poster: Author AA, Author BB. Title of the poster or paper. Paper/Poster presented at Conference Name; Month Year; City, State Abbreviation.

Published Proceedings: Author AA, Author BB. Title of the poster or paper. Title of the Journal Abbreviated; Volume(Issue):Abstract number/Page Numbers.

For dictionaries, it is generally bad practice to cite dictionary definitions in academic papers. But you may be discussing different uses of a word, in which case, you would need to cite a dictionary. Dictionaries often have no authors present for individual entries, but generally have editors who edit the work.

Use following elements where applicable:

Entry name. In: Editors , ed(s). Title of the dictionary. Edition (if applicable). Publisher's location (city, state, or, for Canada, city, province, country, or, all others, city, country): publisher's name; year of publication and /or last update.

Use following elements where applicable:

Unpublished Dissertation: Author AA. Title of dissertation [dissertation]. City: University; Year.

Use following elements where applicable:

Name of drug. [package insert]. Manufacturer's Location (Town, State): Manufacturer's Name; Year

For databases, they can be broken down into databases with and without authors. For some databases, like UpToDate, the author(s) of the section is/are listed. You should cite the author and name the editor if available; note for UpToDate that Denise S. Basow is the editor for UpToDate so cite her rather than the section or deputy editors for the entry you are citing. For database entries without authors, you can cite the database as the author.

Use following elements where applicable:

Author(s). Title of the database [database online]. Publisher's location (city, state, or, for Canada, city, province, country, or, all others, city, country): publisher's name; year of publication and /or last update. URL [provide URL and verify that the link still works as close as possible to publication]. Accessed [date].

Electronic books are handled very similarly to print books, except with the addition of a URL and date accessed.

Use following elements where applicable:

Full books:

Authors(s) (or Editors eds. after name). Book Title. Edition. (city, state, or, for Canada, city, province, country, or, all others, city, country): publisher's name; year of publication. Accessed [Month Date, year].

Chapters:

Author(s). Chapter title. In: Editors, ed(s). Book Title. Edition. Publisher's location (city, state, or, for Canada, city, province, country, or, all others, city, country): publisher's name; year of publication. URL: [provide the URL and verify that the link works before submission]. Accessed [Date]. Pages.

Use following elements where applicable:

Reports with named authors: Author AA. Title of the report. URL. Series Name and series number. Published Month, Day, Year. Updated Month, Day, Year. Accessed Month, Day, Year.

Institutional authors: Name of the organization. Title of the report. URL. Series Name and series number. Published Month, Day, Year. Updated Month, Day, Year. Accessed Month, Day, Year.

In papers or manuscripts you shouldn't cite or reproduce a specific graph from a paper, so there isn't a formal rule regarding how to give attribution when reproducing a graph in a presentation. It is generally recommended to attribute the graph as you would anything else. So let's say you want to attribute this graph:

Which was taken from the Graph from New Zealand's National Institute for Communicable Diseases' Monthly Surveillance Report available here: http://www.nicd.ac.za/assets/files/Monthly%20NICD%20Surveillance%20Report%20-%20January%202013.pdf

Attribute it with a number and then cite the report as you would any other report. If you need help with how to do that, see our section above on citing Organization or Government reports.

Authors (or Organization). Title of table or description of data. Journal/original publisher. Publication year; issue: pages.

Example:

1. National Institute for Communicable Diseases'. Number of Salmonella cases by month in South Africa, 2012 and 2013. National Institute for Communicable Diseases' Monthly Surveillance Report. http://www.nicd.ac.za/assets/files/Monthly%20NICD%20Surveillance%20Report%20-%20January%202013.pdf Accessed 11/21/2014.

In papers or manuscripts you shouldn't cite or reproduce a specific image from a paper, so there isn't a formal rule regarding how to give attribution when reproducing a image in a presentation. It is generally recommended to attribute the image as you would anything else. So let's say you want to attribute this image:

This was taken from the State-Specific Trends in Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Among Adults --- United States, 2000--2009 report from the CDC available here: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5935a1.htm?s_cid=mm5935a1_w

Attribute it with a number and then cite the report as you would any other report. If you need help with how to do that, see our section above on citing Organization or Government reports.

