AMA Citation Checker
Paste a reference list in AMA style (11th edition) and get each likely issue flagged — Surname AB names, three authors before et al., sentence-case titles, journal abbreviations, the Year;Volume(Issue):Pages block, full page ranges and the doi: form — with a fix to copy. Free, no sign-up, and it runs in your browser.
One reference per line, or wrapped lines under their number. The check runs in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
Paste an AMA reference list to check it.
What this checker looks for
- Numbering in citation order, with no gaps, repeats or numbers out of sequence.
- Authors as Smith JA, separated by commas with no “and”: every name up to six; more than six, the first three and et al.
- Article titles in sentence case without quotation marks, and journal abbreviations without periods.
- The block Year;Volume(Issue):Pages with no spaces, no month or day, and full page ranges (912-919).
- DOIs written doi:10.xxxx as the last element, with no period after them, and a period at the end of every other reference.
- The same source listed twice, and lists sorted A–Z instead of by first citation.
It cannot see italics, so it does not check that journal names are italic, and it does not check abbreviations against the NLM Catalog. Every finding is a likely issue to review, not a verdict; your list is never rewritten for you.
How to Use the AMA Citation Checker
- Paste your reference list. With its numbers, one reference per line; a wrapped line stays with the number above it.
- Fix the list-level findings first. A gap in the numbering or an alphabetical list means the numbers no longer match your superscript citations.
- Go through each reference. Copy the suggested fragment — the first three authors and et al., the full page range, the DOI without a space — and follow the link to the rule.
- Add the italics yourself. Journal names are italic in AMA; plain text cannot carry italics, so set them in your document.
The AMA 11 Rules the Checker Applies
The AMA Manual of Style (11th ed., 2020) is the style of JAMA and many medical journals. A journal reference in AMA style:
Quiroz YT, Schultz AP, Chen K, et al. Brain imaging and blood biomarker abnormalities in children with autosomal dominant Alzheimer disease: a cross-sectional study. JAMA Neurol. 2015;72(8):912-919. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2015.1099
- Authors: surname and initials with no periods or spaces (Quiroz YT), separated by commas, with no “and” before the last name.
- Et al.: every author up to six; with more than six, the first three and then et al.
- Title: sentence case, with no quotation marks.
- Journal: the NLM Catalog abbreviation, without periods, in italics.
- Locator: year;volume(issue):pages with no spaces — and for a journal with volume and issue numbers, no month or day.
- Pages: in full — 912-919, never 912-9.
- DOI: doi: followed directly by the DOI, as the last element, with no period after it.
The manual itself is sold by subscription, so the checker’s links point to university library guides that quote its rules: West Virginia University for authors and DOIs and New York Medical College for journal references.
AMA vs Vancouver: The Differences It Tests
| Rule | AMA 11 | Vancouver (NLM) |
|---|---|---|
| More than six authors | first three, then et al. | first six, then et al. |
| Journal name | abbreviated, in italics | abbreviated, not italic |
| Before the volume | the year: 2015;72 | year, month and day if given: 2002 Jul 25;347 |
| Page range | in full: 284-287 | shortened: 284-7 |
| DOI | doi:10.1001/… — no space, no period after | doi: 10.1136/… — a space, then a period |
| In the text | superscript numbers | numbers in parentheses |
Vancouver column: NLM’s sample references and the ICMJE Recommendations. Individual journals may set their own exceptions.
Worked Example
Try a sample loads four published articles, three of them written with mistakes. The checker finds 11 likely issues to review across 4 references:
- Reference 2 lists all eight authors; AMA keeps three: Rose ME, Huerbin MB, Melick J, et al. Its range 40-6 is shortened (AMA writes 40-46), and doi: 10.1016/… has a space and a closing period — the fix is doi:10.1016/s0006-8993(02)02445-9.
- Reference 3 has six findings: periods in the initials, a title in quotation marks and Title Case, the dotted Nat. Rev. Drug Discov., spaces in 2022; 21(10): 763-779, and a doi.org link where AMA prefers doi:10.1038/s41573-022-00500-9.
- Reference 4 is NLM’s Halpern example in Vancouver form: a month and day before the volume and the short range 284-7. In AMA it ends 2002;347(4):284-287.
Reference 1, as printed in an AMA 11 guide, passes.
Frequently Asked Questions
- When do you use et al. in AMA references?
- Only when a work has more than six authors: list the first three, then et al. With six or fewer, list every author. In running text, AMA writes et al without a period — Liu et al9 reported — and cites by superscript number.
- How do you write a DOI in AMA style?
- As doi: followed directly by the DOI, with no space — doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2015.1099 — as the last element of the reference, with no period after it so the link still works. AMA prefers this form to a https://doi.org/ link, and cites the DOI rather than a URL when an article has one.
- Does AMA style shorten page ranges?
- No. AMA gives inclusive page numbers in full — 912-919, not 912-9 — joined by a hyphen with no spaces around it.
- Are journal names italicized in AMA style?
- Yes. Abbreviate the journal as the NLM Catalog does, without periods (JAMA Neurol, Nat Rev Drug Discov), and set it in italics. Text pasted into the checker has no italics, so it cannot check them for you.
- What is the difference between AMA and Vancouver?
- They share Surname AB names, sentence-case titles and NLM journal abbreviations. AMA keeps three authors before et al. rather than six, italicizes journal names, leaves the month out before the volume, prints full page ranges, and writes doi:10.… with no space and no final period. Check an NLM-style list with the Vancouver checker.
- Do AMA references end with a period?
- Yes — every reference ends with a period unless its last element is a DOI or URL, which takes none.
- Is my reference list uploaded anywhere?
- No. The checker runs entirely in your browser; nothing you paste is sent to a server or stored.