How to Cite AI Tools
With the increased use of AI tools within the research process, understanding when and how to cite AI is crucial. In general, you should cite AI tools and AI-generated outputs when you are quoting, paraphrasing, or incorporating their ideas within your own work.
While official guidelines are still being developed, interim guidance for the MLA, APA, and Chicago styles have been provided below.
MLA
MLA provides the following guidelines for citing AI tools and AI-generated outputs: "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 in a suitable location, and "take care to vet the secondary sources it cites" (https://style.mla.org/citing-generative-ai/).
When citing AI tools in MLA style, include the prompt used to generate the output, the name and version number of the tool, the company that designed the tool, and the date the content was generated.
For in-text citations, note the first few words of the prompt use to generate the AI text. MLA suggest to explicitly state if a paraphrase or quote is AI generated and to include the name of the tool.
In-Text Citation Example:
When asked to explain the steps for building a paper airplane, ChatGPT noted that lighter paper weight may optimize the performance, noting "Standard printer paper is good, but if you want your plane to fly longer distances, you might try using a lighter weight paper" ("Explain how to build...")
Works Cited Example:
“Explain how to build a paper airplane” prompt. ChatGPT, 3.5, OpenAI, 12 July. 2024, https://chatgpt.com/.
Futher information and examples can be found in the page below:
APA
APA suggests users cite AI tools akin to outputs from an algorithm.
In an in-text citation, cite the company that developed the tool along with the year that the version of the tool used was released.
In-Text Citation Example:
When asked "Explain the steps for building a paper airplane," text generated from ChatGPT states that that lighter paper weights may provide more optimal performance, noting "Standard printer paper is good, but if you want your plane to fly longer distances, you might try using a lighter weight paper" (OpenAI, 2024).
In the reference entry, follow this general format:
Author of the AI tool/model. (year released). Title of the AI tool/model [Tool description]. URL for the source
Reference Example:
OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (version 3.5) [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com/
Futher examples and information can be found in the page below:
Chicago Notes-Bibliography
In Chicago style, cite the tool used to generate the text, the company that published the tool, and the date that the text was generated.
If the prompt is not stated in the text, include the prompt within the footnote or endnote.
Footnote Example:
1. ChatGPT, response to “Explain how to build a paper airplane,” OpenAI, July 12, 2024.
In the bibliography, be sure to include a publicly available link to the original output. AI tools generally assign a unique URL that cannot be viewed by others, so you will need to use a browser extension such as A.I. Archives (https://aiarchives.org/) to obtain a publicly viewable URL.
Bibliography Example:
ChatGPT, response to “Explain how to build a paper airplane,” July 12, 2024, https://aiarchives.org/id/dViN8yJkNKQ5v634s2Yr.
Further examples and information can be found in the page below: