Disclosure and Attribution of AI and Writing Tools

If the use of a generative AI tool is approved to create content for coursework, be sure that you are transparent about your use of it and are working within the assignment and/or course's policies and parameters.  Be sure to check your course syllabus and assignment instructions for specific approvals, limitations, and prohibitions regarding the use of generative AI for coursework.

Most major style guides are still developing norms and conventions for AI generated materials so this material is likely to change. However, they have established some preliminary guidelines on citing AI generated content. 

In general, here are some guidelines to remember about the use of AI-generated content: 

• Always cite and acknowledge the outputs of AI generative tools when you use them in your work.  Err on the side of transparency.
• Always verify information and sources generated by AI tools.
• AI generated content is nonrecoverable.  Make it available to or retrievable by your reader, possibly by including it as an appendix to your work or as an online supplement.
• Describe the prompt that generated the specific ChatGPT or AI tool's response.
• Include the date when the response was generated or date of access. This is important as these tools will update regularly.

In April 2023, APA provided guidance for citing responses from ChatGPT or output from another generative AI tool.

 APA Style How to cite ChatGPT:  APA Style instructions for how to cite ChatGPT and other generative AI tools.

Include a description of the prompt when quoting output from a generative AI tool in your paper. Use the author of the AI algorithm - or the company who produced the tool - in both the in-text citation and full reference. It may be worthwhile to include the chat's transcript as an appendix to your project.

Format

Author. (Date). Name of tool (Version of tool) [Large language model]. URL

Example

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

In-Text Citation Example:

(OpenAI, 2023)

Appendices contain additional information that doesn’t fit neatly into the main argument or flow of your written work, but which could still be useful and informative for your readers.

Referencing is intended to help your readers locate a source of information: as the appendix is attached to the document they are currently reading; your readers have already located the appendix! So, in normal circumstances there is no need to include a reference to material in your appendices in your reference list; however, the peculiarities of AIs mean that you include both a reference and an appendix.

You need to tell your reader in your citation when information appears in an appendix , otherwise, they might not know to look for it.  For example:

Your instructor will provide any specific requirements for this appendix.  For example, they may ask you to document how you have used AI tools with details about prompts used, screenshots, and/or a transcript.

Sample Appendix with Screenshots

[1] Provide the prompt used to generate output from the AI tool. [2] Indicate what content was used in your final submission and how it was used. [3] Provide a transcript.

Sample Appendix with Transcript

[1] Provide the prompt used to generate output from the AI tool. [2] Indicate what content was used in your final submission and how it was used. [3] Provide a screenshot.