Acknowledging & Citing AI Tools
Acknowledgement
You must acknowledge where you used AI in assessment, including where you have directly quoted or paraphrased AI-generated content or used tools to summarise readings, brainstorm ideas, plan your process, or for editing or proofreading purposes.
You may be asked to acknowledge AI using a cover sheet, form, template or table.
The following information should be included when acknowledging the use of AI tools:
- AI tool (e.g. Copilot, Chat-GPT, Claude, Google AI)
- description of how you used the tool (e.g. edited/corrected/translated/planned/brainstormed)
- prompt(s) used
- part, section or page of the assessment piece
- date.
Example coversheet
This coversheet is an example of good practice in acknowledging the use of AI tools. Courses across UQ may have specific guidance you should follow on how to acknowledge the use of AI.
Acknowledgment
Yes. AI and/or machine translation tools have been used to generate material in this document.
| Tool | Use | Prompt(s) | Section | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT 4o | Initial idea generation that I adapted | Brainstorm ideas around how sustainable development goals can be applied locally | Framework on p 18 | 25 October 2024 |
| Claude 3.5 | Generating a draft conclusion that I adapted | Provide a summary of Chapters 3, 4, and 5 | Conclusions (p 30, 31) | 25 October 2024 |
| Grammarly EDU | Used to check spelling and grammar and edit my final document | Enhance my text to improve clarity and expression | Entire work | 8 November 2024 |
| Microsoft Copilot | Used to modify the written tone/style of the introduction | Rewrite this paragraph so that the tone is appropriate for a university assignment | Introduction (p 2) | 8 November 2024 |
| Microsoft Copilot | Generating images for analysis | Create an image of a highly effective suburban park | Introduction (p 1) | 28 March 2025 |
Reference AI use
References should provide an accurate description of each source and indicate where they have been used in your work.
- Check the referencing style used in your course for how to cite AI content.
- If there are no specific guidelines, use the rule for personal communication or correspondence.
Where the AI output includes sources, it is recommended that you cite these directly rather than citing the output itself.
Examples for different styles
The following sections have examples of how to cite AI-generated content for different styles.
APA 7th
Based on APA Style guidance.
In-text
Author of AI model, Year of version used
Example:
(OpenAI, 2022)
OpenAI (2022)
(Microsoft, 2025)
Microsoft (2025)
Reference list
Author of AI model used. (Year of AI model used). Name of AI model used (Version of AI model used) [Type or description of AI model used]. Web address of AI model used
Example:
OpenAI. (2022). ChatGPT (Dec 20 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/
Microsoft. (2025). Copilot [Large language model]. https://copilot.cloud.microsoft/
The full transcript of a response can be included in an appendix or other supplementary materials.
Visit How to cite ChatGPT for more information.
Reuse this guide
This guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Licence, except where otherwise noted.
Citing Generative AI
Several of the common citation resources now provide guidance on citing information derived from generative AI tools
APA
- https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt
- APA recommends attributing authorship to AI, whereas MLA advises against it.
- Credit the AI tool as an author.
- "Because "the results of a ChatGPT “chat” are not retrievable by other readers, and although non-retrievable data or quotations in APA Style papers are usually cited as personal communications, with ChatGPT-generated text there is no person communicating.
- Quoting ChatGPT’s text from a chat session is, therefore, more like sharing an algorithm’s output; thus, credit the author of the algorithm with a reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citation" Quoted from the guide above.
- Per guidelines above a chat with ChatGPT should not be cited as PERSONAL COMMUNICATION either.
EXAMPLE:
When prompted with “Is the left brain right brain divide real or a metaphor?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that although the two brain hemispheres are somewhat specialized, “the notation that people can be characterized as ‘left-brained’ or ‘right-brained’ is considered to be an oversimplification and a popular myth” (OpenAI, 2023).
Reference
OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat
Guidelines:
- FOR RESEARCH METHODS: "Describe how you used the tool in your Method section."
- FOR LITERATURE REVIEWS or ESSAYS: "Describe how you used the tool in your introduction. In your text, provide the prompt you used and then any portion of the relevant text that was generated in response."
- FOR REFERENCE: "Credit the author of the algorithm with a reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citation"
This information is adapted from a LibGuide created by Daniel Xiao, Research Impact Librarian at Texas A&M University Libraries.
This LibGuide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If you would like to reuse any part of this LibGuide for noncommercial purposes, please credit the guide's creators or the original content creator as noted, and include a link to the source.
MLA
- https://style.mla.org/citing-generative-ai/
- Do not credit the AI tool as an author
"We do not recommend treating the AI tool as an author. This recommendation follows the policies developed by various publishers, including the MLA’s journal PMLA." Quoted from the guide above. Some examples included in the guide are:
- Example 1: Paraphrasing Text
- Example 2: Quoting Text
- Example 3: Citing Creative Visual Works
- Example 4: Quoting Creative Textual Works
- Example 5: Citing Secondary Sources Used by an AI Tool
EXAMPLE 1: Paraphrasing Text
Paraphrased in Your Prose
While the green light in The Great Gatsby might be said to chiefly symbolize four main things: optimism, the unattainability of the American dream, greed, and covetousness (“Describe the symbolism”), arguably the most important—the one that ties all four themes together—is greed.
Works-Cited-List Entry
“Describe the symbolism of the green light in the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald” prompt. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.
Guidelines:
- Cite a generative AI tool whenever you paraphrase, quote, or incorporate into your own work any content (whether text, image, data, or other) that was created by it.
- Acknowledge all functional uses of the tool (like editing your prose or translating words) in a note, your text, or another suitable location, take care to vet the secondary sources it cites.
This information is adapted from a LibGuide created by Daniel Xiao, Research Impact Librarian at Texas A&M University Libraries.
This LibGuide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. If you would like to reuse any part of this LibGuide for noncommercial purposes, please credit the guide's creators or the original content creator as noted, and include a link to the source.
