The entry you actually consulted
AMA Encyclopedia Citation for Signed and Online Entries
Identify an entry's author, its reference work, and the version you read. Compare a signed medical encyclopedia example with an unsigned NCI dictionary entry.
An AMA encyclopedia citation identifies the entry you used, the reference work containing it, and the version you consulted. A signed entry begins with its author. For an online dictionary entry without a personal byline, use the responsible organization when it is identified. We checked university AMA 11th edition guides, Oxford's online chapter examples, and the NCI's biomarker entry. Start with those details. Your reader needs a reference that leads to the passage supporting your sentence.
Identify the entry and its credited author
Open the entry and look for a contributor name near its title or at the end. Copy the title and byline together. A medical reviewer has a different role from an author, even when the reviewer's name is easier to find. Keep the site's role labels in your notes and use the author it explicitly credits.
If there is no personal byline, look for the organization responsible for the content. National Cancer Institute is the institutional author used in this guide's dictionary example. When neither a person nor an authoring organization is identified, begin with the entry title; avoid inventing an author called Anonymous.
For a definition, record the exact headword and any numbered sense you used. A neighboring entry or a search-results summary may describe something different. Keep the source choice close to your claim. A dictionary can support a definition; a claim about a treatment's effectiveness needs evidence suited to that claim.
Separate entry authors from reference-work editors
A signed encyclopedia entry follows the structure of a separately authored contribution. The entry author comes first. The editor appears after In, followed by ed. or eds. and the encyclopedia title in italics. Keep the entry title in sentence case and the reference-work title in title case.
The UIC guide hosted by Austin Peay State University gives the medical example below. Sisk JE is the entry author; Krapp K edits the encyclopedia. The year and inclusive pages belong to that cited edition. The university guide supplies this example's bibliographic details.
Signed print encyclopedia entry template
Author AA. Entry title. In: Editor BB, ed. Encyclopedia Title. 2nd ed. Publisher; Year:first-last.
Use the edition and pages actually supplied by your copy. Omit the edition label for a first edition.
AMA encyclopedia citation example from the UIC guide
Sisk JE. Cardiac catheterization. In: Krapp K, ed. The Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing & Allied Health. Gale Group; 2002:407-412.
Checked against the university guide's citation record. Consult the encyclopedia entry yourself before using it as evidence in your paper.
Compare a fixed edition with an updated online entry
A digitized edition keeps its publication year and edition number. Oxford's online chapter examples retain those details and add an access date and chapter URL. If you read a scanned edition from 2002, use 2002 even when the hosting website looks newer.
For a continuously revised entry, collect any publication and update dates displayed for that entry. Keep them separate from the date you accessed it. A site-wide copyright year does not establish when the entry was revised. If no entry date appears, leave it out rather than supplying today's year.
The field map keeps the entry, container, and version separate. Fill each level from the source you consulted. An old entry's page range may lead to a different topic in a newer edition, so check the year and pages together.
| Level | What to collect | Check before copying |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | Headword or entry title; credited author or organization. | Identify the exact topic or definition used. |
| Container | Encyclopedia or dictionary title; named editors; publisher. | Keep editors separate from entry authors. |
| Fixed version | Edition; publication year; volume and entry pages if supplied. | Use details from the edition you read. |
| Changing version | Entry publication or revision date when displayed; access date. | Distinguish an update from your visit date. |
| Entry locator | DOI when supplied, otherwise a stable entry URL. | Open the specific entry without session tokens. |
Build an AMA dictionary entry citation without a personal byline
The NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms has a dedicated biomarker page. It shows the headword and definition without a personal author or entry-specific publication date. National Cancer Institute identifies the responsible organization. The reference below uses those visible details and the date the page was consulted.
The direct URL ends in /def/biomarker. Keep it rather than substituting the dictionary search page or cancer.gov homepage. The missing date needs no invented edition number. A print dictionary would instead need its own title-page details and a verified locator for the definition.
Unsigned online dictionary entry with an institutional author
National Cancer Institute. Biomarker. NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms. Accessed October 5, 2026. https://www.cancer.gov/publications/dictionaries/cancer-terms/def/biomarker
Replace the access date with your own. No publication date, personal author, or print pagination has been inferred.
Record the exact entry you consulted
AMA Cite has no dedicated encyclopedia or dictionary form. Use Book Chapter for a signed print entry. Its separate author and editor fields can reproduce the Sisk example. An online reference work with book-specific details needs its electronic information added after export.
For the NCI entry, Website collects the organization, headword, dictionary name, URL, and access date. Leave Published or updated empty. The form creates a plain-text draft; check the dictionary title's italics and final URL punctuation in your finished document.
- Save the entry link or relevant pages with your source notes. Record a revision date only when the entry supplies one.
- Compare each contributor's role with the reference. Remove reviewer names accidentally entered as authors.
- Check that the edition, year, and page range describe one version. Add any required volume or electronic details manually.
- Open the final link and confirm it reaches the cited headword. Follow your course or journal's formatting requirements before submission.