When you use ChatGPT or another AI technology, you should cite it as a source.
Many referencing styles have no specific guidelines for citing ChatGPT or other generative AI.
Content from generative AI is a nonrecoverable source as it can't be retrieved or linked.
We recommend that you base the reference for generative AI content on the reference style for personal communication or correspondence.
Check the referencing style used in your course for how to cite personal communication or follow the format of our examples.
Always Acknowledge Use
If you use ChatGPT or other generative AI to help you generate ideas or plan your process, you should still acknowledge how you used the tool, even if you don’t include any AI generated content in the assignment.
Provide a description of the AI tool used, what you did and the date accessed.
Citing AI for Publication
Different publishers are taking different approaches to whether generative AI is allowed.
If you are writing for publication, you should check the publisher's information for authors.
Attribution
Thank you to the University of Queensland librarians and the Bethel College librarians for the use of content and formatting from their guide under a Creative Commons license CC BY-NC 4.0.
APA 7th
APA has not published an official format requirement. Below is one possible way it might be formatted. Please check with your instructor to see how they prefer to see the AI tool cited.
In-text citation:
(Communicator, personal communication, Month Day, Year)
(Paraphrase from OpenAI's ChatGPT AI language model, personal communication, February 7, 2023).
Chicago 17th
The Chicago Manual of Style has not published an official format requirement. Below is one possible way it might be formatted. Please check with your instructor to see how they prefer to see the AI tool cited.
In-text citation or note:
Number.Originator of the communication, medium, Day Month, Year.
1 OpenAI's ChatGPT AI language model, response to question from author, 7 February, 2023.
MLA
Citing Paraphrased AI-Generated Content:
Author Last, Author First. Title of Source. Title of Container. Version, Publisher, Date Generated, Location/URL.
“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.
Elements Descriptions:
Author: Do not use AI tool as the author. You can leave the author element out of your citation.
Title of Source: Describe what was generated by the tool. The MLA suggests using information about the prompt used to queue the AI. If including the prompt given to the AI tool, use quotation marks. If creating more general description, quotation marks are not needed.
Title of Container: Name the AI tool (e.g. ChatGPT)
Version: Name the version of the AI tool (e.g. 13 Feb. version)
Publisher: Name the company that developed the tool.
Date: Date the content was generated.
Location: The general URL for the tool.
In-text citations:
Use a shortened version of the "Title of Source" or description of the generated content that is listed in your Works Cited citation.
ex: ("Describe the symbolism")
See the Modern Language Society Blog for more examples:
Quoting Text Generated by AI Tools
“How Do I Cite Generative AI in MLA Style?” MLA Style Center, 17 Mar. 2023, https://style.mla.org/citing-generative-ai/.