AMA

There are four major parts to any AMA paper:

• Title Page
• Abstract
• Text (introduction, methods description, research results, and discussion)
• References

There is no required number of headings, not style.

The headings are meant to divide the text into primary and secondary parts, therefore there should be a minimum of two.

Select one type of style for the heading and used it throughout the paper.

Ex.: First heading, Bold Centered

Second heading, Bold Flush Left

In general, papers follow the IMRAD pattern:

Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

The abstract summarizes  four main points:

1. The study objective/background
2. The study design and method
3. The primary results should be presented in a quantitative fashion
4. The conclusion

Structured Abstract

• Use it to report data, systematic review, and clinical reviews
• Predetermined headings must be used (pg. 31-35 of the manual)
• Usually limited to 250 words

Unstructured Abstract

• Use it for any other type of research
• Usually limited to 150 words

Keywords

• Are placed at the end of the abstract
• 3-10 terms that represent the key concepts

• In a new page, type References and left-justify
• The sources cited in your text must appear in the References list with corresponding numbers
• Put a period after each reference
• Do not indent the second line of the citation
• Single space each reference
• Use italics in scientific names of organisms