In Process is the designation for manuscripts which have been submitted, but not accepted for publication. The reasoning for specifying the year the manuscript was written rather than when it was submitted is that the publication process may take enough time to cause a disparity between the year it was submitted to the publisher and the year it is published. You should not name the journal it was submitted to because the manuscript may be rejected by the journal and resubmitted to another journal which would cause your citation to be misleading and inaccurate.

In AMA, material submitted for publication but not accepted is considered unpublished data.

Use following elements where applicable in text:

A.A. Author, Degree abbreviated (unpublished data, year manuscript was written)

In Press is the term used for articles which have been accepted for publication by a journal, but not formally published. There may be advanced copies of the article available from the publisher's website, but since it has been formally published is no volume or page numbers. In cases of an article being available on the publisher's website, you may need to include some additional information to complete the citation.

Use following elements where applicable:

Author AA. Title. Journal (Abbreviated). In press.

Use following elements where applicable:

Name of Instutiton or Organization. Title of the issue brief. Journal. Year of publication: Issue Brief Number.

Note that legal cases can be varied. They can include: court cases (opinions) and legislative materials such as Congressional Hearings, US Federal Bills and Resolutions, US Federal Reports, US Federal Statues, US Federal Administrative Regulations, US State Bills and Resolutions, and US State Statutes.

They can be broadly grouped into the categories or: court cases, legislation, and legal journals.

Legislation may include enacted laws, which are entered into the US Code (USC) or state statutes and given a section number (§), and debated laws.

Legal references gathered online will include all the information listed below plus the URL and accessed date, as any other online reference.

You may need to consult section 3.16 of the AMA manual for a full elaboration of the item you are citing, but briefly here are the basics.

Use following elements where applicable:

For legal cases: First party v Second party, Reporter Volume & Number Official reporter abbreviation & First page of the case or specific case used. (Deciding court and year of decision).

For legislation:

• Enacted laws/Statues: Official name of the act, title number, the abbreviation of the code cited, the section number (the date the code edition cited).
• Laws under debate but not enacted: Name of the bill, abbreviated name of the chamber (S) for Senate or (HR) for House of Representatives, number of the legislative body, session number (if available), year of publication.
• Law Journals: Cited like any other journal entry.

Personal correspondence is not listed in the references in either AMA or APA. You should cite it in-text, but refrain from putting it into your reference list. Personal correspondence includes:

• lectures
• conversations
• letters
• emails

While not all journals require permission from the source of the correspondence, it is good form to request permission from the source before citing them.

Note the highest academic degree where appropriate. If the affiliate of the communicator is important to the author of the message, then note it, for example if the communication came from a drug manufacturer.

Use following elements where applicable:

Name, Form of the communication, and Date, using the Month and Year.

In papers or manuscripts you shouldn't cite or reproduce a specific table from a paper, so there isn't a formal rule regarding how to give attribution when reproducing a table in a presentation. It is generally recommended to attribute the table as you would anything else. So let's say you want to attribute this table:

This was taken from the Leprosy update 2011 report from the WHO's Weekly epidemiological record available here: http://www.who.int/wer/2011/wer8636.pdf?ua=1

Attribute it with a number and then cite the report as you would any other report. If you need help with how to do that, see our section on citing Organization or Government reports.

Authors. Title of table or description of data. Journal/original publisher. Publication year;issue:pages.

Use following elements where applicable:

Thesis Dissertation: Author AA. Title of master's thesis [master's thesis]. City: University; Year.

Unpublished meeting items can include conferences which do not publish posters or briefs, oral or poster presentations.

Use following elements where applicable:

Name. Title of the item. Paper or poster presented at: Meeting of organization name; Month, Year; Location.

Use following elements where applicable:

Author/Website Title. Article title/page title. URL. Published Month Date, year. Updated Month Date, Year. Accessed Month Date, Year.