Keep the title, language, and version together
AMA Citations for Non-English Sources and Translated Titles
Compare a real Spanish title with its publisher-supplied English title, preserve source identity, and distinguish a translated title from a translated publication.
An AMA non-English citation needs to identify the work you actually read. An English title in a search result can help you find a Spanish paper, while the paper itself remains in Spanish. We compared a bilingual publisher record with its Crossref deposit and checked Briar Cliff University’s AMA guidance. Keep the English wording’s source beside the record of the version you read.
Identify the language and version you consulted
Open the source and establish what you have. A publisher page may contain an original-language title, an English title, and an English abstract above a non-English article. Record the language of the material you consulted before assembling the reference. An abstract can help you judge relevance, but detailed claims about a paper’s methods require reading the relevant text.
NLM explains that square brackets around a PubMed title indicate a foreign-language article and that the citation usually identifies its available language. That display is a retrieval aid. It does not establish that you have obtained a complete English translation. If you have read only an English abstract, keep that limitation clear when deciding what the source can support.
Verify original titles and supplied translations
The worked record is a 2022 Spanish article in Medicine, published in volume 13, issue 66, on pages 3876-3884. Its ScienceDirect record supplies both titles in the table below. Crossref records the Spanish title and the language code es. The matching DOI connects those fields to the same publication.
Copy the supplied English wording into a separate field in your notes and identify its source. Keep the original while you check which title your destination wants. The comparison below concerns the publication’s identity; it offers no clinical conclusions from the article.
| Field | Verified value | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Original title | Neumonía adquirida en la comunidad | Retain the Spanish wording, including its accent. |
| Publisher-supplied English title | Community-acquired pneumonia | English title supplied on the publisher page, not a translation created for this guide. |
| Article language | Spanish; es in the Crossref deposit | Keep this separate from the language of the title displayed in a search result. |
| Publication details | 2022;13(66):3876-3884 | Preserve the issue and page range when choosing a title form. |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.med.2022.10.011 | Use the identifier to compare records of this work. |
Choose the title treatment required by your destination
Briar Cliff’s AMA guide allows a non-English title to appear as originally published. It says that an English translation of a non-English title should be followed by an indication of the original language. It also permits both supplied titles to be given. Check the target journal or assignment before choosing among these treatments.
The next example shows only the title-and-language segment for an English-title treatment. It uses the English wording supplied with the Spanish article. Complete the reference with verified authors and the appropriate journal details; this segment alone is insufficient to identify the work.
Title-and-language segment using the supplied English title
Community-acquired pneumonia. Article in Spanish.
An illustrative segment following the university guide’s English-title and language-label pattern. Add the checked author, journal, publication details, and DOI to form a complete reference.
Preserve names, accents, and source identity
Compare imported names with the byline and the author information supplied by the journal. Keep compound surnames together where the author’s record establishes them. Names can contain more than one family-name component, so check how the author is identified before reducing the name to initials. If an import splits the name unexpectedly, return to the source record.
Preserve accents in original titles and names while you verify the record. The accent in the Spanish title above is part of the supplied text. Translating a title gives you no reason to translate an author’s name or invent an English journal name. Check any required journal abbreviation against a reliable journal record.
For a title written in a script your system cannot display, look for a romanized form in the publisher or bibliographic record and check your destination’s requirements. Keep a copy of the original script in your working notes. Romanization represents the wording in another script; a translation conveys its meaning in another language. Identify which operation has been performed.
Keep an author-created translation clearly attributed
If a publisher supplies no English title and your destination asks for one, record who translated it. A translation prepared by the manuscript’s author should remain distinguishable from wording supplied by the original publisher. Have someone competent in both the language and subject check terms that affect meaning. An automatic translation still needs that review.
Keep your translated wording beside the original during editing. This lets an editor check the source of the English title without searching through earlier drafts. Follow the destination’s instructions for presenting or explaining a translation you supplied. Do not describe your own wording as an official English title.
Cite a published translation as the version you used
A separately published English translation needs its own publication details. Open that version’s title page or article record and check its date and identifier. For a translated book, record the credited translator and the edition you read. Page numbers in one edition may not locate the same passage in another.
An AMA translated source citation should therefore be assembled from the consulted version. Preserve the relationship to the original where the destination requires it. Changing only the title while retaining another edition’s publisher or page numbers can create a reference that corresponds to neither version.
Review imported fields before finalizing the list
Before finalizing an AMA foreign language article citation, compare the imported title and language with the source. Check that the DOI belongs to that work. For an AMA translated title citation, trace the English wording to its supplier and keep the original-language record available for review.
Our generator can help assemble supported journal and book references, but it does not verify human translations or certify an English title as publisher-approved. Inspect the imported title before exporting. Keep the publisher’s original title in your notes even if the final reference uses its English title.