AMA Citation Guide: Format Your Paper

Margins: Use one inch margins on all pages.

Line Spacing:

• All sections of the paper are single-spaced.
• Double-space between paragraphs and sections.

Fonts:

• A serif (e.g., Times New Roman) 10pt - 12pt font is used for all sections of the paper.
• In diagrams and charts, a sans serif font is used (e.g., Arial).

Indents: Use a 1/2 inch indent.

Page Numbering:

• Each page, beginning with the title page, should be numbered consecutively.
• Page numbers are usually placed in the upper, right corner.

Page Headers: Short title headers are placed at the top of the page, aligned with the page number.

Reference List:

• Number the references in the order that they were cited in the text.
• Single-space within the citation and double-space between citations.
• There are no hanging indents as seen in other citation styles.

Be sure to ask your instructor or the publisher to whom you're submitting the paper for more specific formatting rules.

Some publishers require a structured abstract depending on the type of research paper submitted. Be sure to check what the publisher's requirements are.

Basic format for structured abstracts can be seen in PubMed: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/policy/structured_abstracts.html.