AMA Image Citation Generator
The AMA Image Citation Generator builds a numbered American Medical Association reference for figures, charts, and standalone images from creator, title or description, source publication or site, date, and URL.
Use the caption-credit variant when you reproduce a figure inside your paper so the legend and the reference list entry name the same creator and source without inventing journal volume fields the image never had.
Paste the image details below, confirm the live preview, then copy the reference and the short credit line for the figure legend.
Creator · description · source · URL
AMA image / figure citation
For a figure reproduced in your paper, keep a caption credit that matches this reference.
Live preview
Fill the fields for this source type to preview the AMA reference.
What is an AMA image or figure citation?
An AMA image citation is a numbered reference that credits a figure, photograph, chart, or other visual you discuss or reproduce under American Medical Association style.
When the image appears inside a journal article, AMA usually points readers to that article’s reference and notes the figure number in the text. When the image stands alone on a website, agency page, or stock library, the reference lists the creator or organization, a descriptive title, the site or publication name, dates, and the URL so a reader can open the same file.
A worked web-image specimen looks like this, which matches the generator when the same fields are entered:
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Anatomy of the heart. CDC.gov. Updated September 8, 2024. Accessed July 10, 2026. https://www.cdc.gov/heart/images/anatomy.png
- Author block — surname + initials, no periods between initials
- Article title — sentence case
- Journal — NLM abbreviation, italicized
- Year;volume(issue):pages + DOI
How to use the AMA image citation generator
To cite an image in AMA style, complete these four steps on this page’s form:
- 1
Identify the creator.
Enter the photographer, illustrator, or organization that owns the image. Agency pages often list a corporate author when no individual name appears.
- 2
Add a title or short description.
Use the published image title when one exists. If the file is untitled, write a brief neutral description in sentence case — enough for a reader to recognize the visual.
- 3
Record the source, dates, and URL.
Fill the site or publication name, the published or updated date when shown, today’s access date, and the direct image or page URL.
- 4
Choose reference-only or caption credit, then copy.
Pick a list entry alone or a list entry plus a short figure-legend credit. Confirm the preview, then copy both lines into the manuscript.
- 1Identify the creator.
- 2Add a title or short description.
- 3Record the source, dates, and URL.
- 4Choose reference-only or caption credit, then copy.
Features of this image citation tool
Six features exist for figures and standalone images — not a generic website form with the word “image” swapped in.
Image-scoped fields
The form asks for creator, title or description, source site or publication, dates, and URL — without volume and issue fields that belong to the parent article when you should cite that article instead.
Caption-credit variant
A toggle returns a short “Reproduced from…” style credit for the figure legend alongside the numbered reference so the legend and the list stay aligned.
Untitled-image description field
When no formal title exists, the description field accepts a plain sentence-case label instead of forcing a fake italic title.
Organization creator support
Corporate authors such as CDC or WHO sit in the creator slot without requiring a personal name the page never published.
Access date for web images
Online visuals change; the preview keeps Updated and Accessed lines in AMA web order whenever a URL is present.
Copy reference and credit together
One action copies the numbered list entry and, when selected, the legend credit, with a Copied confirmation on the button.
Why use an AMA image citation generator?
There are four practical reasons to format images on a dedicated form instead of borrowing a journal template.
Figures need different fields than articles
Students often paste a journal DOI for a chart they found on a government site. The wrong template invents volume data and fails retrieval. This tool asks only for what a standalone image carries.
Caption credits and list entries must match
A legend that names one creator while the reference list names another looks like plagiarism risk to a grader. The caption-credit variant keeps both strings generated from the same fields.
Untitled files still need a clear label
Clinical blogs and teaching sites often ship PNGs without titles. A short description field produces a usable AMA entry instead of an empty title slot.
Permission is separate from citation
Citing an image does not replace copyright permission when you reproduce a figure in a published paper. The generator handles the credit line; rights clearance stays a journal or institutional step outside the form.
Broken by hand
Okonkwo, A.D. et al. (2024). Topical Treatment Adherence… JAMA Dermatology, 160(3), 288-296.
AMA 11th edition
Okonkwo AD, Reyes M, Feldman SR. Topical treatment adherence in chronic plaque psoriasis. JAMA Dermatol. 2024;160(3):288-296. doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2024.0187
Who can benefit from the AMA image citation generator?
Four groups place figures in AMA papers often enough to need an image-scoped tool.
