How To Attribute Sources: Effective Strategies for Citing OpenAI's ChatGPT

How To Attribute Sources: Effective Strategies for Citing OpenAI’s ChatGPT

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What to Know

For APA style, you need to cite the AI tool, its version, date, and provide a URL.
For MLA style , you need to cite ChatGPT, its version, developer name, date, and URL.
For Chicago style, you only need to make it clear ChatGPT was used, provide a URL, and a developer name.

This guide will explain how to cite ChatGPT in APA (American Psychological Association), MLA (Modern Language Association), and Chicago publishing styles.

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How to Cite ChatGPT in APA Style

When writing in-text citations in APA style , writers are expected to give reference to the original author’s last name and the year of publication. For example, if you were citing me in the writing of this article, you might quote me and then put “(Martindale, 2024)”.

So, when citing ChatGPT in-text immediately after a quote or reference, you should put**(ChatGPT, 2024)** .

For source pages, APA style calls for the author’s name, the date, and a source link. In the case of ChatGPT, APA style says that you also cite the developer and the language model:

OpenAI (2024). ChatGPT (June 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

Per the APA, you may also put the entire longform text response from ChatGPT into an appendix, so it can be later evaluated for context. This can be additionally important because ChatGPT’s responses are typically unique, even if it receives a similar text prompt.

If you do provide the entire text prompt in an appendices, you can also provide a reference in your citations. For example:

(OpenAI, 2024; see Appendix A for the full transcript) .

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How to Cite ChatGPT in MLA Style

When writing in-text citations in MLA style, writers must reference the original author’s last name and provide a page reference number if the source has numbered pages. So that would typically be something like “(Martindale, 10)” if it were quoting me from a source with 10 or more pages.

However, ChatGPT has no page numbers to cite, so MLA has different stipulations.

It suggests not treating ChatGPT like an author, but you should provide information about the title of the prompt, a name for the AI in question–in this case, ChatGPT–and a version of the AI. It also requires you to include a publisher or AI developer name, the date the text was generated, and a URL for the tool in question.

That should look something like:

ChatGPT, June 14. GPT-4o version, OpenAI, June 14 2024, https://chat.openai.com/chat .

This citation format should be used for both text prompts and generative image citations, too.

When including ChatGPT on a sources or bibliography page, writers should provide the same quantity and types of information, including the AI name, model/version, a source link, developer name, and date.

“Quotes for how to cite ChatGPT in MLA Style” prompt. ChatGPT, June 14 version, OpenAI, June 14 2024 https://chat.openai.com/chat .

However, MLA does suggest that if you feel any AI you use is quoting from a primary or more senior source, you should find the root of that quote and use the original source if possible, rather than citing ChatGPT.

How to Cite ChatGPT in Chicago Style

Chicago style citations are handled a little differently, and they don’t lend ChatGPT as much credence as MLA and APA style in considering it as an author in most cases. However, writers are still encouraged to cite ChatGPT clearly and effectively in the following ways.

When quoting or referencing ChatGPT, you can provide an in-text citation stating, “The following quotation was generated by ChatGPT.” Alternatively, for more formal citations, you can provide a footnote that cites that the text was generated by an AI (in this case, ChatGPT), the developer of the AI, the date the quote was generated, and a URL reference for the AI tool in question.

One of these footnotes would look something like:

Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, June 14, 2024, https://chat.openai.com/chat .

Chicago style also states that if you paraphrase ChatGPT or edit its original response, you need to state that in the citation.

Unlike APA and MLA styles, though, Chicago style doesn’t suggest you include ChatGPT in a bibliography unless you’re specifically using a ChatGPT plugin that allows you to provide a unique link to the original conversation.

Since ChatGPT doesn’t let you link to specific conversations, Chicago style argues any further linking would be ineffective for citation purposes.

Why It’s Important to Cite ChatGPT

Citing ChatGPT is just as important as citing textbooks, websites, authors, journalists, and other sources of information when you are collating your data to put together an article or thesis. It provides accountability for you as the author and allows anyone reviewing your work to trace your sources properly.

Citing sources is part of academic integrity, and just because ChatGPT is a new and unique source of information and perspective, doesn’t mean it doesn’t need citing.

Considering ChatGPT is trained on the data of many other academics, it’s important to dig to the base source if you can. But if ChatGPT doesn’t tell you where it drew its information from, making sure your report or article correctly cites all its sources, ChatGPT included, is important.

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