You must be honest and transparent about any use of Generative Artificial Intelligence(AI) technologies such as ChatGPT in your academic work. Using AI inappropriately may be considered as plagiarism or cheating and treated under the University's Academic Integrity Policy and Academic Misconduct Procedure. Please consult your module and course guidelines on appropriate use of AI tool for your assessments.
Crucially, you must acknowledge your use of any AI in your work by citing it in your text and providing full details in your reference list or bibliography. Some examples are provided below but be aware that guidance might change as this is a developing technology.
Citing and Referencing AI - Non-recoverable Content
Content from AI is usually produced in response to your questions and prompts and tailored according to what you ask. Unlike other digital material it is not published and does not persist as a resource that can be linked to or retrieved again. This makes it difficult to meet one of the referencing objectives that is to enable the person reading your work to follow up and check the original source.
This is referred to as 'non-recoverable' content. As the content is produced in response to your interaction with the AI, many referencing styles recommend that it is cited as a 'personal communication'.
Some styles recommend crediting the source only in your text or in a note but others require a full reference in the reference list or bibliography.
Additional Information
As well providing in-text citation and references to your use of AI, you may be asked to provide additional information e.g.:
Appendix: Some referencing style guides e.g. APA , suggest that you copy the text of AI responses in an appendix so that the reader can see the exact text that was generated. Please check what is required in your assessment and module guidance.
Description: You may be required to describe how the AI information or material was generated e.g. what prompts did you use, how did you use or change the output content or to provide a copy of the output (in an appendix). Please check what is required in your assessment and module guidance.
Further Acknowledgements: You may be required to provide a statement of the extent to which AI content was used in your work e.g. not used, background research only, editing structure and presentation etc. Please check what is required in your assessment and module guidance.
The APA Style team have written the following guidance on citing AI, available here in detail:
A summary of the recommendations:
The results of a ChatGPT “chat” are not retrievable by other readers, and although nonretrievable data or quotations in APA Style papers are usually cited as personal communications, with ChatGPT-generated text there is no person communicating.
Quoting ChatGPT’s text from a chat session is therefore more like sharing an algorithm’s output; thus, credit the author of the algorithm with a reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citation.
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
See the blog post for further information, including adding full text of long responses from ChatGPT in an appendix.
You must credit the AI tool (such as ChatGPT) when you reproduce its words within your own work, but unless you include a publicly available URL, that information should be put in the text or in a note—not in a bibliography or reference list.
Create a footnote or endnote, e.g.
¹ Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, March 7, 2023, https://chat.openai.com/chat.
Template for the footnote: Text generated by Name of AI, Publisher/developer, Month day, year, URL.
If the prompt hasn’t been included in the text, it can be included in the note:
¹ ChatGPT, response to “A definition of academic integrity,” OpenAI, March 7, 2023.
Additional information is provided in the Chicago Manual of Style Q & A.
Generative AI
If the generative AI material is available online, you can cite it as an electronic version of a source (such as an artwork or article).
Citation order
For example:
In-text citation
The AI-generated flower (Shutterstock AI, 2023)....
Reference List
Shutterstock AI (2023) Photo of pond with lotus flower [Digital art]. Available at: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-generated-lotus-flower-2252080005 (Accessed: 31 March 2023)
If the AI's end product (for example use of ChatGPT in conversation) is only available to you, cite this as a personal communication and include a description of the AI generated material in your in-text citation. Consult your tutor in case they require you to provide a copy of the AI work as an appendix to your work.
Citation Order
For example:
In-text citation
When prompted by the author, ChatGPT responded with a 'definition of academic integrity' (OpenAI ChatGPT, 2023). A copy of this response is in Appendix 1.
Reference List
OpenAI ChatGPT (2023) ChatGPT response to John Stephens, 2 April.
The IEEE has not yet advised on citing AI-generated content. The IEEE Style Manual suggests consulting the Chicago Manual of Style for usage it does not include. The following guidance is therefore adapted from recommendations in the Chicago Manual of Style.
Example 1: If the prompt hasn’t been included in the text, it can be included in the reference:
Template: Name of AI response to "prompt", Publisher/Developer, Month day, year that content was generated, URL.
1. ChatGPT, response to “A definition of academic integrity,” OpenAI, March 7, 2023, https://chat.openai.com/chat.
Example 2: Question or prompt is described in the document text so is not repeated in the reference:
Template: Text generated by Name of AI, Publisher/Developer, Month day, year that content was generated, URL.
1.Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, March 7, 2023, https://chat.openai.com/chat.
OSCOLA has not yet provided specific guidance for citing and referencing AI. This recommendation is adapted from OSCOLA 3.4.11 Personal Communications ,which states:
"When citing personal communications, such as emails and letters, give the author and recipient of the communication, and the date. If you are yourself the author or recipient of the communication, say ‘from author’ or ‘to author’ as appropriate."
Footnote
Template: Creator and/or name of AI | Form of communication giving prompt or question if not provided in your text | (Date content was generated)
Example 1: If the prompt hasn’t been included in the text, it can be included in the note:
¹ OpenAI ChatGPT response to prompt 'What are the legal profession's concerns about using ChatGPT to inform student work?' (16 August 2023) <openai.com/chatgpt>
Example 2: Question or prompt is described in the document text:
¹ OpenAI ChatGPT response to author (16 August 2023) <openai.com/chatgpt>
Bibliography Entry
As the content cannot be linked to and accessed by others a reference is not essential in the bibliography but may optionally be included:
Template: Creator and title of AI, | medium of communication and receiver of communication | < URL where AI can be accessed > |
Example: OpenAI ChatGPT, Chat GPT response to author (16 August 2023) <openai.com/chatgpt>
See the Referencing and avoiding plagiarism module in Canvas for more guidance about plagiarism and help with referencing. This is brought to you by Student Learning Services.
All new students should complete the 'Academic Integrity and Writing' module within your first 4 weeks at university. It is also useful to revisit this module if you are struggling with your writing and referencing or have received feedback on plagiarism.