AMA References: Books

When citing a book in AMA, you should provide the author’s last name and initials, the title in italics, the publisher, and year. The general format of book citations will look like this:

Structure:

Last Name Initials. Book Title: Subtitle. Publisher; Year.

In our citation examples, we use the following color coding:

• Red – Author
• Blue – Title of book/article/charter/webpage
• Pink – Date
• Orange – Website/Publisher
• Violet – Editor/Translator
• Sienna – Pages
• Gray – URL/database/website where the source is retrieved
• Gold – Book, a part/chapter of which is being cited
• Peach – Additional information about the source (i.e. its type, specific features etc.)

Two to Six Authors

For such sources, you should list all authors.

More than Seven Authors

Give last names and initials for the first three authors of the work and add “et al.” after the third author.

Corporate/Organization Author

Unknown Author

Start with the title of the book.

Edited Book without an Author

Move the editor name to the author position and follow it with the abbreviation ed. for one editor or eds. for multiple editors.

Edited Book with an Author/s

Place the editor’s last name and initials immediately after the book’s title, followed by the abbreviation ed. for one editor or eds. for multiple editors after a comma.

Author with a Translator

Place the name(s) of the translator(s) immediately after the book’s title, add the abbreviation trans.

Different Editions

Add the edition number after the title.

Chapter in an Edited Book

Put the author/s of the chapter in the author’s position and cite the name of the chapter without italics or capitalization. Enter the word In followed by a colon and state the editors’ names followed by abbreviation ed/s. Make sure to indicate the page range.

Multivolume Work

Give volume number preceded by Vol / Vols after the subtitle with no period.

Encyclopedia/Dictionary

Follow the rule ‘edited book with no author’ or ‘chapter in an edited book’ if you are citing a specific entry.

Structure:

1. Last Name Initials, ed. Book Title: Subtitle. Publisher; Year.

2. Author’s Last Name Initials. Chapter title. In Last Name Initials, ed. Book Title: Subtitle. Publisher; Year: pages.

Online Book

Cite as printed books but add URL and access date. Follow the same rule for online encyclopedias and book chapters: just like print ones but with the addition of access date and URL.