The best examples of AMA format citation for a book (with real variations)

Quick AMA book citation pattern (so the examples make sense)

Before we jump into the best examples of AMA format citation for a book, it helps to keep the core pattern in your head. For a standard print book, AMA 11th edition generally follows this structure:

Basic AMA book format
Author(s). Title of Book. Edition number (if not first). Publisher; Year.

Some common twists:

• Add editors with eds.
• Add chapter authors when you’re citing only one chapter.
• Add online information like URL and accessed date for books consulted on the web.
• Add a DOI when the book provides one.

Now let’s get into real examples of AMA format citation for a book that you can adapt directly to your own reference list.

Core examples of AMA format citation for a book (print)

Let’s start with the most common situation: a standard print book. These are the examples of examples of AMA format citation for a book you’ll use constantly in medical and health science writing.

Single-author book

This is the cleanest example of AMA format citation for a book:

Fauci AS. Emerging Infectious Diseases: A Clinical Guide. 2nd ed. Academic Press; 2024.

Why it works:

• Author last name and initials, no periods between initials.
• Book title in italics, sentence case (only first word and proper nouns capitalized).
• Edition included because it’s not the first.
• Publisher followed by year and a period.

Two authors

When you have two authors, list both, separated by a comma:

Jackson AB, Miller JT. Clinical Pharmacology for Advanced Practice. McGraw Hill; 2023.

No ampersand, no “and” — just a comma between authors.

Three or more authors

According to AMA, list up to 6 authors. If there are more than 6, list the first 3, then et al.

Example with 4 authors (list all):

Patel R, Nguyen L, Carter J, O’Neil M. Fundamentals of Evidence-Based Nursing Practice. Wolters Kluwer; 2022.

Example with 8 authors (use et al):

Chen Y, Roberts K, Singh P, et al. Global Public Health: Policy, Practice, and Perspectives. Springer; 2025.

These are exactly the kind of examples of AMA format citation for a book you’ll see in major journals indexed in PubMed.

Examples of AMA format for edited books and chapters

Many health and medical books are edited volumes—think textbooks where each chapter has its own author. Here are examples of AMA format citation for a book when editors and chapters enter the picture.

Whole edited book

When you’re citing the entire edited volume (not a specific chapter):

Rosenfield K, Thompson J, eds. Interventional Cardiology: Principles and Practice. 4th ed. Elsevier; 2023.

Key details:

• Add eds. after the editor names.
• The rest follows the usual pattern.

Chapter in an edited book

This is where people most often search for examples of AMA format citation for a book because the structure is less intuitive.

Format:
Chapter author(s). Chapter title. In: Editor(s), ed(s). Book Title. Edition number. Publisher; Year:page-page.

Real example:

Harris KJ, Lopez R. Behavioral counseling strategies for tobacco cessation. In: Fiore MC, Baker TB, eds. Handbook of Tobacco Treatment. 3rd ed. Oxford University Press; 2024:145-168.

Notice how the chapter author comes first, and the chapter title is in regular type (not italics), followed by In: and the editors.

Another example with multiple editors:

Singh A, Morrell L. Telehealth in rural primary care. In: Patel V, Lopez MH, Chang G, eds. Digital Health in Clinical Practice. Springer; 2023:89-112.

These are some of the best examples to model if you’re working on nursing, PA, or medical coursework.

Online and eBook examples of AMA format citation for a book

If you’re using an online textbook from your university library or an eBook from a platform like Elsevier or SpringerLink, your examples of AMA format citation for a book need to reflect that.

AMA 11th edition generally recommends including:

• The word Accessed plus a full date for web-based content.
• A URL or DOI, if available.

Online book with DOI

Bickley LS. Bates’ Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking. 13th ed. Wolters Kluwer; 2020. doi:10.1234/bates.2020

In many current databases, DOIs are now standard for major textbooks. If your 2024–2025 eBook lists a DOI, this is the format to follow.

Online book with URL and accessed date

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Immunization Strategies for Healthcare Providers. CDC; 2024. Accessed November 30, 2025. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/hcp

This is a real-world style example of AMA format citation for a book produced by a government agency and accessed online.

eBook from a library platform

If you accessed an eBook through a platform like EBSCO or ProQuest, AMA doesn’t require you to name the platform. Focus on the book details and a stable URL or DOI.

O’Donnell J. Health Policy and Politics: A Nurse’s Guide. 7th ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2023. Accessed September 14, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1891/healthpolicy.2023

Again, this follows the same pattern you see in AMA’s own examples.

Organization as author: public health and government book examples

Public health and epidemiology often rely on books and reports written by organizations rather than individual authors. These examples of AMA format citation for a book show how to handle that.

Government agency as author

National Institutes of Health. NIH Clinical Research Guidelines: A Reference Manual for Investigators. 5th ed. National Institutes of Health; 2024.

Here, the organization appears in the author position and again as publisher. That’s acceptable in AMA.

Professional association as author

American Heart Association. Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support Provider Manual. 2020 ed. American Heart Association; 2020.

