AMA Citation Style Guide

AMA Journal Abbreviations: NLM and PubMed Guide

AMA-style medical references commonly use abbreviated journal titles rather than the full journal name. The safest way to find the correct form is to check authoritative bibliographic sources such as PubMed and the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Catalog instead of inventing an abbreviation yourself.

For example, NLM’s Citing Medicine shows that The Journal of Biocommunication becomes J Biocommun. The abbreviation is not created by simply shortening every word however you prefer; it follows standardized title-abbreviation conventions.

If you are generating a journal reference from a DOI, PMID or PubMed URL, the AMA Citation Generator can retrieve available journal metadata. You should still verify the journal abbreviation before using the final reference.

By Muzammal Amin
Physics PhD researcher · Reviewed against AMA 11th edition

AMA journal abbreviations at a glance

Question Best practice
Should medical journal titles be abbreviated? They commonly are in AMA-style references
Where should I check the abbreviation? PubMed and the NLM Catalog are strong sources
Can I invent the abbreviation? No; use a recognized form where available
Are articles such as “the” usually retained? Often omitted under NLM abbreviation rules
Are conjunctions and prepositions usually retained? Often omitted
Do single-word journal titles always get shortened? No; NLM guidance says single-word titles are not abbreviated
Can PubMed metadata help? Yes, PubMed records commonly provide journal-title information

Why are journal names abbreviated in AMA references?

Medical and scientific publishing has a long tradition of using standardized abbreviated journal titles in reference lists. The format keeps references compact while still giving readers enough information to identify the publication.

Current JAMA author instructions explicitly tell authors to abbreviate journal names according to the journals list in PubMed. Those instructions also require references to follow AMA style.

This means that a journal title in a medical reference should not be treated like ordinary prose. If an established bibliographic abbreviation exists, use the established form rather than creating your own shortened version.

For complete journal-reference structure, including authors, year, volume, issue, pages and DOI, see the AMA journal citation guide.

What are NLM journal abbreviations?

The National Library of Medicine maintains bibliographic data for journals represented in PubMed and other NCBI databases. The NLM Catalog includes journal records with title and abbreviation information and lets users search by journal title, abbreviation or ISSN.

NLM’s Citing Medicine also provides explicit rules for abbreviating journal titles. Its guidance says to abbreviate and capitalize significant words and omit many articles, conjunctions and prepositions.

For example:

Full journal title Abbreviated form shown by NLM
The Journal of Biocommunication J Biocommun
La Pediatria Medica e Chirurgica Pediatr Med Chir
L’Orthodontie Francaise Orthod Fr

These examples show why guessing is risky. Several words may disappear, while the remaining title words are shortened according to established conventions.

How does PubMed help you find a journal abbreviation?

PubMed article records include journal information and can be used to identify the journal associated with a biomedical citation. PubMed also links journal names to searches and NLM Catalog records.

When you have a PMID or PubMed article URL, you can use that record to confirm:

  • the journal associated with the article;
  • the publication year;
  • volume and issue information;
  • pagination or article locator;
  • DOI where available; and
  • journal-title information useful for reference formatting.

This is one reason PubMed support is important for a medical-first citation generator. A general webpage parser may see only the visible page title, while a PubMed-aware workflow can retrieve structured article metadata.

See how PMID and PubMed URLs are used for AMA citations.

How do you search the NLM Catalog for a journal?

The NLM Catalog contains journal records for publications represented in PubMed and other NCBI databases. Its “Journals referenced in the NCBI Databases” interface allows searching by:

  • journal title;
  • journal abbreviation;
  • topic; or
  • ISSN.

A practical verification workflow is:

  1. Copy the full journal title from the article or publisher page.
  2. Search the title in the NLM Catalog.
  3. Open the matching journal record.
  4. Confirm that the ISSN, publisher and journal history match your source if there is any ambiguity.
  5. Use the journal abbreviation shown in the authoritative record.

Search journals in the NLM Catalog.

What are the main NLM journal-abbreviation rules?

NLM’s Citing Medicine provides a practical rule set for journal titles. The most important principles include the following.

Abbreviate significant words

Important title words are shortened using recognized title-word abbreviations.

Omit many articles, conjunctions and prepositions

Words such as “the,” “of,” “and,” “at” and “in” are commonly omitted from abbreviated journal titles.

Do not abbreviate a single-word title

NLM guidance says that a journal title consisting of a single word is not abbreviated. For example:

Virology remains Virology.

Do not include the subtitle in the abbreviated journal title

NLM examples show that a subtitle describing a society, scope or expanded publication name can be omitted from the bibliographic abbreviation.

