Skip to Main Content

Citation Style Guides

Citing AI

 

*Always check with your professor to see whether AI tools are allowed for an assignment*

*Always verify sources and information provided by AI tools*

  • AI is known to create false sources and information. 
  • AI mines other people's intellectual property without citing them, which is an ethical issue.

APA Guide to Citing AI

  • For research, describe how you used AI in your Methods section.
  • For literature reviews, essays, or response papers, describe how you used the tool in your introduction.
  • According to APA, citing Generative AI responses is most similar to citing an algorithm's output, so "credit the author of the algorithm with a reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citation."
    • Example: OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat
      • Parenthetical citation: (OpenAI, 2023)

      • Narrative citation: OpenAI (2023)


MLA Guide to Citing AI

  • MLA does not recommend crediting AI as an author in citations.
  • AI should be cited in the following instances:
    • When you paraphrase, quote, or incorporate any content (text, image, data, etc.) that was created by AI into your own work.
    • Acknowledge uses of the tool (like editing or translating words) in a note, your text, or another suitable location.
    • Always check the sources that AI cites
  • Example: “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.
    • In-text citation: ("Describe the symbolism")

Chicago Guide to Citing AI

  • For most types of writing, the Chicago Manual of Style recommends acknowledging use of AI tools in your text (for example, in a paragraph about your research methods).
  • Chicago citations do cite the specific AI tool used as an author and the company that created the AI tool as the publisher.
    • Footnote example: 1. Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, March 7, 2023, https://chat.openai.com/chat.
    • Footnote example including prompt: 1. ChatGPT, response to “Explain how to make pizza dough from common household ingredients,” OpenAI, March 7, 2023.