ChatGPT and Generative AI Platforms in the Classroom: Citing AI

College Libraries has a student-oriented guide for how to cite AI that can be found at: AI: Citing ChatGPT and Other Generative AI Platforms.  It goes into detail on current citation formats for APA, Chicago Manual of Style, and MLA, including templates and sample citations.

It should be noted that AI-composed text is so new that each of the organizations will likely change and update their citation formats and guidelines in the future. At present, the general templates and examples are listed below.  See the student guide or the links to each style's own websites for complete information.

APA Publishing Policies include the following policy on the use of generative AI in scholarly materials:

For this policy, AI refers to generative LLM AI tools and does not include grammar-checking software, citation software, or plagiarism detectors.

• When a generative artificial intelligence (AI) model is used in the drafting of a manuscript for an APA publication, the use of AI must be disclosed in the methods section and cited.
• AI cannot be named as an author on an APA scholarly publication.
• When AI is cited in an APA scholarly publication, the author must employ the software citation template, which includes specifying in the methods section how, when, and to what extent AI was used. Authors in APA publications are required to upload the full output of the AI as supplemental material.

Template:

Company. (year). Platform Used (version) [model]. URL

Sample citation:

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Feb 13 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

APA's article "How to cite ChatGPT."

Note that Chicago is currently the only one of the three styles to use two different templates. If the writer included their AI prompt within the text of their paper, Chicago does not require the prompt to be included in the citation. If the writer did not include their AI prompt within their text, then the prompt should be included in the citation.

Template:

If you used the prompt in your paper's text:

1.  Text generated by [Platform Used], company, date of generation, URL.

or, if you did not use the prompt in your paper's text:

1. Text generated by [Platform Used], response to "the prompt you used," company, date of generation.

Sample citation:

If you used the prompt in your paper's text:

1. Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, 8 March 2023, chat.openai.com/chat

If you did not use the prompt in your paper's text:

1.  ChatGPT, response to "Describe the symbolism of the green light in the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald," OpenAI, 8 March 2023.

Chicago Manual of Style's FAQ on AI citations.

The MLA Style Center includes the following guidelines for AI usage: 

You should

• cite a generative AI tool whenever you paraphrase, quote, or incorporate into your own work any content (whether text, image, data, or other) that was created by it 
• acknowledge all functional uses of the tool (like editing your prose or translating words) in a note, your text, or another suitable location 
• take care to vet the secondary sources it cites

A template for an MLA citation is as follows:
"The prompt you used" prompt. AI platform, version, company, date of your prompt, URL.

A sample of an MLA citation is as follows:
“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.

MLA's webpage on AI citations.