How to cite AI in APA Style:
- If you’ve used ChatGPT or other AI tools in your research, explain how you used the tool in your Method section or in a similar section of your paper.
- For literature reviews, essays, or response/reaction papers, describe how you used the tool in your introduction. Then, in your text, provide the prompt you used and then portions of the relevant text that was generated in response.
- ChatGPT dialogue is not retrievable by other readers and cannot be cited as personal communications because no one is communicating. Therefore, quote a ChatGPT chat session as algorithm output.
- Credit the author of the algorithm with a reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citation.
Examples of Citing ChatGPT in APA Style:
- In-text Citation
When prompted with "Is the left brain right brain divide real or a metaphor?" the ChatGPT-generated 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
Note: As always, defer to instructor guidelines when writing student papers.
How to cite AI in MLA Style:
- Cite a generative AI tool whenever you paraphrase, quote, or add to your own work content (text, image, data, etc.) that was created by the tool.
- Explain how you used the tool (for example, editing your prose or translating words) in a note, your text, or another appropriate location.
- Be sure to check the secondary sources cited by the tool for accuracy.
Examples of Citing ChatGPT in MLA Style:
- Paraphrased in Your Prose
While the green light in The Great Gatsby might be said to chiefly symbolize four main things: optimism, the unattainability of the American dream, greed, and covetousness ("Describe the symbolism"), arguably the most important--the one that ties all four themes together--is greed.
- Quoted in Your Prose
When asked to describe the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby, ChatGPT provided a summary about optimism, the unattainability of the American dream, greed, and covetousness. However, when further prompted to cite the source on which that summary was based, it noted that it lacked “the ability to conduct research or cite sources independently” but that it could “provide a list of scholarly sources related to the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby” (“In 200 words”).
- Works-Cited-List Entry
“Describe the symbolism of the green light in the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald” prompt. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.
Note: As always, defer to instructor guidelines when writing student papers.
How to cite AI in Chicago Manual Style:
- Credit ChatGPT and similar tools whenever you use the text that they generate in your own work by acknowledging the AI tool in your text, for example:
“The following recipe for pizza dough was generated by ChatGPT.”
Examples of citing ChatGPT in Chicago Manual Style:
- Numbered footnote or endnote
1. Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, March 7, 2023, https://chat.openai.com/chat.
- For Author-date format instead of notes, any information not in the text would be placed in a parenthetical text reference.
“(ChatGPT, March 7, 2023).”
- Bibliography: (note- don’t cite ChatGPT in a bibliography or reference list unless you provide a publicly available link, for example, via a browser extension like ShareGPT or A.I. Archives)
OpenAI. Text generated by ChatGPT, Version GPT-3.5. Accessed May 24, 2023. https://chat.openai.com/
Note: As always, please defer to instructor guidelines when writing student papers.