Skip to Main Content
All Hours

AI @ AU

Guides

Citing AI Generated Writing

APA

  • https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt
  • Credit the AI tool as an author.
  • "Because "the results of a ChatGPT “chat” are not retrievable by other readers, and although non-retrievable data or quotations in APA Style papers are usually cited as personal communications, with ChatGPT-generated text there is no person communicating.
  • Quoting ChatGPT’s text from a chat session is, therefore, more like sharing an algorithm’s output; thus, credit the author of the algorithm with a reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citation"  Quoted from the guide above.
  • Per guidelines above a chat with ChatGPT should not be cited as PERSONAL COMMUNICATION either.

 

EXAMPLE:

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

Guidelines:

  • FOR RESEARCH METHODS: "Describe how you used the tool in your Method section."
  • FOR LITERATURE REVIEWS or ESSAYS: "Describe how you used the tool in your introduction. In your text, provide the prompt you used and then any portion of the relevant text that was generated in response."
  • FOR REFERENCE: "Credit the author of the algorithm with a reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citation"

 


MLA

"We do not recommend treating the AI tool as an author. This recommendation follows the policies developed by various publishers, including the MLA’s journal PMLA."  Quoted from the guide above. Some examples included in the guide are:

  • Example 1: Paraphrasing Text
  • Example 2: Quoting Text
  • Example 3: Citing Creative Visual Works
  • Example 4: Quoting Creative Textual Works
  • Example 5: Citing Secondary Sources Used by an AI Tool

 

EXAMPLE:

Paraphrased in Your Prose

    While the green light in The Great Gatsby might be said to chiefly symbolize four main things: optimism, the unattainability of the American dream, greed, and covetousness (“Describe the symbolism”), arguably the most important—the one that ties all four themes together—is greed.

Works-Cited-List Entry

    “Describe the symbolism of the green light in the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald” prompt. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.

Guidelines:

  • Cite a generative AI tool whenever you paraphrase, quote, or incorporate into your own work any content (whether text, image, data, or other) that was created by it.
  • Acknowledge all functional uses of the tool (like editing your prose or translating words) in a note, your text, or another suitable location, take care to vet the secondary sources it cites.

Creative Commons License

This information is adapted from a LibGuide created by Daniel Xiao, Research Impact Librarian at Texas A&M University LibrariesThis LibGuide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If you would like to reuse any part of this LibGuide for noncommercial purposes, please credit the guide's creators or the original content creator as noted, and include a link to the source. 

Ethical Considerations

  • Always check with your instructor when using AI for coursework. 

 

  • If you have the OK to use AI, cite the AI output. 

 

  • Check the latest style guide updates-- AI changes and the guides are also changing. Ask a librarian for help.

 

  • AI can make up sources. Don't use the sources in your academic work without confirming their validity. Ask a librarian for assistance.

 

  • Remember why you cite. Citation gives credit but it also allows people who are reading your work to trace your work back and locate the sources you used.  

And What about Citations from ChatGPT?