Using Citation Styles
In the biomedical sciences and allied health fields, popular citation styles include APA Style (American Psychological Association) and AMA Style (American Medical Association).
Consider using a citation management software to simplify the process of collecting, organizing, and formatting your citations. UI Libraries has a campus wide subscription to EndNote. The desktop version is available for faculty, staff, and graduate students, and the online version (EndNote Basic) is available for all affiliates.
The library offers group instruction or individual consultation for both tools. For more information in either tool, view the citing sources guide.
AMA Style
- AMA manual of style : a guide for authors and editors.Available online via above link. Also available in print at Hardin Library. Permanent Reserve R119 .A533 2007
Additional AMA Resources
Many libraries have created handouts and guides to facilitate learning of AMA style. Links to a few notable ones follow.
Citing Sources
Why cite?
-Avoid plagiarism
-Give credit when deserved
-To help your readers with their research
-To indicate that there is support for your argument or idea
What needs to be cited?
-Direct quotes, sentences or phrases
-Paraphrases, which are summarized or re phrased content
-Articles or studies that you refer to in your paper
-Historical or statistical facts
-Graphs, images, or charts
-Use of author's argument
What does not need to be cited?
-Proverbs and very well-known quotations
-Common knowledge (facts that are common knowledge for a well-educated adult)
What about information I find on the web?
-You need to cite it, unless it meets criteria above!
Citation Builders
Here are a few citation builder tols that may help you learn the basics of formatting references, especially useful if you only have a few references to format.
- Medical & Scientific Citation GeneratorThis tool creates citations in AMA, Vancouver, and other styles from a PMID, DOI, URL, or ISBN.
- EBSCOhost This link opens in a new windowEBSCOhost databases offer a "cite" feature that will format references in the following styles: AMA, APA, Vancouver, Chicago, Harvard, and MLA. When looking at a citation, the "Cite" option shows up on the right side of the screen. You can also email several references and choose the style in which they should be referenced.
