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How to Cite Your Sources

All things citations!

Referencing AI-generated Content

Standards for how to cite or describe AI-generated media are still evolving. In general, best practice is to be as transparent as you can about what was generated, and how. Always follow the policies and guidance of the specific class you are in; policies may vary by professor and by class. Ask if you're not sure.

Other resources:

APA

APA citation guidelines: How to cite ChatGPT

APA guidelines for AI use in scholarly materials

 

Examples:

APA reference entry: OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (May 13 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com

APA in-text citation: (OpenAI, 2024)

General APA format:  Author. (Date).Title (Month Day version) [Additional Descriptions ]. Source

 

Elements:

Author: The creator of the model. 

Date: The year of the version of the model, not the year you prompted the model. 

Title: The name of the model.The version number (date of release) is included after the title in parentheses. 

Bracketed text: References for additional descriptions, indicating this is a large 

Source: When the publisher and author names are identical, omit the publisher name in the source element of the reference and proceed directly to the URL.

 

*Adapted from Purdue Owl. (2023). How to Cite AI-Generated Content. https://guides.lib.purdue.edu/c.php?g=1371380&p=10135074

MLA

MLA Guidelines for citing generative AI

 

Examples:

MLA general format: “Text of prompt” prompt. ChatGPT, Day Month version, OpenAI, Day Month Year, chat.openai.com.

MLA Works Cited entry: “Explain heuristics” prompt. ChatGPT, 13 May version, OpenAI, 16 Dec. 2024, chatgpt.com.

MLA in-text citation: ("Explain heuristics")

 

Elements:

Author: MLA does not recommend using AI tool as an author.

Title: Describe what the AI tool generated. This may include the prompt or a portion of the prompt.

Title of Container: This is where you add the name of the tool.

Version: If available, add information about the date of the version of tool you are using.

Publisher: Company or group responsible for the tool. 

Date: Date on which you prompted the tool.

URL: Include either URL of tool or, where possible, unique URL for a conversation.

 

Chicago

Chicago 18 rule: Citing AI-generated content (14.112)

Chicago 18 rule: Crediting adapted material (3.38)

More Guidelines (Chicago 17): Q&A on Citing ChatGPT 

 

Chicago requires you to credit generative AI tools in your work; however, this acknowledgment can be done in the text or in a note. Include the date the content was generated in addition to a version number.

Cited in the text:  “The following recipe for pizza dough was generated on December 9, 2023, by ChatGPT-3.5.”

Cited in a note: 

  1. Text generated by ChatGPT-3.5, OpenAI, December 9, 2023, https://chat.openai.com/share/90b8137d-ff1c-4c0c-b123-2868623c4ae2.

If you have not included your original prompt in the text of your writing, it can be included in the footnote: 

  1. Response to “Explain how to make pizza dough from common household ingredients,” ChatGPT-3.5, Open AI, December 9, 2023, edited for style and accuracy.

Cited author-date style: 

  • "[A]ny information not in the text would be placed in a parenthetical text reference. For example, “(ChatGPT, March 7, 2023).”

Crediting AI-generated images in the image caption:

Fig. 3. Image generated by DALL·E 2, April 7, 2023, from the prompt “An ornate bookshelf with a portal into another dimension.”

Additional considerations: 

For the URL, you should include a stable link to your prompt if the tool allows for it. 

Like other primary sources, you don't need to include an entry in the bibliography, but you can:

Google. Response to “How many copyeditors does it take to fix a book-length manuscript?” Gemini 1.0, February 10, 2024. https://g.co/gemini/share/cccc26abdc19.