When should I use ‘et al’ in AMA citation format?

The names of up to six authors should be listed for each source on your AMA reference page, separated by commas. For a source with seven or more authors, you should list the first three followed by ‘et al’: ‘Isidore, Gilbert, Gunvor, et al’.

In the text, mentioning author names is optional (as they aren’t an official part of AMA in-text citations). If you do mention them, though, you should use the first author’s name followed by ‘et al’ when there are three or more: ‘Isidore et al argue that …’

Note that according to AMA’s rather minimalistic punctuation guidelines, there’s no period after ‘et al’ unless it appears at the end of a sentence. This is different from most other styles, where there is normally a period.

Frequently asked questions: AMA style

Who uses AMA citation format?: AMA citation format is a citation style designed by the American Medical Association. It’s frequently used in the field of medicine.

You may be told to use AMA style for your student papers. You will also have to follow this style if you’re submitting a paper to a journal published by the AMA.
How do I create AMA in-text citations?: An AMA in-text citation consists of the number of the relevant reference on your AMA reference page, written in superscript¹ at the point in the text where the source is used.

It may also include the page number or range of the relevant material in the source (e.g., the part you quoted^2(p46)). Multiple sources can be cited at one point, presented as a range or list (with no spaces^3,5–9).
How do I create AMA references?: An AMA reference usually includes the author’s last name and initials, the title of the source, information about the publisher or the publication it’s contained in, and the publication date. The specific details included, and the formatting, depend on the source type.

References in AMA style are presented in numerical order (numbered by the order in which they were first cited in the text) on your reference page. A source that’s cited repeatedly in the text still only appears once on the reference page.
Do I include the author’s name in my AMA in-text citations?: An AMA in-text citation just consists of the number of the relevant entry on your AMA reference page, written in superscript at the point in the text where the source is referred to.

You don’t need to mention the author of the source in your sentence, but you can do so if you want. It’s not an official part of the citation, but it can be useful as part of a signal phrase introducing the source.
How do I write author names in an AMA reference?: On your AMA reference page, author names are written with the last name first, followed by the initial(s) of their first name and middle name if mentioned.

There’s a space between the last name and the initials, but no space or punctuation between the initials themselves. The names of multiple authors are separated by commas, and the whole list ends in a period, e.g., ‘Andreessen F, Smith PW, Gonzalez E’.
Do I need to include an access date in my AMA website citation?: Yes, you should normally include an access date in an AMA website citation (or when citing any source with a URL). This is because webpages can change their content over time, so it’s useful for the reader to know when you accessed the page.

When a publication or update date is provided on the page, you should include it in addition to the access date. The access date appears second in this case, e.g., ‘Published June 19, 2021. Accessed August 29, 2022.’

Don’t include an access date when citing a source with a DOI (such as in an AMA journal article citation).

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Frequently asked questions

When should I use ‘et al’ in AMA citation format?

Frequently asked questions: AMA style

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Frequently asked questions

How does the sample edit work?