Style Guide: AMA
Published: 7 November 2025
Formatting references in AMA style can be tricky and tedious – especially if your bibliography was originally prepared in another format, like APA, Chicago, MLA, or Vancouver. Every citation style has distinct rules for punctuation, abbreviations, capitalization, and sorting. In AMA, even a small formatting slip can mean your references no longer meet professional medical-publishing standards.
Apps like Thrix and Merops streamline this process by handling the formatting automatically, helping you ensure your citations are complete, accurate, and correctly styled according to AMA guidelines — without the manual work.
What is AMA style?
AMA style is a detailed collection of editing rules developed by the American Medical Association (AMA). It’s widely used across medicine, healthcare, biomedical research, and related scientific fields.
Although the AMA guidelines cover broad editorial conventions – from spelling and abbreviations to tables and units of measurement – this guide focuses on the core components relevant to referencing: in-text numerical citations and the numbered reference list.
Key features of AMA references include:
- Superscript numerical citations in the text, e.g. …as previously reported.1-3
- A reference list ordered by citation number, not alphabetically
- Full publication details to allow readers to locate each source
- Inclusion of DOIs when available
- Strict rules for the punctuation, capitalization, formatting, and sorting of each reference detail
Some notable AMA editorial rules include:
- Author names are listed as surname followed by initials, without periods between initials
- List up to six authors; if there are seven or more, include the first three followed by ‘, et al.’
- Journal titles should be abbreviated according to the National Library of Medicine (NLM) style
- Include DOIs when available, without the ‘https://’ prefix, and introduced with ‘doi: ’
Checking each reference manually against AMA rules can be slow and error-prone, but Thrix applies these conventions automatically, helping ensure every reference is formatted according to AMA guidelines.
AMA reference examples
Journal article
1. Altschul SF, Madden TL, Schäffer AA, et al. Gapped BLAST and PSI-BLAST: A new generation of protein database search programs. Nucleic Acids Res. 1997;25(17):3389-3402. doi:10.1093/nar/25.17.3389
Whole book
2. Rogers EM. Diffusion of Innovations. 5th ed. Free Press; 2003.
Book chapter
3. Happé F. Why success is more interesting than failure: understanding assets and deficits in autism. In: Richer J, Coates S, eds. Autism—the Search for Coherence. Jessica Kingsley Publishers; 2001:71-74.
Web page
4. BBC News. Climate change: World’s oceans suffer from record-breaking year of heat; May 2024. Accessed 16/7/2024. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-68921215
Thesis/dissertation
5. Harris L. Instructional Leadership Perceptions and Practices of Elementary School Leaders [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Virginia; 2014.
Conference paper
6. Zhang Z, Chen H, Zhong J, Chen Y, Lu Y. ZnO nanotip-based QCM biosensors. Paper presented at the IEEE International Frequency Control Symposium and Exposition. Miami, FL; June 2006. doi:10.1109/FREQ.2006.275444
Thrix can automatically edit all of these reference types and more, making sure all details are present, and capitalization, punctuation, formatting, DOIs, and sorting are all correct.
Common challenges when formatting in AMA
Even experienced researchers and editors can find AMA formatting slow and laborious. Frequent issues include:
- Incorrect punctuation or sequencing of author names and initials
- Spelling journal titles in full, or using incorrect abbreviations (not following NLM guidelines)
- Omitted metadata such as DOIs, volume numbers, or page ranges
- Listing too many authors instead of using et al. after the third author
- Numbering references incorrectly alphabetically
- Combining rules from APA, Vancouver, or Chicago by mistake
This is where Thrix helps. Thrix is a smart AMA citation and reference-formatting tool that automatically checks, corrects, and converts your references into proper AMA style within seconds. Whether you’re switching from APA, Harvard, or Vancouver, or simply applying AMA rules to an existing bibliography, Thrix removes the manual burden.
