Guides: Physical Therapy: Citing Your Sources

What are citations?

A citation is a reference to an item that gives enough information in order for you to identify it and to be able to find it again.

Generally, citations include four elements:

Author
Title
Source
Date

The source information is the clue to figuring out what kind of resource the citation points to:

For a book, the source information will be a place of publication and a publisher.
For an article, the source information will be the journal title, the volume and issue numbers and the page numbers.
For a website, the source information will be the URL (which normally begins http://).

Other types of publications (audio/visual materials, government documents, dissertations, etc.) will generally include the basic four elements, but will also include enough information in order for the person reading the citation to identify both the type of information source, as well as how to find the information again.

"Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source (not always the original source).

A prime purpose of a citation is intellectual honesty: to attribute prior or unoriginal work and ideas to the correct sources, and to allow the reader to determine independently whether the referenced material supports the author's argument in the claimed way."

-- Citation. (n.d.). Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Retrieved August 16, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citation

AMA Manual of Style

The Department of Physical Therapy requires students to follow the AMA Manual of Style while preparing research papers for submission. The Baylor University Library provides access to the online version using the link below.

AMA Manual of Style, 11th ed.
Available to Baylor affiliates using their BearID credentials.

more... less...

The AMA Manual of Style, 11th edition, is a must-have guide for those seeking to publish research findings and anyone involved in medical, health, or scientific writing and publishing. The manual offers guidance on nuts-and-bolts topics including punctuation, capitalization, and grammar. It also provides recommendations on how to navigate the dilemmas that authors, researchers and their institutions, medical editors and publishers, writers, and members of the news media who cover scientific research confront on a daily basis. Written by an expert committee of JAMA Network editors, this 11th edition thoroughly covers ethical and legal issues, authorship, conflicts of interest, scientific misconduct, and intellectual property, in addition to preparation of articles for publication, style, terminology, measurement, and quantification.
AMA Style Insider
Official AMA blog that shares occasional updates related to the Manual of Style.

General Guidance for Citing AI Tools

According to the AMA Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and Editors, 11th ed. (linked above):

"Nonhuman artificial intelligence, language models, machine learning, or similar technologies cannot be listed as authors because these technologies do not qualify for authorship. If these models or tools are used to create content or assist with writing or manuscript preparation, authors must take responsibility for the integrity of the content generated by these tools. Authors should report the use of artificial intelligence, language models, machine learning, or similar technologies to create content or assist with writing or editing of manuscripts in the Acknowledgment section or Methods section if this is part of formal research design or methods." (from section 5.1.12 Use of Artificial Intelligence and Language Models)

Additionally, in section 3.15.13 Use of LLMs and Chatbots (Content Generated by AI Tools):

Descriptions of authors’ use of large language models (LLMs) and chatbots, forms of artificial intelligence (AI), should appear in running text and not be included in the formal reference list. This is similar to the policy on reporting the use of statistical software. Use of AI tools should be identified to promote transparency, reproducibility, and accountability.

When AI tools are used in a study, authors should specify exactly how a tool was used, name the tool (including version and manufacturer), specify the date(s) and prompt(s) used, and provide any details that may assist with reproducibility.

E.g.: "Between August 1 and 5, 2024, using 25 search-related queries, 100 individual outputs were generated with and without prompting in the free chatbot (ChatGPT version 3.5, Open AI) and paywalled chatbot (ChatGPT version 4.0, OpenAI)."

When AI tools are used to assist with the creation or editing of content, authors should describe how and when the tool was used, name the tool (including version and manufacturer), and confirm that the authors take full responsibility for the integrity of the content generated.

E.g.: "Additional Contributions: The authors acknowledge using ChatGPT (GPT-3.5, OpenAI) on September 15, 2023, for text editing to improve the fluency of the English language in the preparation of this article. The authors affirm that the original intent and meaning of the content remained unaltered during editing, and that ChatGPT had no involvement in shaping the intellectual content of this work. The authors assume full responsibility for upholding the integrity of the content presented in this study."

What do I do if I am doing an assignment for my course that doesn't have the acknowledgements or methodology sections?

Unfortunately, the AMA Manual does not provide specific guidance for this contextual situation. In such cases, you should consult with your instructor for how they prefer to handle it. In general, however, a common convention used is to cite the AI tool using AMA's syntax for software:

Software Name. Version no. Publisher, Year. Accessed Date. URL

E.g. 1. ChatGPT. Version 4.5. OpenAI. Accessed September 24, 2025. https://chatgpt.com