Skip to Main Content

AMA (11th ed.) Style Guide: Book (1 author)

An introductory guide to creating end-of-paper references in accordance with the 11th edition of the AMA Manual of Style (2020).

BOOK WITH 1 AUTHOR

BASIC COMPONENTS (Book with 1 Author)

  • AUTHOR NAME [period]
  • TITLE OF BOOK [period]
  • EDITION (if any) [period]
  • PUBLISHER NAME [semicolon]
  • YEAR OF COPYRIGHT [period]

For e-books, add the following:

  • DATE OF ACCESS [period]
  • URL

 

ARRANGING AND FORMATTING COMPONENTS

AUTHOR NAME

Last name first, followed by first initial and (if given) additional initials. End with a period. No blank space between initials.

      EXAMPLES 

Cooper T.
Berben SAA.
Gausche-Hill M.
de la Peña SK.

 

TITLE OF BOOK

Italicize the full title. Capitalize the first letter of major words. Articles, conjunctions, prepositions (3 or fewer letters), and the "to" in infinitives should all remain in lowercase. End with a period.

      EXAMPLES 

Everything I Know About Women I Learned From My Tractor.

How to Preserve Animal and Other Specimens in Clear Plastic.

Why Cats Paint: A Theory of Feline Aesthetics.

Electricity in Gynaecology: The Practical Uses of Electricity in Diseases of Women.

Knitting With Dog Hair: Better a Sweater From a Dog You Know and Love Than From a Sheep You'll Never Meet.

 

EDITION (if any)

Include edition information when given. Present numbers as ordinals--2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. Do not superscript the letters (2nd = wrong; 2nd = right). Add the abbreviation "ed" followed by a period.

      EXAMPLES 

7th ed.

21st ed.

Rev ed.

5th rev ed.

Updated ed.

 

PUBLISHER NAME

Include the publisher's name as given on the title page, modifying it as follows:

  • Abbreviate corporate words (Company, Corporation, etc.). Do not add a period.
  • Remove the period from existing corporate abbreviations such as Co., Corp., Inc., Ltd.
  • Remove periods from initials.
  • Remove commas.
  • Remove the word "the" if it's the first word in the name.
  • Replace the word "and" with an ampersand (&).

Add a semicolon following the publisher's name.

      EXAMPLES 

Springer Pub. Co.    Springer Pub Co;

W.W. Norton & Company     WW Norton & Co;

Holt, Rinehart and Winston     Holt Rinehart & Winston;

Neil M. Davis Associates    Neil M Davis Associates;

The University of Chicago Press    University of Chicago Press;

 

YEAR OF COPYRIGHT OR PUBLICATION DATE

Include the year of copyright/publication, followed by a period.

      EXAMPLES 

2020.

1953.

2001.

 

DATE OF ACCESS / URL (e-books only)

Include the word "Accessed" followed by the date of access (month day [comma] year) and a period. Do not abbreviate the month. Then add a stable URL for the book. Do not include a period after the URL.

      EXAMPLES 

Accessed September 14, 2016. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-84954-2

Accessed June 5, 2021. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/writing-the-north-of-england-in-the-middle-ages/29AA7816EAC2F439455E0C6D288658EB

Accessed February 29, 2020. https://openresearchlibrary.org/viewer/538289f7-0248-48ff-aac3-3bdfecfecb8b

 

SAMPLE REFERENCES (Book with 1 Author)

Gross D. What Does Death Look Like? Xlibris Press; 2010.

Kane BM. The Blessing of Life: An Introduction to Catholic Bioethics. Lexington Books; 2013.

Coile RC Jr. The New Medicine: Reshaping Medical Practice and Health Care Management. Aspen Publishers; 1990.

Hanegraaff WJ. New Age Religion and Western Culture: Esotericism in the Mirror of Secular Thought. EJ Brill; 1996.

McLaughlin MAS. Cardiovascular Care Made Incredibly Easy. 3rd ed. Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2014.

Trevor-Roper HR. The Last Days of Hitler. Macmillan Co; 1947.

Rangsimaporn P. Central Asia and Southeast Asia: Exploring the Dynamics of Greater Engagement. Palgrave Macmillan; 2022. Accessed January 10, 2023. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-10112-0

Tyler MJ. Field Guide to Frogs of Western Australia. Western Australian Museum; 2009. Accessed May 13, 2019. https://web.s.ebscohost.com/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzU5ODg4MF9fQU41?sid=fa1b6946-31ec-4b01-add2-c2a1be3534ea@redis&vid=0&format=EB&rid=1