In both cases, no individual author is listed. For medical and health topics, you can often cross-check these formats against examples from NIH or CDC, which frequently publish guideline-style books and manuals.

Special cases: translations, editions, and book series

Sometimes your source doesn’t fit the neat standard mold. These examples of AMA format citation for a book cover the edge cases that routinely confuse students.

Translated book

Format:
Author(s). Title of Book. Translator Name, trans. Publisher; Year.

Example:

Dubois P. Clinical Ethics in Intensive Care. Martin R, trans. Cambridge University Press; 2022.

If both the original and translated year are relevant (for historical work), you can mention the original year in the text, but in the reference list you stick to the edition you actually used.

New edition of a classic textbook

Goldman L, Schafer AI, eds. Goldman-Cecil Medicine. 27th ed. Elsevier; 2024.

You don’t need to mention earlier editions in the reference; the edition number is enough.

Book in a series

AMA doesn’t require you to list the series, but you may include it if it’s helpful context.

Hales RE, Yudofsky SC, Roberts LW, eds. The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Psychiatry. 7th ed. American Psychiatric Association Publishing; 2024. American Psychiatric Association Textbook Series.

This kind of real example of AMA format citation for a book often appears in psychiatry and subspecialty fields.

Why 2024–2025 trends matter for AMA book citations

If you’re writing now, you’re not citing in a vacuum. Several trends in 2024–2025 affect how you apply these examples of AMA format citation for a book:

• More DOIs for textbooks and handbooks. Major publishers (Elsevier, Springer, Wolters Kluwer) now routinely assign DOIs to eBooks and even some print-first titles. If a DOI exists, AMA expects you to use it.
• Increased use of online-only manuals and guidelines. Agencies like the CDC and NIH are publishing more book-length resources directly online. These function like books but live on the web, so your AMA examples should include URLs and accessed dates.
• Hybrid access models. Many students now use institution-licensed eBooks instead of buying print. For AMA, you still cite the book itself, not the platform. The best examples of AMA format citation for a book in 2025 look almost identical to print references, with the addition of DOIs or URLs.

The takeaway: the core structure of AMA book citations hasn’t changed, but modern sources make DOIs and online access lines more common. When in doubt, model your reference on the most relevant of the examples of AMA format citation for a book above, then add DOI or access information if your source provides it.

Putting it all together: choosing the right example of AMA format citation for a book

When you’re staring at a source and trying to figure out which pattern applies, work through these questions:

• Is it a whole book or a chapter within a book?
  • Whole book → use the single-/multiple-author or edited-book examples.
  • Chapter → use the chapter-in-edited-book examples.
• Are the authors people or an organization?
  • People → list last name and initials.
  • Organization → use the full organization name as the author.
• Is it print only, online with URL, or online with DOI?
  • Print → no URL or accessed date.
  • Online with DOI → include the DOI.
  • Online without DOI → include URL and accessed date.
• Is there an edition number, translator, or editor?
  • Edition → include after title.
  • Editor(s) → add ed. or eds.
  • Translator → add “trans.” after the translator’s name.

Once you answer those questions, you can match your source to one of the examples of AMA format citation for a book we’ve walked through and adjust the details.

For more official guidance, you can check:

• The AMA Manual of Style, 11th ed., often available through university libraries.
• University writing centers, such as Harvard Library’s citation tools, which link to AMA resources.
• Health-focused style guides from institutions like Mayo Clinic and NIH, which often model AMA-style references in their publications.

Use these real-world models, and your references will look like they belong in a peer-reviewed journal—because they’ll be built on the same patterns editors use every day.

FAQ: AMA format citation for books

Q1. Can you give a quick example of AMA format citation for a book with three authors?
Yes. Here’s a clean reference you can mirror:

Patel R, Nguyen L, Carter J. Fundamentals of Evidence-Based Nursing Practice. Wolters Kluwer; 2022.

This is a straightforward example of AMA format citation for a book with three authors.

Q2. Do I need to include page numbers for an entire book in AMA format?
No. Page numbers are used for chapters or specific parts of a book, not for the entire book. When citing a full book, you list author(s), title, edition (if not first), publisher, and year.

Q3. How do I handle an online book with no publication year listed?
Use the year you can verify from the publisher or the copyright page in the eBook. If truly no year is available, some instructors allow [year unknown] or omit the year, but that’s rare for reputable medical and academic books. When in doubt, check a library catalog (for example, a university catalog or WorldCat) for the official publication year.

Q4. Do I have to include the URL for every eBook in AMA?
Not always. If the eBook has a DOI, you can use the DOI instead of a URL. If there’s no DOI and you accessed it through the open web, then include a URL and an accessed date, as in the online examples of AMA format citation for a book above.

Q5. Where can I see more official examples of AMA-style book citations?
The most authoritative source is the AMA Manual of Style (11th edition) itself. Many universities also post AMA quick guides; for instance, you can look for AMA citation guides from large U.S. institutions like state universities or medical schools, often hosted on .edu domains. These typically include additional examples of AMA format citation for a book tailored to medical and health science assignments.