AMA Book Citation | Guide with Examples
To cite a book in AMA citation format, include it on your AMA reference page, listing the author or editor, title, publisher, and publication year.
An AMA in-text citation for a book consists of the number of the relevant reference, written in superscript. You can also add a page number or range in parentheses if you need to cite a specific part of the book.
| AMA format | Author last name Initials. Book Title: Subtitle. Publisher; Year. |
| AMA reference | Nagel D. Needless Suffering: How Society Fails Those with Chronic Pain. University Press of New England; 2016. |
| AMA in-text citation | Nagel1(p237) argues that pain medication can … |
How to cite a chapter from a book
If you’re citing a chapter from a book in which the different chapters are by different authors, you should list the author(s) and title of the specific chapter, and then information about the book as a whole. Add the page range of the chapter at the end.
Note that you don’t need to do this for books written entirely by the same author or group of authors, even if you cite only one chapter. For that, just use the normal book citation format.
| AMA format | Author last name Initials. Chapter title: Subtitle. In: Editor last name Initials, ed. Book Title: Subtitle. Publisher; Year:Page range. |
| AMA reference | Hsy J. Disability. In: Hillman D, Maude U, eds. The Cambridge Companion to the Body in Literature. Cambridge University Press; 2015:24–40. |
Citing a specific edition
Books often come in multiple editions. You don’t need to indicate the edition if it’s the first or only edition available, but for second editions, revised editions, and so on, you should include this information in your reference.
It comes after the title, in abbreviated form (e.g., Rev ed’, ‘3rd ed’, ‘New rev ed’, ‘British ed’).
| AMA format | Author last name Initials. Book Title: Subtitle. Edition. Publisher; Year. |
| AMA reference | Austriaco NPG. Biomedicine and Beatitude: An Introduction to Catholic Bioethics. 2nd ed. Catholicy University of America Press; 2021. |
Citing a translated book
When citing a book that was translated from another language, include the title of the version you used and add the name of the translator, followed by ‘trans’.
| AMA format | Author last name Initials. Book Title: Subtitle. Translator last name Initials, trans. Publisher; Year. |
| AMA reference | Galen. On Diseases and Symptoms. Johnston I, trans. Cambridge University Press; 2006. |
Citing a multivolume book
Some books are published in separate volumes. If you cite a book like this, make sure to include the volume number in your reference. Use the abbreviation ‘Vol’ followed by an Arabic numeral (e.g., ‘4’, not ‘IV’).
If you cite multiple volumes of a book, they have separate references.
| AMA format | Author last name Initials. Book Title: Subtitle. Vol Volume. Publisher; Year. |
| AMA reference | Duffy J. History of Public Health in New York City. Vol 1. Russell Sage Foundation; 1968. |
Citing ebooks and online books
When you cite a book that you accessed as an ebook, or directly on a website, you should include the URL of the page where it can be accessed or downloaded, along with an access date (since webpages can change or disappear over time).
| AMA format | Author last name Initials. Book Title: Subtitle. Publisher; Year. Accessed Month Day, Year. URL. |
| AMA reference | Armstrong P, Choiniere J, Day E. Vital Signs: Nursing in Transition. University of Toronto Press; 1993. Accessed September 15, 2022. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3138/j.ctt2ttsrk. |
If a DOI is available, include this instead, preceded by ‘doi’: Don’t include an access date in this case.
| AMA format | Author last name Initials. Book Title: Subtitle. Publisher; Year. DOI. |
| AMA reference | Chrzan J, Cargill K. Anxious Eaters: Why We Fall For Fad Diets. Columbia University Press; 2022. doi:10.7312/chrz19244. |
Frequently asked questions
- How do I create AMA in-text citations?
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An AMA in-text citation consists of the number of the relevant reference on your AMA reference page, written in superscript1 at the point in the text where the source is used.
It may also include the page number or range of the relevant material in the source (e.g., the part you quoted2(p46)). Multiple sources can be cited at one point, presented as a range or list (with no spaces3,5–9).
- How do I format a DOI in AMA style?
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A DOI (digital object identifier) is preceded by the text ‘doi’: (no capitalisation and no space) in an AMA reference. Don’t present it in the form of a link; only include the DOI number itself. For example: ‘doi:10.1177/2373379916644449’.
AMA style states that you should include the DOI of a source whenever one is available. They mainly appear in AMA journal citations and can also appear in AMA book citations. When you include a DOI, don’t add a URL or access date.
- When should I use ‘et al’ in AMA citation format?
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The names of up to six authors should be listed for each source on your AMA reference page, separated by commas. For a source with seven or more authors, you should list the first three followed by ‘et al’: ‘Isidore, Gilbert, Gunvor, et al’.
In the text, mentioning author names is optional (as they aren’t an official part of AMA in-text citations). If you do mention them, though, you should use the first author’s name followed by ‘et al’ when there are three or more: ‘Isidore et al argue that …’
Note that according to AMA’s rather minimalistic punctuation guidelines, there’s no period after ‘et al’ unless it appears at the end of a sentence. This is different from most other styles, where there is normally a period.
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