For example, NLM gives:

JAMA: the Journal of the American Medical Association → JAMA

Journal-title punctuation may be removed

NLM guidance also shows punctuation within journal titles being omitted during abbreviation.

For example:

Journal of Neuro-Oncology → J Neurooncol

Where do individual title-word abbreviations come from?

NLM’s Citing Medicine includes an appendix of common English title-word abbreviations and points to the List of Title Word Abbreviations (LTWA) maintained by the ISSN International Centre for a broader multilingual resource.

NLM describes ISO 4 as the recognized authority for the abbreviation of title words and publication titles. The LTWA is associated with that standard.

In practical AMA work, however, you usually do not need to construct an abbreviation word by word if an authoritative journal record already provides the established title form. Checking PubMed or the NLM Catalog is generally safer.

Full journal name vs abbreviated journal name

Consider the difference between the publication’s branding and the compact form used in a reference list.

Use Example
Full title The Journal of Biocommunication
Bibliographic abbreviation J Biocommun

The full title is useful when identifying the publication. The abbreviated title is the compact bibliographic form commonly used in AMA-style journal references.

Is a journal abbreviation the same as a journal acronym?

Not necessarily. Some journals are widely known by acronyms, while others have bibliographic abbreviations made from shortened title words.

For example, a journal may have:

  • a formal full title;
  • a commonly marketed acronym;
  • an NLM title abbreviation; and
  • an ISO abbreviation.

These can sometimes match, but they should not be assumed to be interchangeable. Use the form required by the style and verified bibliographic source.

Do AMA journal abbreviations use periods after abbreviated words?

Do not automatically add periods after every shortened title word. NLM journal abbreviations are commonly displayed without periods between the abbreviated title words.

For example:

J Biocommun

rather than a version created by manually inserting punctuation into every abbreviation.

The safest approach is to copy the authoritative title abbreviation rather than attempting to restyle it from memory.

What if a journal changed its name?

Journal titles can change over time. A publication may be renamed, merged, split or continued under another title. The abbreviation you need should correspond to the journal title associated with the article you are citing.

The NLM Catalog is useful here because journal records can include publication history, related titles and indexing information.

Do not automatically use the current title of a journal for an older article if the article was published under a different title.

What if two journals have similar names?

Similar journal names are another reason not to rely on a quick web search alone. When several titles look alike, verify the journal using additional bibliographic information such as:

  • ISSN;
  • publisher;
  • country;
  • publication dates;
  • subject area;
  • journal history; and
  • the PubMed record for the article itself.

If the article has a PMID, DOI or ISSN, those identifiers can help distinguish the correct publication.

What if a journal is not in the NLM Catalog?

Not every scholarly journal is represented in PubMed or MEDLINE. If the journal is not available in NLM resources, do not invent a pseudo-NLM abbreviation.

NLM’s Citing Medicine lists additional sources for journal-title abbreviations and notes ISO 4/LTWA as an important authority for title-word abbreviations. Depending on your publication requirements, you may also need to check the journal’s official preferred abbreviation or another recognized discipline-specific source.

If no reliable abbreviation can be confirmed, follow the current AMA guidance and the instructions of the journal or institution receiving your work.

Does a journal have to be indexed in MEDLINE to appear in PubMed?

No. The NLM Catalog distinguishes journals currently indexed in MEDLINE from other journals represented in NCBI databases. Some PubMed citations may come from sources that are not currently indexed for MEDLINE.

This means that “appears in PubMed” and “currently indexed in MEDLINE” are not identical statements. If indexing status matters for your research, check the actual NLM Catalog record rather than inferring it from a PubMed search result.

How the AMA Citation Generator handles journal abbreviations

When the AMA Citation Generator retrieves a journal article from PubMed, DOI metadata or another supported source, it normalizes the bibliographic fields needed for the citation.

For medical journal records, the tool can use the journal abbreviation available in retrieved metadata. The result should still remain editable because:

  • not every data provider supplies the same journal-title field;
  • a DOI record may provide the full journal title rather than the preferred medical abbreviation;
  • older journal titles may differ from current titles;
  • some journals are not represented in NLM resources; and
  • metadata errors are possible.

For our data retrieval and normalization workflow, see Methodology & Data Sources.

Generate an AMA citation

How to verify an AMA journal abbreviation

  1. Identify the exact article you are citing.
  2. Check whether it has a PMID.
  3. Open the PubMed record when available.
  4. Confirm the full journal title.
  5. Search the journal in the NLM Catalog if the abbreviation needs verification.
  6. Compare the ISSN or other journal details if several titles are similar.
  7. Use the established abbreviation rather than constructing your own.
  8. Return to the full reference and verify year, volume, issue, pages/article number and DOI.

