Citation Styles
The library provides resources on the most commonly used citation styles in the health sciences. Refer to the following tabs for each style.
Do you need assistance with a style not listed? Many websites offer overviews of citation styles, such as Purdue Owl, a popular one.
Why cite?
- Give proper credit to your sources.
- Identify your sources - "Show your evidence"
- Guide readers to the same resources; give readers specific information to access the sources.
Fields of study and individual journals use specific citation styles. There are over 9,000 different styles!
Below are those most relevant to the health sciences.
- American Medical Association (AMA): medicine and science
- American Psychological Association (APA): behavioral and social sciences, including education, nursing, and psychology
- Scientific Style and Format (SSF / CSE Manual): microbial, plant, zoological, and medical sciences
When submitting a journal for publication, check author guidelines/instructions to see the journal's citation style.
When completing a writing assignment for a class, check with your instructor on their preferred citation style.
A note about online citation generators - they are not always reliable. These tools are helpful, but you must verify accuracy and adjust as needed.
Note about Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The student must confirm whether generative artificial intelligence (Gen-AI) has been explicitly allowed or required in their program and how they may use it. Using Gen-AI to complete your assignments without explicit authorization breaches academic integrity under ACHE's AI policy.
- Purdue OWLThe Online Writing Label at Purdue University offers writing resources and instructional material as a free service. This is a good resource to use when looking for research and citation formatting information, avoiding plagiarism, and more. Explore their suggested resource links on their website.
Examples:
To find the standard abbreviation of a journal title, click this link to the NLM Catalog and enter the journal name.
The AMA Manual of Style has released new guidelines on citing and referencing generative AI in research publications.
Section 5.2.1.1, Acknowledgment of Use of Artificial Intelligence and Language Models in Writing and Editing, outlines the new JAMA Network policy requiring authors to disclose any use of AI or similar tools in creating or editing their manuscripts.
Section 5.1.12, Use of Artificial Intelligence and Language Models, prohibits the use of artificial intelligence or similar technologies/tools as the authors.
Refer to the AMA Manual of Style, 11th ed. (2020) for more details.
If you use AI software to generate content that is included in an assignment, in text, you should explain that you have used a particular software tool to do so and provide a citation for the software:
Software Name. Version no. Publisher; Year. Accessed Date. URL
Example of Artificial Intelligence (AI) AMA Citation:
ChatGPT1 generated patient information sheets, which were checked for quality and corrected as necessary.
1. ChatGPT. Version Mar 14. OpenAI; 2023. Accessed March 28, 2023. https://openai.com/
Guideline: How to cite ChatGPT
Examples:
APA format: OpenAI. (Year). ChatGPT (Month Day version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com
APA reference entry: OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Feb 13 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com
APA in-text citation: (OpenAI, 2023)
Example 1 from APA Guideline
When prompted with “Is the left brain right brain divide real or a metaphor?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that although the two brain hemispheres are somewhat specialized, “the notation that people can be characterized as ‘left-brained’ or ‘right-brained’ is considered to be an oversimplification and a popular myth” (OpenAI, 2023).
Reference
OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat
Example 2 from APA Guideline
When given a follow-up prompt of “What is a more accurate representation?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that “different brain regions work together to support various cognitive processes” and “the functional specialization of different regions can change in response to experience and environmental factors” (OpenAI, 2023; see Appendix A for the full transcript).
Reference
OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat
