Citing AI-Generated Content in MLA
Disclaimer:
The use of Generative AI tools is not permitted in all classes. Each 天涯社区log instructor outlines their specific AI policy in the syllabus and on Canvas. If you are unsure of your instructor鈥檚 AI policy, please reach out to them directly for clarification. This resource should only be used if your instructor does permit AI usage in their class.
Citations
When citing AI-generated content in your Works Cited, begin with the 鈥渢itle鈥� (the first sentence of the first prompt in the relevant conversation) encased in quotation marks. Following that, include the name of the AI tool (e.g., 鈥淐hatGPT 3.5鈥� or 鈥淏ing AI鈥�), along with the version date, the name of the organization that created it (e.g., 鈥淥penAI鈥� or 鈥淢icrosoft鈥�), the date you acquired the AI response, and the URL of the specific chat session where the response was generated. If you cannot access or share the URL of the chat session, use the generic URL of the tool instead.
In-text citations should consist of a condensed form of the title鈥攔educed to three words鈥� encased in quotation marks.
If you鈥檙e using content generated by an AI tool that doesn鈥檛 allow you to share a link to the full chat for the reader to review, it鈥檚 important to include the full generated response in an appendix to your paper. This allows readers to see the context of the AI鈥檚 response. The appendix should be labeled clearly and referred to in your in-text citation.
Here is an example of how you might format an appendix containing AI-generated content:
- Appendices should appear at the end of your paper, before your Works Cited page.
- Each appendix should start on a new page.
- Center the title at the top of the page. Start with the word 鈥淎ppendix鈥� and a letter if there are multiple appendices (e.g., 鈥淎ppendix A鈥�).
- Include the full text of the AI鈥檚 response. You may want to format this in a way that distinguishes it from your own writing, such as using a different font or including it as a block quote. You may also use the screenshots if they are both 1) Readable and 2) Complete.
- In your in-text citation, refer to the appendix where the full AI response can be found. For example, (鈥淒iscuss the implications鈥�; See Appendix A for full AI-generated response).
Remember, the goal is to ensure that your reader can easily find and understand.
Example: MLA ChatGPT citation
| MLA Format | 鈥淭ext of prompt鈥� prompt. ChatGPT, Day Month version, OpenAI, Day Month Year, chat.openai.com/chat/abcdefg |
| MLA Works Cited entry | 鈥淭ell me about confirmation bias鈥� prompt. ChatGPT 3.5, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 16 Feb. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat/abcdef |
| MLA in-text citation | (鈥淭ell me about鈥�; see Appendix A for full transcript) |
If you use an AI tool like ChatGPT or Bing AI to identify sources and then utilize those sources in your work (as opposed to using the text produced by the AI itself), you only need to cite the sources you actually employed, not the AI tool that assisted in their discovery.
If you used an AI tool to revise a few words of your writing or translate words, MLA advises acknowledging this at a suitable point in your text or in a footnote.
Works Cited
Caulfield, Jack. 鈥淐HATGPT Citations: Formats & Examples.鈥� Scribbr, 1 May
2023, .
