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Talk with your professor about incorporating AI in your course assignments and papers. Early discussions are key to preventing misunderstandings. Familiarize yourself with AI software and tools to grasp their capabilities and limitations. It's important to note that AI often produces incomplete and/or incorrect information. It is important to thoroughly vet any information captured through an AI tool.
AI tools can quickly generate or format a citation, which can be useful if you need to change from one style to another. However, errors in capitalization, punctuation, or italicization are common. Additionally, AI rarely formats references with the spacing or indents required in some citation styles. Given the amount of water that AI tools such as ChatGPT or Gemini use (about a cup PER prompt!), they are best avoided altogether for reference formatting. Using citation management software such as Zotero or Mendeley is more reliable, time-efficient, and conscionable. Or, try using a tool that is designed for formatting references, such as Grammerly (subscription needed for citation functions).
Ideally, you should be familiar with the citation styles you use the most. Always proceed with caution when using AI-generated citations and check to see if they are accurate before handing in your work.
Examples
Using Gemini to format in APA
Human-corrected APA reference list entry
Noble, S. U. (2018). Algorithms of oppression: How search engines reinforce racism. New York University Press. https://doi.org/10.18574/9781479833641
Using Gemini to format in MLA
Human-corrected MLA reference list ('Works Cited') entry
Noble, Safiya Umoja. Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. New York University Press, 2018. https://doi.org/10.18574/9781479833641.
Because of the nature of AI, it is difficult to reproduce a search. Hence, AI is not considered a retrievable source, such as a book or article that someone can find when they look up your references. Generally, it is only necessary to formally cite AI if you used any portion of the response received from a prompt (e.g. an answer from ChatGPT). If you used an AI tool to help find literature, it is good practice to mention this in a Method section. Additionally, it is important to pay attention to the guidelines provided by the citation style you are using for you work.
Rather than include AI tools in the reference list, AMA recommends listing the tools you used, along with a description of how you used them, in the Acknowledgements section of a paper.
Example (in-text)
For the literature review, Inciteful was used to retrieve articles relevant to the work of McLeod's 2021 paper. The prompt used was the DOI of the article.
In APA, describe the tool and how you used them in the Method section. You may provide the prompt you used and then any portion of the relevant generated response in either the text, or in an Appendix. Additionally, APA recommends that AI tools appear in the Reference List.
Example (Reference List)
OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (May 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat
In Chicago, it is not necessary to include AI tools in the reference list. Describe the AI and include the prompt in-text. If you need a formal citation, you may add a note. Additionally, if you do not include the prompt in-text, you may also include this in the note.
Examples (footnotes)
1. Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, May 30, 2024, https://chat.openai.com/chat.
2. ChatGPT, response to “I am a white researcher studying racism in search engines. Can you please suggest ideas for questions that I can ask BIPOC folks about their experiences using search engines?” OpenAI, March 7, 2023. https://chat.openai.com/chat.
In MLA, you must cite an AI tool in the Works Cited section if you paraphrase, quote, or incorporate into your own work any content (whether text, image, data, or other) that it generated. It is ideal to also describe the prompt and how you used of the tool in-text.
Example (Works Cited)
“In 100 words, describe the most popular uses for AI by university students” follow-up prompt to list sources. ChatGPT, 15 Feb. version, OpenAI, 19 Mar. 2024, chat.openai.com/chat.