FreeCitation
AMA 11th edition (2020)

Free AMA citation generator, 11th edition

Paste a DOI, URL or ISBN and get an AMA 11th edition reference in seconds. The superscript numbered style required by JAMA and most American medical journals and courses.

100% freeNo signupNo daily limitPaste a URL, DOI or ISBN
Citation Generator100% Free · No signup

Changes what info we look for and how we format it

📋
Your saved citations show up here. Generate one and click Save.
🌐 Add a WebsiteAI powered

Paste a URL — e.g. https://bbc.com/article

Here is how it works
1
Pick your source type
Choose from the left. Website, book, journal, YouTube. It changes what we look for and how we format it.
2
Paste and cite
Drop in a URL, ISBN, DOI or title. Hit Cite. We check academic databases first, then AI fills in the rest.
3
Switch styles freely
APA, MLA, Chicago and more. Switch any time and your citation regenerates automatically in the new format.

When you use AMA 11th edition

AMA style belongs to the American Medical Association, and the 11th edition of its manual, published in 2020, is the current standard. It is the required style at JAMA and its network of journals, and it is what most US medical, pharmacy and health science programs teach.

Like Vancouver, AMA is a numbered system: sources get numbers in order of first appearance and the reference list follows that numbering. The visible difference is in the text, where AMA uses superscript numbers after the relevant word or punctuation rather than numbers in parentheses.

The references themselves are dense and rule-heavy: surname plus initials with no periods, official journal abbreviations in italics, year then volume then issue then pages packed together with semicolons and colons, and a doi at the end whenever one exists. The generator above builds all of that from real Crossref metadata when you paste a DOI, which is the most reliable route for journal articles.

The formats, with real examples

Paste your source into the tool above and it fills these in for you. If you would rather see the pattern, here is exactly what each one looks like.

Journal article
Author AA, Author BB. Title of article. Abbrev Journal Name. Year;Volume(Issue):pages. doi:xxx
EXAMPLEKucsko G, Maurer PC. Nanometre-scale thermometry in a living cell. Nature. 2013;500(7460):54-58. doi:10.1038/nature12373
Book
Author AA. Title of Book. Edition. Publisher; Year.
EXAMPLEBrown C. The History of Everything. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press; 2021.
Website
Author AA. Title of page. Site Name. Published Month Day, Year. Accessed Month Day, Year. URL
EXAMPLESmith J. How climate change affects oceans. National Geographic. Published March 14, 2023. Accessed August 14, 2026. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/oceans
Chapter in a book
Author AA. Title of chapter. In: Editor BB, ed. Title of Book. Publisher; Year:pages.
EXAMPLELee S. Cardiac assessment. In: Hall T, ed. Clinical Examination. Elsevier; 2020:33-51.

In-text citations

Parenthetical: A superscript number after the fact or quote it supports, like this.3 Multiple sources: 1,3 and ranges: 2-5, still superscript, separated by commas with no spaces.
Narrative: Smith et al2 reported the same effect in a pediatric cohort. Note there is no period in et al when it carries a superscript in AMA text.

Superscript numbers go outside periods and commas but inside colons and semicolons. That placement rule is fussy and markers check it.

✍️Citation done. The essay is next.HumanGPT helps you edit and polish your draft until it reads the way you want. Free to try.Try HumanGPT free →

Mistakes people make in AMA 11th edition

COMMON SLIP
Citing with parenthetical numbers like (3) instead of superscript.
WHAT TO DO
AMA text citations are superscript. If your word processor makes superscript painful, most journals accept the fix at the end, but for coursework format it properly as you go.
COMMON SLIP
Including the publisher's city, like Philadelphia, PA, in book references.
WHAT TO DO
The 11th edition removed publisher locations. A book reference is now Author. Title. Edition. Publisher; Year. If a guide tells you to add a city, it is describing the older 10th edition.
COMMON SLIP
Writing doi as a URL, like https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12373.
WHAT TO DO
AMA formats it as doi:10.1038/nature12373 at the end of the reference, lowercase, no space, no https prefix. That differs from APA on purpose, so do not carry the habit across.
COMMON SLIP
Listing every author on a paper with a dozen names.
WHAT TO DO
With more than six authors, AMA lists the first three followed by et al. Six or fewer are all listed. Trim the generator output to match if your source has a long author list.

Questions students actually ask

How do I cite a journal article in AMA 11th edition?
Author AA, Author BB. Title of article. Abbreviated Journal Name. Year;Volume(Issue):pages. doi:xxx. The journal abbreviation is italicized, the year, volume, issue and pages run together with semicolons and colons, and the doi comes last with no period after it.
Where exactly do superscript numbers go in AMA?
After the word, phrase or quotation they support, outside periods and commas, inside colons and semicolons. Multiple citations at one point are separated by commas without spaces, like 3,7, and consecutive numbers become a range, like 2-5.
How do I cite a website in AMA?
Author or organization. Title of page. Site name. Published date if given. Updated date if given. Accessed date. URL. The accessed date is required for online sources because pages change, and AMA wants both the published and accessed dates when both exist.
What is the difference between AMA and Vancouver?
Both are numeric medical styles with abbreviated journal names, and references look nearly identical at a glance. AMA uses superscript numbers in the text and its own manual's punctuation details, while Vancouver, the ICMJE style, typically uses numbers in parentheses or brackets. Use the one your course or journal names.
Is this AMA generator free?
Yes. All ten styles on FreeCitation are free with no account and no limits. Paste your DOI above and the reference comes out formatted.

Keep going

Vancouver generator →APA generator →Guide: DOI vs ISBN →
✍️ Writing the paper too?

Your sources are sorted. Now polish the writing.

A first draft is never the finished essay. HumanGPT helps you rework clunky sentences and smooth out the flow, and it leaves your meaning and your citations exactly where you put them.

✓ Clearer sentences, better flow✓ Keeps your argument and your sources✓ Free to try right now
Try HumanGPT free →

Paste your draft, get back a cleaner version.