Using AI Tools for Research
Citing Generative AI
The Citing Sources guide's pages about APA, MLA, and Chicago styles (also known as the "Big Three") each include a tab about how to cite any use of, and tools used for, generative AI in that style.
All of the styles listed on the More Styles page of that guide also include information about this.
1. For Authors -- Most publishers have policies for using and citing genAI tools. When you are considering submitting to a journal or conference, please check its author guidelines for its policies about genAI.
2. Always Check Citations -- GenAI tools are quite poor at giving correct citations. You will need to check them in scholarly sources such as library databases or Google Scholar. That’s a good reason to save your time by *starting* with scholarly sources when searching for information.
3. How Recent is the Information? If you need up-to-date information, use a word like “recent,” “current,” or “latest” in your prompt, or else the genAI tool will most likely not mention when it was last updated. I asked Google Gemini, whose most recent training data was June 2024, about this*: "Could the time difference between the LLM's training date and the agent [which does a real-time web search] cause incorrect information being retrieved?"
ChatGPT said:
ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials)
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COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics)
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Hastings Center Report
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