Thrix detects your citations and reference list, fixes formatting inconsistencies, and applies AMA-specific rules. It even verifies reference details against authoritative sources like Crossref and PubMed, helping ensure accuracy and completeness.
How to convert your references to AMA with Thrix
Thrix can work as an AMA reference editor and an AMA reference checker. That means it not only formats your references but verifies them online, to ensure your bibliography is formatted precisely.
- Got to https://www.thrix.ai and paste your references, or upload a full document to cross-check and format in-text numerical citations along with your reference list.
- Choose AMA (11th Ed.) or AMA (10th Ed.) from the styles menu.
- Tap Thrix it.
Thrix automatically recognizes and edits all your references – correcting punctuation, capitalization, numbering, formatting, and DOIs. If Thrix finds something it doesn’t understand, or needs you to review something, it adds a comment. Thrix will not invent or hallucinate text like ChatGPT can. For more information about reviewing the output, check out the Thrix Quick Start Guide.
Common AMA referencing questions
How do I convert my references to AMA format?
You can reformat references manually by applying AMA rules – but doing this by hand is slow and and it’s easy to make mistakes. With Thrix, you can automatically convert reference lists from styles like APA, Harvard, MLA, Vancouver, or Chicago into correct AMA format in seconds.
How do I number references in AMA style?
AMA references are numbered by their reading order, not simply the order they appear in the document. This means for example that at the first citation to a table, the citations in that table should be numbered before continuing the numbering after the citation. Thrix applies this numbering and formatting automatically.
How can I check if my citations follow AMA rules?
An AMA citation checker like Thrix reviews your superscript citation numbers and references, catching issues with punctuation, author formatting, journal abbreviations, and order.
Can Thrix turn DOIs into full AMA-style references?
Yes it can! When you paste a DOI, Thrix can retrieve metadata from Crossref or PubMed and generate a complete AMA-formatted reference automatically.
How do I add DOIs to AMA references?
If your citations are missing DOIs, Thrix can search trusted databases Crossref and PubMed and insert them – along with any other missing details like author names, volume, issue, and page numbers.
If metadata isn’t available online, Thrix won’t invent it – it simply flags the missing information for you to add it.
What’s the difference between AMA 11th edition and AMA 10th edition?
Most reference rules are similar to previous editions, but AMA 11 (the current version) introduces some changes, including:
- AMA 11 no longer requires the publisher location in book references.
- URLs go after accessed dates in AMA 11, but before accessed dates in AMA 10.
- In AMA 11, there should be no point at the end of website references.
- Word preferences:
- AMA 10: e-mail, Internet, Web site
- AMA 11: email, internet, website
Thrix can standardize your references to either AMA 11th or AMA 10th edition.
Which edition of AMA should I follow?
Unless a publisher or institution specifies an older version, use AMA 11th edition, as it is the current edition used in medical and scientific publishing. Some journals and universities may still refer to earlier editions, so always check submission requirements.
Why use Thrix for AMA formatting?
Unlike basic citation generators, Thrix doesn’t invent new references – it enhances, corrects, and reformats the citations you already have. That means:
- It preserves your original data while applying precise AMA formatting.
- It removes errors that often occur when converting between styles.
- It fills in missing metadata automatically when available.
- It’s fast, secure, and easy to use – ideal for researchers, editors, and medical professionals.
Whether you need an AMA citation editor, AMA reference checker, or a tool to convert APA or Harvard references to AMA, Thrix handles it accurately and efficiently.
Thrix ensures every citation and reference is consistent, complete, and compliant with AMA standards — saving you time and ensuring professional results.
Start formatting your AMA references now
Visit Thrix.ai to fix, convert, and format your citations with confidence.
Thrix ensures every reference is correct, consistent, and fully compliant with AMA 11th edition — all in just seconds.
Resources
If you want to explore the AMA guidelines in more detail, check out these official resources:
When you’re ready to automatically edit your references in the AMA style (10th or 11th editions), you can try Thrix for free: