AMA Citation Guide

Font Type

Unlike with APA, there are no suggested fonts at the AMA level. However, many journals have specifications for what types of fonts they prefer.

AMA does generally recommend that, for print works, you use serif type for body text and a sans serif type for titles or headings, and for online works, use sans serif typefaces. An example of serif fonts includes Times New Roman - these have little lines projecting from the letter’s main strokes². Sans serif fonts include Arial, where there are no lines projecting from the letter’s main strokes.

Heading Levels

AMA does not give specifics on how to style your headings throughout the manuscript, aside from advising to make them consistent throughout the manuscript³. Some journals may require specific styles, you may need to check with them before you submit if there are specific requirements.

Tables

AMA outlines that there are 6 components⁴ to formal tables:

1. Object identifiers - this could be simple as “Table” (if there is only one table in the work) or “Table 2.” This makes it easier to refer to the table in the text of the work.
2. Title - a “brief, specific, descriptive title”⁴. The object identifier is typically included in the table title (e.g. Table 1. Baseline Characteristics of Patients in the HOME Trial⁴)
3. Column headings - “In tables for studies that have independent and dependent variables, the independent variables conventionally are displayed in the left-hand column (row heading) and the dependent variables in the columns to the right. Each column should have a brief heading that identifies and applies to all items listed in that column.”⁴ Column and row headings are in sentence case (only the initial letter is capitalized), and it’s preferred if you used expanded words as opposed to abbreviations, unless there is not enough spacing. If you do abbreviate, you should include the full word in the footnotes for the table.
4. Row headings - the left-most column on a table should be where the row headings are listed. These are written in sentence case. If you need to identify hierarchies of data levels, you can indent the row headings.
5. Field or body - this is the data within the table. Depending on the journal, you may change the orientation of the text within the cell; JAMA Network journals⁴ used left alignment for the content within the cells.
6. Footnote - the order of the footnotes depends on their appearance within the table. AMA recommends using superscript letters in alphabetical order to help avoid confusion with citations or exponentials.

Basic Format

Table #. Title

Example

Table 1. Sample Tables with Additional Column to Include Standard Deviation of T-values Veteran Teacher Comparison to Traditionally Licensed New Teachers

Adapted from “Evaluating the Tennessee Higher Education Commission's Report Card on the Value-Added Estimates of Teacher Preparation Programs,” by C. Gulosino, 2018, Education Policy Analysis Archives, 26. Copyright 2018 by Arizona State University.

^a Missing in the report

Figures

There are a variety of types of figures used in biomedical literature, such as statistical graphs, diagrams, and maps. Like with tables, there are specific components that should be included with figures. For example, when displaying quantitative information⁴, there should be scales, ranges of values, axis scales, labels, and error bars, where appropriate.

Figures should have titles, legends and labels as needed as well. Like with tables, figures should have identifiers, such as Figure 1 or Figure 3.

Figures should be placed as close to their original mention in the work, when possible.

Basic Format

Figure #. Title

Insert figure

Note (if needed)

Example

Figure 5885. Popularity of the first name Edith correlates with Delta Airlines’ stock price (DAL)

Vigen, T. Popularity of the first name Edith correlates with Delta Airlines’ stock price (DAL). Spurious Correlations blog. Accessed September 24, 2024. https://tylervigen.com/spurious/correlation/5885_popularity-of-the-first-name-edith_correlates-with_delta-airlines-stock-price-dal