Citation & Documentation

AMA in-text citations are marked using superscript numbers, which are less intrusive than longer in-text citations, such as the parenthetical author name and page number citations that are used in MLA. With only a simple number next to the words where citations occur, readers are able to read straight through without interruption. If readers want to look up the source, they can look at the superscript number, then go to the corresponding reference page entry to see the full citation information. The citation will look like this.¹ Use number 1 for the first source that appears in your paper, 2 for the second one, and so on. If you use the same source later in the paper, cite it with the same number you assigned to it previously.

Put the superscript citation at the end of the clause. If you are including a superscript citation at the end of a period, comma, quotation marks, or parentheses, put the number after the punctuation, like this.² For semi-colons and colons, put the superscript number inside the punctuation. For example, "Studies show that this effect is consistent²: students almost always score higher on tests after a full night's sleep."

If you are citing more than one source in the same place, you can use more than one superscript number at a time, like this. ¹²³

There are two ribbon choices in the Office 365 version of Microsoft Word. You can toggle between ribbon layouts by clicking the downward facing arrow all the way to the right of the ribbon, as seen in the circled area in the photo below. Either ribbon allows you to create superscript numbers.

Simplified Ribbon

Type the number where you want the citation to appear. Use your mouse to highlight the number. Click on the ... button between the Clear Formatting icon and the Bullet button (as seen in the circled area below). Choose the x² superscript option.

Classic Ribbon

Highlight the number you want to change. Click the x² button that is located under the Font Size button (as shown in the circled area below).