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Artificial Intelligence: Citing AI

This guide provides academic resources for research about artificial intelligence.

How to cite ChatGPT and other AI Generators

When citing ChatGPT or any AI libguide in your work, you can follow the general guidelines for citing online resources. Here is an outline for citing ChatGPT and an AI libguide:

  1. Author/Creator: In the case of ChatGPT, the author/creator is OpenAI.
  2. Title: Use the title of the specific AI libguide or mention ChatGPT.
  3. Website/Publisher: If the AI libguide is hosted on a specific website or platform, provide the name of the website or platform. For ChatGPT, you can mention that it is developed by OpenAI.
  4. URL: Include the URL of the AI libguide or the ChatGPT website.
  5. Date: Mention the date of access or retrieval.
  6. Optional: If there is a specific author or contributors for the AI libguide, include their names.

Here is an example of a citation for ChatGPT:

OpenAI. ChatGPT. OpenAI, [URL], Accessed on June 6, 2023.

For an AI libguide, the citation would follow a similar format, with the specific title of the libguide and the corresponding URL.

Remember to use the appropriate citation style recommended by your institution or publication, such as APA, MLA, or Chicago.

Citing Generative AI Content & Resources (ex., AI as co-author, reference source, etc.)

APA Style Guidance for Generative AI Reference and Parenthetical Citations

On April 7, 2023, APA Style released informal guidance in their APA Style Blog on how to cite, quote, and use ChatGPT and other generative AI tools.

  • Have you used ChatGPT or other AI tools in your research? Describe how you used the tool(s) in your Method or in a comparable section of your paper.
  • For literature reviews or other types of essays, or response/reaction papers, consider describing in your introduction how you used the tool.
  • In your text, provide the prompt you used, and include any portion of the relevant text that was generated in response.
  • Consider: Quoting ChatGPT’s/AI Generator's text from a chat session is more like sharing an algorithm’s output; thus, credit the author of the algorithm with a reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citation.
  • Consider: Including the full text of long responses from ChatGPT/AI Generators in an appendix of your paper or in online supplemental materials so that readers have access to the exact text that was generated.
APA Style & Generative AI Citations
How to Cite AI Generated Content - APA Style Recommendations  
Example 1, Quoting or reproducing the text created by Generative AI tools in your paper

When queried with, “Is the left brain right brain divide real or a metaphor?” the ChatGPT-generated resultant text indicated that although the two brain hemispheres are somewhat specialized, “the notation that people can be characterized as ‘left-brained’ or ‘right-brained’ is considered to be an oversimplification and a popular myth” (OpenAI, 2023).

Reference

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

  
Example 2, Quoting or reproducing the text created by Generative AI tools in your paper

When given a follow-up query of “What is a more accurate representation?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that “different brain regions work together to support various cognitive processes” and “the functional specialization of different regions can change in response to experience and environmental factors” (OpenAI, 2023; see Appendix A for the full transcript).

Reference

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

  
Example 3, Creating a reference to AI models and software

Note, The in-text citations and references above are adapted from the reference template for software in Section 10.10 of the Publication Manual (American Psychological Association, 2020, Chapter 10).

Reference

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

  • Parenthetical citation: (OpenAI, 2023)
  • Narrative citation: OpenAI (2023)

Reference

Ayubi, E. (2023, April 7). How to cite ChatGPT. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt

 

More Resources

The University of Queensland shares some additional suggestions for Citing ChatGPT and other generative AI as does Scribber. It is important to note that to-date, official APA, MLA, & Chicago Manual of Style AI citation recommendations are still pending. This section will be updated as guidance is shared.

  • Chicago Manual of Style guidance on citation of an artificial intelligence is pending. A Chicago Manual of Style Q & A forum has shared informal guidance information in this Citation, Documentation of Sources blog post.