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How To: Cite Your Sources

HOW TO | CITE YOUR SOURCES

Difficulties of Citing AI

The field of Artificial Intelligence is constantly changing, often making the ability to cite AI difficult. While the major citation styles have written information about how to cite AI it has not been officially published by many citation styles. For the three primary styles we use at HWS (APA, MLA, and Chicago) only the Chicago Manual of Style has published it in their most recent edition (2024). Of the many different types of Artificial Intelligence that exist the primary focus for most citation styles is generative AI, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, or Copilot.

It is important to understand how the Artificial Intelligence you are using functions in order to use it accurately. AI resources that generate material have the ability to hallucinate, creating false or misleading information in their generated material, so it is important to always check the sources that generative AI has pulled their information from. You also need to ensure that you are using your own metacognition, or awareness of your own thought process, when using AI rather than letting the tool think for you. This is one of the easiest ways to plagiarize a paper. When citing AI you can only cite one interaction at a time, including any prompts for follow-ups in a discussion with an AI model.

Artificial Intelligence and Academic Integrity

When using Artificial Intelligence (AI) we must insure that we are using academic honesty and integrity in the work that we present.

The most common form of academic dishonesty is plagiarism. Do not use AI to compose assignments and pass them off as your own. When using quotations, images, media, etc. from an AI generator, use appropriate citations to give credit to the AI. 

Always make sure that your professor allows you to use AI during their course. If your professor gives specific limitations on how AI can be used in their course, make sure that you clearly understand the parameters they give you. If a professor asks you not to use Artificial Intelligence in their course, do not use it for any part of your course work.

APA

This version of APA specifically focuses on using ChatGPT and generative AI, however, due to the outlined material other forms of AI can be documented the same way. 

Reference Elements:

  • Author: Creator of the AI model.
  • Date: Year of the version used. 
  • Title: Name of the AI model italicized, followed by the version of the model in parenthesis. Additional descriptors to explain the model may be listed after in brackets. 
  • Version- version of the AI model. The date of version release may be used. 
  • Source: Where the information was derived from. If the source name is the same as the author name do not repeat it. Include the URL of the AI model. 

Reference:

Author. (Date). Title (version) [Additional Descriptions]. Source

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (4o mini) [Small language model]. https://chat.openai.com

Ai2. (2024). Semantic Scholar (October 16 Version). https://www.semanticscholar.org/

 

In-Text Citation:

(Author, Date)

(Open AI, 2023)

(Ai2, 2024)

 

McAdoo, T. (2024, February 23). How to cite ChatGPT. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt 

MLA

Reference Elements:

  • Title: Description of what the AI model generated, such as the prompt or follow-up prompt.
  • Title of Container: AI model
  • Version: version of the AI model. The date of version release may be used.
  • Publisher: Creator of the AI model.
  • Date: Date the content was generated.
  • Location: URL for the tool. If you can provide a permalink to the conversation it is preferred. 

Reference:

Title. Title of Container, Version, Publisher, Date. Location.

"Write a 200 word summary of Frankenstein" prompt. ChatGPT, version 4, Open AI, 22 Oct. 2024,  https://chatgpt.com/share/6717c5f2-8698-8006-b7d7-98aaf0be2c95.

 

In-Text Citation:

(Title)

("Write a 200")

 

Image:

Figure Number. Title, Title of Container, version, Publisher, Date, Source.

Fig.1. "A rubber duck sitting on top of a stack of books" prompt, Craiyon, version 4, Boris Dayma, 23 Oct. 2024, https://www.craiyon.com/image/Swho4ufARvqkAr54VtnS4A.

 

How do I cite generative AI in MLA style?. MLA Style Center, 17 March 2023, https://style.mla.org/citing-generative-ai/.

Chicago 

The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th edition, only has citations for information produced by generative AI models, and treats them similarly to personal communications or social media posts, where it is primarily listed in the text and normally is not cited in the bibliography. As a rule, ask your professor if they require citation in your bibliography, as most will say yes. 

Reference Elements:

  • Author: The AI model.
  • Publisher: Creator of the AI model.
  • Date: Date that the content was generated and the version of the AI model.
  • Title: The clear context of the conversation as it is used in your paper, and "should be cited where it occurs, either in the text or in a note." 
  • Source: A link to a copy of your conversation with AI, most commonly through a permalink. Chicago recommends using Perma.cc or the Save Page Now feature from the internet archive. Some AI models now have permalink features built into their software. 
 

Reference:

Publisher. Title. Author, Date. Source.

Open AI. Response to "Write a 200 word summary of Frankenstein," ChatGPT- 4, October 22,2024. https://chatgpt.com/share/6717c5f2-8698-8006-b7d7-98aaf0be2c95.

 

Note:

Title, Author, Publisher, Date, Source.

Response to "Write a 200 word summary of Frankenstein," ChatGPT- 4, OpenAI, October 22,2024. https://chatgpt.com/share/6717c5f2-8698-8006-b7d7-98aaf0be2c95.

 

"14.112:Citing AI-Generated Content." In Chicago Manual of Style. University of Chicago Press, 2024.