Online Reference Generator to Ease Your Academic Burden

Introduction

Like other citation styles, citing in AMA requires meticulous attention to detail. This is not only a challenge to individuals who are not professional writers, it is also time consuming. In many instances, well-researched, grammatically sound papers get rejected due to errors in citation. These rejections can be avoided by either thoroughly understanding the citation style or by using a good automatic generator to create AMA citation.

AMA (American Medical Association) referencing style is largely associated with the medical field and health sciences. In this referencing style, in-text citations and list of references are required. Capitalization in AMA follows the same patterns as it does in ordinary, grammatically correct writing. Titles, first words in sentences, proper nouns and abbreviations are all capitalized. In the title, only the first letter is capitalized. The title therefore appears just like an ordinary sentence.  Due to the nature of the fields in which this style is used, journals get referenced regularly. In referencing journals, the Index Medicus of journal names should be included.

Names of authors are usually inverted in the reference list. Only initials are used in the beginning, and middle names and no periods are used in between these initials. The initials are, as per the requirements, in capital letters. Works that are cited in the article are normally numbered. The numbering is in order of their appearance in the article. This means that the instance in which the reference initially appears in the article becomes its number. All subsequent appearances have no bearing on determining the number given to the source.

AMA referencing style makes certain demands of the writer. The following is a brief guide on how to cite in this format.

• Formatting

Text in AMA documents is expected to be double-spaced. It should neither be justified, right-aligned nor centered, it should always be aligned to the left. Margins should be 1” all around with a 12-point font. The font should always be Times New Roman, unless different specifications have been given. AMA citation does not provide a specific formatting guide as far as the title page is concerned. This means that student and other writers should consult the authority or body to which the article is being submitted so as to know whether they have any preferences in the matter. In case they have no preferences, the writer is free to decide how to format it.

• Style

AMA does not seek to stifle individuality as far as penmanship is concerned. Writing style therefore is left to the writer. However, owing to the nature of the subject for which this referencing style is used, a professional tone is encouraged. It is also preferred to write articles using active voice. Stylistic problems such as long sentences should also be avoided, since sentences tend to lose meaning as they get longer.

• General Paper Requirements

AMA paper structure usually has four parts:

• Tittle page

This contains information such as the title of the paper, name and title of the writer, name of the receiving authority, date of submission and so on. Although this requirement is not cast in stone, citation of academic achievements is usually included for postgraduate degrees.

• Abstract

The abstract in this case may be structured or unstructured. The writer determines on their own how to write it, depending on their writing style or depending on the contents of the paper.

• Text

Since these papers are usually scientific in nature, many times the text takes the form of a report. Typically, it has sections such as introduction, methods, results, discussions, and recommendations. Literature review may also be a part of the article, but this only applies to papers that are academic in nature.

• References

This should incorporate all the works cited in the article. These works should be organized numerically, depending on how they appear in the text. The in-text citations should never be omitted when using the American Medical Association to reference.

To meet the threshold of acceptability, references in articles must meet the following requirements:

Journals

• Print Journal:

A print journal must have the following:

Name of author. Title of article. Name of the journal. Year published; volume (issue number). These details must be presented in that particular order and font style.

• Online Journal:

Name of author. Title of article. Name of the journal. Year published; volume (issue number). Date retrieved. These details must be presented in that particular order.

Books

• Print

Name of the author(s). Tittle of the Book. Edition. City Published, State or Country of the Publisher. Year.

• Online Book

Name of the author(s). Tittle of the Book. Edition. City Published, State or Country of the Publisher. Year. URL. Date of access.

• Website

Name of the author (or organization that made the publication if the author’s name is not provided). Article title (if the title is not available, the name of the publishing organization should be written) Website name. web address. Date accessed.

In all types of references, there should be a hanging indent from the second and every subsequent line of every reference.

The tenth edition of AMA is the most recent version available. Most authorities now demand that all articles cited in AMA conform to the 10^th edition requirements. The following are some of AMA 10^th edition examples.

Jake BC, Carson BJ. Effects of radiotherapy on juvenile cancer patients. JAMA. 2015; 42(6):593-601

Articles with more than six authors:

Jake BC, Carson BJ, et al. Effects of radiotherapy on juvenile cancer patients. JAMA. 2015; 42(6):593-601

Electronic journal article where DOI has been provided

Jake BC, Carson BJ, et al. Effects of radiotherapy on juvenile cancer patients. JAMA. 2015; 42(6):593-601. Doi:20.1054/S004-5573(01)10444-3.

Electronic journal article where DOI is not available

Jake BC, Carson BJ, et al. Effects of radiotherapy on juvenile cancer patients. JAMA. 2015; 42(6):593-601. http:// medicalinformation.com/login/ Accessed June 2, 2017

Jake BC, Carson BJ. Radiotherapy and children. 3^rd ed. Chicago, Il: Chicago University Publishers; 2016.

Jake BC, Carson BJ. Radiotherapy and children. 3^rd ed. Chicago, Il: Chicago University Publishers; 2016. http:// medicalinformation.com/login/ Accessed June 2, 2017

Center for Disease Control. Dengue Fever Facts and Figures 2016. http:// www.cdc.gov/downloads/ndgf/DNGFFF2016.pdf. Accessed June 2, 2017.

In order to give the right citations for an article and save quite a bit of time for yourself, AMA format citation generator may be used. Usually, an AMA in text citation generator also cites in other citation styles. It is up to the author to choose AMA from among the options provided by the generator in a drop-down list. These generators are mostly found online and they are known as automatic citation generators. Making AMA citation online makes the process easier since the generator is able to search for the information provided online. When it searches online, it is able to piece together the whole reference by fetching all the necessary additional information from the web.

To cite using this tool, all the author needs to do is to insert the website, book title or title of the journal in a designated place in the generator. The generator then searches the Internet for the remaining information. If the remaining information is available, it is retrieved and the reference is generated. When the information is not available online, the writer is invited to fill in the additional details and the application organizes the information into a proper AMA reference. Online generators allow their users to select the AMA edition they want to use. The generators produce both references and in-text citations. After the generator is done, the author simply needs to copy the generated references and paste them into the articles they are writing.

The AMA citation maker that an author decides to use must have the capacity to produce references in the right format. This means that a writer should be able to tell when a particular generator produces the real thing and when it doesn’t. This requirement implies reference generators are not a substitute for a writer’s knowledge of AMA style. Many a free AMA citation generator found online usually have more advanced features that have to be unlocked via payment.

Among the skills a writer is expected to have when writing articles that require referencing, is knowing where to reference. This helps authors to know where to insert in-text citations that have been generated through automatic AMA citation. Such places in the document include cases when the writer paraphrases someone else’s work or when the writer quotes somebody else’s work. It is not only other people’s ideas are required to be cited. The author should reference their own ideas if they are written in different articles or books. Ultimately, a writer’s skills have no substitute.