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APA Style

Citing Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools

IMPORTANT 

**You must get permission from your instructor

BEFORE you use AI-generated materials.** 

  • According to the APA, the citation information here is designed for, "situations where students and researchers use ChatGPT to create text and to facilitate their research, not to write the full text of their paper or manuscript" (McAdoo, 2023, para. 2).
  • See your professor for information about how to cite when your entire paper is written by an AI tool.
  • The advice here is based on the April 7, 2023, guidance from the APA Style team for citing ChatGPT. Updated guidelines from the APA, if any, will be posted here.

How to Cite ChatGPT

Cite ChatGPT as software (see Section 10.10 in the APA Publication Manual).

Include:

  • A Reference List Citation
  • An In-text Citation (optional Appendix)

Reference List Citation for ChatGPT

ChatGPT Reference List Example:

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

 

Adapt this to fit other "large language models" (e.g., Bard, LaMDA, BLOOM, etc.).

Citation elements: Author. Date. Title. Source. URL

  • Author: Author of the AI model (ChatGPT, Bard, LaMDA, BLOOM, etc)
  • Date: Year of the version of the AI model
  • Title: Model name (plus version) [plus additional information]
  • Source: Publisher name but if it is the same as the author, skip this
  • URL: Website for the AI model

Using ChatGPT in Your Paper: In-text citations

When the AI answer is short:

In your paper, include the prompt you asked and then the quote or paraphrase from the ChatGPT answer (McAdoo, 2023, para. 3).

EXAMPLE:

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

 

When the AI Answer is long OR your professor requires this option:

"Put the full text of long responses from ChatGPT in an appendix of your paper ... so readers have access to the exact text that was generated" (McAdoo, 2023, para. 5).

EXAMPLE:

When given a follow-up prompt 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

 

Sample Appendix A showing ChatGPT prompt and answer

References

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