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Physical Therapist Assistant

Introduction to AMA Style

For your literature review, you will use AMA style to reference your journal article. 

Official guide: AMA Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors -- R119 .A533 2020, 2nd floor (in library use only). 

Reference Examples:

  1. Uygur M, Bellumori M, LeNoir K, Poole K, Pretzer-Aboff I, Knight CA. Immediate effects of high-speed cycling intervals on bradykinesia in Parkinson’s disease. Physiother Theory Pract. 2015;31(2):77-82. doi:10.3109/09593985.2014.972530
  2. Schlick C, Ernst A, Bötzel K, Plate A, Pelykh O, Ilmberger J. Visual cues combined with treadmill training to improve gait performance in Parkinson’s disease: a pilot randomized controlled trial. Clin Rehab. 2016;30(5):463-471. doi:10.1177/0269215515588836

To determine abbreviated journal titles, use the NLM Journal Catalog.

AMA Basics

If you use AMA style to cite outside sources in a paper, do the following:

  • In the text of the paper, use consecutive numbers to indicate when you are citing an outside source, starting from the numeral 1. The number of the citation should match the number of the item in the reference list.
    Example:
    High speed, low-resistance cycling may be beneficial for patients who have Parkinson's disease. (1).
  • If you refer to more than one outside source for the same piece of information, list each number, separated by commas: (2, 3).
  • The heading for the references list section should be REFERENCES.
  • Citations in the references list should be left-aligned; do not use a hanging indent.
  • For authors' names, give the last name and the initials, without periods. Separate authors using commas.
    Example :
    For authors Diana J. Matthews, Jenna C. Miller, and Ramona K. Miller, use:
    Matthews DJ, Miller JC, Miller RK.
  • List up to six authors; for more than six authors, list the first three authors followed by et al.
  • Journal names should be abbreviated. For correct abbreviations, consult the NLM Journal Catalog.
  • For article and chapter titles, only capitalize the first word of titles and proper nouns. For book and journal titles, capitalize all major words, including the first word of the title and subtitle. 

Print Journal Article

Citation elements:
Author(s). Title of article. Abbreviated Journal Name. Year;volume(issue):pages.

Example citation:
1. Kayoko T, Naoto K, Makoto S, Michinari F. Quality of life in people with Parkinson’s disease: the relevance of social relationships and communication. J Phys Ther Sci. 2016;28(2):541-546.

E-Journal Article

An e-journal follows the same format as a print journal, only the DOI or the URL and the date the article was accessed are given after the main citation.

Example citation with DOI:
2. Cavanaugh JT, Ellis TD, Earhart GM, Ford MP, Foreman KB, Dibble LE. Toward understanding ambulatory activity decline in Parkinson Disease. Phys Ther. 2015;95(8):1142-1150. doi:10.2522/ptj.20140498

Example citation with URL and access date:
2. Cavanaugh JT, Ellis TD, Earhart GM, Ford MP, Foreman KB, Dibble LE. Toward understanding ambulatory activity decline in Parkinson Disease. Phys Ther. 2015;95(8):1142-1150. Accessed August 25, 2021. https://academic.oup.com/ptj/article/95/8/1142/2686477

Book

Citation elements:
Author(s). Book Title. Edition (if other than 1st). Place of publication: Publisher; Year of copyright.

Example citation:
3. Martin S. Neurologic Intervention for Physical Therapist Assistants. 3rd ed. St. Louis, MO: Springer; 2016.

Chapter in a Book

Citation elements:
Chapter author(s). Chapter title. In editor(s), eds. Book Title. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of copyright:page numbers.

Example citation:
4. Quinn L, Bello-Haas VD. Progressive central nervous system disorders. In Cameron MH, Monroe LG, eds. Physical Rehabilitation for the Physical Therapist Assistant. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier; 2011:264-275.

Website

Citation elements (give as many as are available):
Author(s) (if given). Title of item cited. Name of the website. Published date. Last update date. Accessed date. URL

Example citation:
5. Parkinson's disease. MedlinePlus. Updated November 19, 2019. Accessed August 18, 2020. https://medlineplus.gov/parkinsonsdisease.html

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