Law

The primary reasons for citing sources when presenting research are:

• to give credit to the authors whose work you have drawn upon, and  
• to allow readers to track down your sources, should they wish to do so. 

​There are many style guides for formatting citations and creating bibliographies. The major styles are:

• MLA Style, from the Modern Language Association;
• APA Style, from the American Psychological Association, and 
• Chicago Style, from the University of Chicago Press

These tools allow you to gather citations and PDFs in one place and then quickly create a reference list and/or bibliography. It is best to install these tools at the start of your research.

Reminder: Check your syllabus or ask your professor before using generative AI tools for a class or an assignment.

AI Tools Can be Helpful With:		Be More Cautious with AI Tools if You:
Writing Models		Need very recent information
Suggesting Synonyms		Do not have previous knowledge of a topic
Copy Editing		Are concerned about potential plagiarism or copyright violations
Brainstorming		Need to perform complex mathematics
Summarizing*		Are unsure if you're permitted to use AI tools in your research or writing
Translation		Are concerned about the electrical energy use in running these tools

*Be aware of the copyright restrictions of any content you upload to an AI tool.

For more information on using generative AI resources in your research, visit our Research Guide.