Artificial Intelligence (Generative) Resources

Ask your program about their guidelines for incorporating information generated by ChatGPT and other AI in your papers. When permissible to use that information directly, make sure to cite a generative AI tool whenever you paraphrase, quote, or incorporate any content (whether text, image, data, or other) that was created by it.

Use the information below to learn more about specific guidelines for each major citation style.

While the  American Psychological Association (APA) has not released official guidelines on citing generative AI quite yet, the recent post on the APA Style Blog provides guidance on citing ChatGPT adaptable to other AI tools. 

The general recommendation is for the Methodology and/or Introduction of your paper to specify the following:  

• The prompt you used when utilizing ChatGPT; and 
• The text that the chatbot produced in response. If the response from ChatGPT is lengthy, please include it in the form of an Appendix.

As for the in-text citation and the Bibliography/Reference/Works Cited item that will follow this description, follow the examples below: 

In-text example: 

(OpenAI, 2023)

Reference example: 

OpenAI (2023). ChatGPT (May 24 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

The Chicago Manual of Style provides guidance for citing ChatGPT and generative AI tools within its newly issued 18th edition, Section 14.112. To ethically incorporate the information product generated by ChatGPT or other AI, the Manual’s recommendation is to cite “[a]ny specific content, whether quoted or paraphrased,...where it occurs, either in the text or in a note. Like personal communications (see 14.111) and social media posts (see 14.106), chatbot conversations are not usually included in a bibliography or reference list.” The specific information to include in the text or in the note when citing AI-generated content is as follows:

• The prompt used when utilizing ChatGPT or other AI; 

• The AI software used to create the content (e.g., ChatGPT) and the software’s publisher or developer (e.g., OpenAI);

• The date when the content was generated;

• The URL (if available) of a publicly archived copy of the conversation;

In-text example:
The following definition of a multi-site case study comparison method was generated on September 9, 2024, by ChatGPT-4o, using the prompt “Explain what is a multi-site case study comparison method using recent published examples.”

Note example:
1. Response to “Explain what is a multi-site case study comparison method using recent published examples," ChatGPT-4o, OpenAI, September 9, 2024, https://chat.openai.com/share/90b8137d-ff1c-4c0c-b123-2868623c4am4.

Please note that similar guidelines apply to citing an image created by/with the help of AI (see 3.38): 

In-text example:

Fig. 3 Image generated by ChatGPT-4o, September 12, 2024, from the prompt “Create an image of libraries in France.”

MLA now provides preliminary official guidance for citing information produced by generative AI. According to MLA, writers should:

• Cite a generative AI tool whenever they paraphrase, quote, or incorporate into their 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, their text, or another suitable location; 
• Take care to vet the secondary sources it cites.

Additionally, writers should not credit the AI as an author. The description of the content of the generated product should be treated as the title of the source, as if it were an article or chapter title. 

In-text example:

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 entry 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.