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Citing Sources

Learn about frequently-used citation styles and citation tools.

More Styles

Citation and Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools
Every style listed in this guide now includes that organization's policies about citing and/or using artificial intelligence tools (as of July 2023); for example, ChatGPT, Perplexity.ai, scite.ai, elicit.org, and Research Rabbit.
 

COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) is "committed to educating and supporting editors, publishers, universities, research institutes, and all those involved in publication ethics. COPE aims to move the culture of publishing towards one where ethical practices become a normal part of the culture itself." Here is their position statement [bullets added for readability; bold face added] :

  • "The use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT or Large Language Models in research publications is expanding rapidly. COPE joins organisations, such as WAME [World Association of Medical Editors] and the JAMA [Journal of the America Medical Association] Network among others, to state that AI tools cannot be listed as an author of a paper.
     
  • AI tools cannot meet the requirements for authorship as they cannot take responsibility for the submitted work. As non-legal entities, they cannot assert the presence or absence of conflicts of interest nor manage copyright and license agreements.
     
  • Authors who use AI tools in the writing of a manuscript, production of images or graphical elements of the paper, or in the collection and analysis of data, must be transparent in disclosing in the Materials and Methods (or similar section) of the paper how the AI tool was used and which tool was used.
     
  • Authors are fully responsible for the content of their manuscript, even those parts produced by an AI tool, and are thus liable for any breach of publication ethics."

Here are ACM templates for references and for in-text citations in RefWorks (as of July 2023). That page also has a link to BibTex example.

  • In RefWorks, every ACM journal and conference proceeding is listed.
  • Click "Create bibliography" (on top), and enter ACM in the box, then scroll down to the publication whose style you want to use:

Generative AI -- Read the ACM FAQ and the Policy on Authorship

The American Chemical Society (ACS) has online information about its style.

Policies about Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools in Publications
  • AI and the Ghostwriter in the Machine (ACS Axial blog, February 16, 2023):
       "The ACS Author Guidelines state that AI tools do not qualify for authorship—and that any such tools used to produce text or images should be disclosed within the manuscript.8 These guidelines are in accordance with those of COPE, as well as organizations such as the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and the JAMA Network."
  • Author List, Authorship, and Coauthor Notification:
        "Criteria for authorship can be found in Part B of the Ethical Guidelines to Publication of Chemical Research. Artificial intelligence (AI) tools do not qualify for authorship. The use of AI tools for text or image generation should be disclosed in the manuscript within the Acknowledgment section with a description of when and how the tools were used. For more substantial use cases or descriptions of AI tool use, authors should provide full details within the Methods or other appropriate section of the manuscript."   
The latest edition is the 11th (2019) [online].

Some quick tips:

Generative AI Policies
  • AI tools (Tweet, June 7, 2023): "We would not recommend formally citing anything created using an AI tool. See the ICMJE guidance on this..."
     
  • The ICMJE guidance says (bullets were added for ease of reading) :
    "Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Assisted Technology (Section 4 of ICMJE guidance [page 3])
  • At submission, the journal should require authors to disclose whether they used artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted technologies (such as Large Language Models [LLMs], chatbots, or image creators) in the production of submitted work.
  • Authors who use such technology should describe, in both the cover letter and the submitted work in the appropriate section if applicable, how they used it. For example, if AI was used for writing assistance, describe this in the acknowledgment section (see Section II.A.3). If AI was used for data collection, analysis, or figure generation, authors should describe this use in the methods (see Section IV.A.3.d).
  • Chatbots (such as ChatGPT) should not be listed as authors because they cannot be responsible for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of the work, and these responsibilities are required for authorship (see Section II.A.1). Therefore, humans are responsible for any submitted material that included the use of AI-assisted technologies.
  • Authors should carefully review and edit the result because AI can generate authoritative-sounding output that can be incorrect, incomplete, or biased.
  • Authors should not list AI and AI-assisted technologies as an author or co-author, nor cite AI as an author.
  • Authors should be able to assert that there is no plagiarism in their paper, including in text and images produced by the AI.
  • Humans must ensure there is appropriate attribution of all quoted material, including full citations."

     
The latest edition of the ASA Style Guide is the 7th edition (2022), which we do not have in any format.
 
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has policies for publication.
  • As of October 2023, ASME does not mention generativeAI or ChatGPT in its policies or ethical standards

 

The Council of Science Editors has its own writing and publication style.

  • The library owns the latest edition (8th ed., 2014) in print

CSE’s Recommendations for Promoting Integrity in Scientific Journal Publications (updated June 2023)

  • Section 21.1.15, Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Work: "Authors should disclose usage of artificial intelligence tools and machine learning tools such as ChatGPT, Chat-bots, Large Language Models (LLM). CSE recommends that journals ask authors to attest at initial submission and revision to the usage of AI and describe its use in either a submission question or in the cover letter. Journals should have an explicit policy (preferably included in the Information for Authors) about the use of AI-generated text and images. Journals may want to ask for the technical specifications (name, version, model) of the LLM or AI and the method of the application (query structure, syntax). Ultimately, human authors must be accountable for all aspects of a manuscript, including the accuracy of the content that was created with the assistance of AI, the absence of plagiarism, and for appropriate attributions of such sources."
     
  • Section 2.2.2, Other Authorship Issues: "Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools (such as ChatGPT
    or chatbots) should not be listed as authors because a non-human cannot be responsible or accountable for the
    accuracy, integrity, and originality of the work, and these responsibilities are required for authorship as outlined
    in 2.2.1 Authorship and the ICMJE Roles and Responsibilities for Authorship. AI assisted tools are unable to
    hold or transfer copyright."

The style known as "Vancouver" was created by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). It is used by many biomedical journals including Annals of Internal Medicine, British Medical Journal (BMJ), JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association), and New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

Here are the organization's guidelines for preparing a manuscript for submission.
In the References section of that page, there is a lot of guidance, including

Some journals use variations on Vancouver style. For style points that vary -- e.g., whether to cite electronic references within parentheses in the text or in numbered references following the text -- you should consult the specific journal to which you plan to submit your manuscript.


Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (updated May 2023)

Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Assisted Technology (Section 4 of ICMJE guidance [page 3])
  • At submission, the journal should require authors to disclose whether they used artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted technologies (such as Large Language Models [LLMs], chatbots, or image creators) in the production of submitted work.
  • Authors who use such technology should describe, in both the cover letter and the submitted work, how they used it. Chatbots (such as ChatGPT) should not be listed as authors because they cannot be responsible for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of the work, and these responsibilities are required for authorship (see Section II.A.1)
  • Therefore, humans are responsible for any submitted material that included the use of AI-assisted technologies.
  • Authors should carefully review and edit the result because AI can generate authoritative-sounding output that can be incorrect, incomplete, or biased.
  • Authors should not list AI and AI-assisted technologies as an author or co-author, nor cite AI as an author.
  • Authors should be able to assert that there is no plagiarism in their paper, including in text and images produced by the AI.
  • Humans must ensure there is appropriate attribution of all quoted material, including full citations.

Guidelines for Artificial Intelligence (AI)-generated Text  (scroll to the bottom)
-- This is their policy, not their style, but they reference APA's recent blog post for how to cite ChatGPT, which also covers "creating a reference to ChatGPT or other AI models and software"