Examples of journal-title abbreviation

The following examples come from NLM’s abbreviation guidance and demonstrate the logic of standardized title shortening:

Full journal title NLM example abbreviation
The Journal of Biocommunication J Biocommun
La Pediatria Medica e Chirurgica Pediatr Med Chir
L’Orthodontie Francaise Orthod Fr
Journal of Neuro-Oncology J Neurooncol
Virology Virology

The last example is important: a title does not have to become shorter merely because you are using an abbreviated-reference style. Single-word titles may remain unchanged.

Where does the journal abbreviation appear in an AMA reference?

The journal abbreviation appears after the article title.

Author AA, Author BB. Article title. Journal Abbrev. Year;Volume(Issue):Pages. doi:DOI.

For example:

Kingscott G. Technical translation and related disciplines. Perspectives. 2002;10(4):247-255. doi:10.1080/0907676x.2002.9961449.

In this example, the journal title is a single word and remains Perspectives.

See AMA journal citation examples and formatting rules.

Common mistakes with AMA journal abbreviations

Inventing an abbreviation from the journal name

Use PubMed, the NLM Catalog or another recognized source instead of guessing.

Using the journal’s marketing acronym automatically

A commonly promoted acronym may not be the bibliographic title abbreviation required in a reference.

Keeping articles and conjunctions that the standard form omits

NLM abbreviation rules commonly remove words such as “the,” “of” and “and.”

Adding punctuation that is not part of the established abbreviation

Copy the authoritative abbreviation instead of manually inserting periods and punctuation.

Using the current journal title for an older article

Check the title associated with the publication date of the article.

Assuming every PubMed journal is MEDLINE-indexed

PubMed coverage and MEDLINE indexing are related but not identical. Check NLM Catalog indexing status when that distinction matters.

Assuming every DOI record contains an AMA-ready journal abbreviation

DOI metadata may provide a full container title rather than the medical bibliographic abbreviation.

Skipping final reference verification

The journal abbreviation is only one part of the citation. Authors, title, year, volume, issue, pages/article number and DOI should also be checked.

Are journal abbreviations part of AMA 11th edition?

Yes. Journal-title treatment is part of the reference system used in current AMA-style medical publishing. The AMA Manual of Style is currently in its 11th edition, and current JAMA author instructions explicitly direct authors to abbreviate journal names according to the journals list in PubMed.

The online AMA Manual can receive updates between print editions, so specialized cases should be checked against the current official guidance.

See AMA 11th edition explained.

Frequently asked questions about AMA journal abbreviations

Does AMA abbreviate journal names?

AMA-style medical references commonly use abbreviated journal names. Current JAMA author instructions direct authors to use journal-name abbreviations according to PubMed’s journals list.

Where can I find the correct journal abbreviation?

Check PubMed and the NLM Catalog first for medical and biomedical journals. The NLM Catalog lets you search by full title, abbreviation or ISSN.

What is an NLM title abbreviation?

It is the standardized abbreviated title associated with a journal record in National Library of Medicine bibliographic data.

Can I abbreviate a journal title myself?

Avoid inventing abbreviations when an authoritative form exists. Use PubMed, NLM Catalog or another recognized source.

Do single-word journal titles get abbreviated?

NLM guidance says not to abbreviate journal titles consisting of a single word. For example, Virology remains Virology.

Do journal abbreviations use periods?

NLM title abbreviations are commonly displayed without periods after each shortened word. Use the authoritative form rather than adding punctuation yourself.

Is PubMed the same as MEDLINE?

No. PubMed includes MEDLINE citations but also contains additional records. A journal can appear in PubMed without being currently indexed for MEDLINE.

What if the journal is not in PubMed?

Check other recognized abbreviation sources such as ISO 4/LTWA, the journal’s official bibliographic information or discipline-specific authorities, and follow the requirements of the publication receiving your work.

Does DOI metadata always give the correct AMA abbreviation?

No. DOI metadata may return the full journal title or another container-title form. Verify the journal abbreviation separately when necessary.

Can the AMA Citation Generator find journal abbreviations?

For supported medical records, the generator can use journal-title information available in retrieved metadata, especially PubMed data. Because metadata can vary, the field should still be reviewed.

Muzammal Amin

About the author

Muzammal Amin is a physicist and PhD researcher at the University of Turin. He leads the research, technical review and editorial development of AMAReferenceGenerator.com.

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