- Medical students writing case reports
- Nursing and public-health poster authors
- Residents preparing teaching slides
- Journal authors checking figure legends
Medical students writing case reports
When a public anatomy diagram supports a physical-exam description, this form builds the reference and a legend credit without inventing journal pagination.
Nursing and public-health poster authors
Conference posters that reuse an agency chart need a numbered AMA entry and a readable credit under the figure for judges who check sources.
Residents preparing teaching slides
House staff who pull a guideline figure into a handout can credit the agency page correctly before sharing the deck with a team.
Journal authors checking figure legends
Before submission, authors can regenerate legend credits from the same metadata that feeds the reference list to catch mismatched creators.
Why this image citation generator fits the job better
Many general tools treat every visual as a website or ask for ISBN-like fields. This page separates standalone images from article figures and ships a caption-credit line with the list entry.
We do not invent download totals. The product difference is honesty about scope: if the figure lives inside a citable journal article, cite that article on the journal page and mention the figure number in the text. Use this image tool when the visual itself is the retrievable source.
Permission letters, Creative Commons checks, and publisher reuse forms stay outside the generator — the page formats credit, not legal clearance.
| Focus | This tool | General tools |
|---|---|---|
| Field set | Creator, description, source URL | Journal or website catch-all |
| Legend help | Caption-credit variant | List entry only |
| Untitled files | Description field allowed | Empty or forced fake title |
What writers say about the image citation tool
Seed testimonials from people who credit figures in AMA work. Stars are visual only — not review schema.
★★★★★5/5
“Legend and reference finally matched”
I kept typing different agency names in the caption and the list. Generating both from one form fixed the inconsistency my preceptor flagged twice.
Maya L. — PA student, Portland
★★★★★5/5
“Untitled CDC chart no longer stumped me”
The description field let me label the chart plainly, add the CDC URL, and move on without inventing a journal name the page never had.
Chris N. — MPH candidate, Atlanta
★★★★☆4/5
“Good reminder to cite the parent article when one exists”
I use this for web figures and send students to the journal tool when the image is Figure 2 inside a PubMed paper. One star off until batch credits land, but the single-image flow is clean.
Hana S. — health sciences librarian, Vancouver
Frequently asked questions
How do I cite an image in AMA style with this generator?
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To cite an image in AMA style, enter the creator or organization, a title or short description, the site or publication name, published or updated date if shown, access date, and URL. Confirm the live preview, then copy the numbered reference into the list. If you reproduce the figure in your paper, enable the caption-credit variant and paste that shorter line under the figure so the legend names the same source as the reference list.
Should I cite the image or the journal article that contains the figure?
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Cite the journal article when the figure appears inside a citable paper and you can retrieve that paper. AMA readers expect the article reference, with the figure number mentioned in the text or legend. Cite the standalone image when you used a file hosted on its own page — for example a public health agency PNG or a museum photograph — with no parent article. Choosing the wrong level makes retrieval harder and often invents volume data the image host never published.
What if the image has no title?
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Write a brief neutral description in sentence case in the description field, such as “Cross-section of the mitral valve” or “County vaccination coverage map.” Avoid witty or interpretive labels that a reader would not recognize on the source page. Pair the description with the creator, site name, dates, and URL so the entry still points to a specific file. The generator treats that description as the title element in the AMA reference string.
Does citing an image give me permission to reprint it?
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No. A correct AMA citation credits the source; it does not grant copyright permission to reproduce the figure in a thesis, journal, or commercial handout. Many agency images allow reuse under stated terms, while journal figures often require publisher permission or a rights link. Check the source’s license or permissions page separately, keep written clearance when a journal asks for it, and still include the formatted credit from this tool in the legend and reference list.
How should the figure legend credit look in AMA papers?
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Keep the legend short: identify what the reader sees, then credit the source with a phrase such as “Reproduced from” followed by the creator and a pointer to the reference number. The caption-credit variant on this page builds that shorter string from the same metadata as the full reference so names and dates do not drift. Place the full numbered entry in the reference list, not inside the legend, unless your course handout explicitly asks for a self-contained caption.
Is the AMA Image Citation Generator free?
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Yes. The AMA Image Citation Generator runs in the browser without an account or payment step. Fill the image fields, confirm the preview, and copy the reference and optional legend credit at no cost. For a long mixed list that also includes articles and books, build those entries on their source-type pages or on the reference list workspace, then keep image credits consistent with the same AMA edition your course names.
Related tools
Format your next AMA image reference
Add creator, title or description, source, and URL, then copy the list entry and legend credit.
Back to the image citation tool