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MLA 9: Citing Generative A.I.

Where is this information from?

All content and examples in this section from the official MLA Style Center.

When should you cite an AI tool like ChatGPT?

  • 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

How do you create a citation for an AI tool? Follow the MLA template!

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.

Title of Source

  • Describe what was generated by the AI tool. This may involve including information about the prompt in the Title of Source element if you have not done so in the text.

Title of Container

  • Use the Title of Container element to name the AI tool (e.g., ChatGPT).

Version

  • Name the version of the AI tool as specifically as possible. For example, the examples in this post were developed using ChatGPT 3.5, which assigns a specific date to the version, so the Version element shows this version date.

Publisher

  • Name the company that made the tool.

Date

  • Give the date the content was generated.

Location

  • Give the general URL for the tool.

Example: Paraphrased in Your Prose

In-text citation

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.

Example: Quoted in Your Prose

In-text citation

When asked to describe the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby, ChatGPT provided a summary about optimism, the unattainability of the American dream, greed, and covetousness. However, when further prompted to cite the source on which that summary was based, it noted that it lacked “the ability to conduct research or cite sources independently” but that it could “provide a list of scholarly sources related to the symbolism of the green light in The Great Gatsby” (“In 200 words”).

 

Works-Cited-List Entry

“In 200 words, describe the symbolism of the green light in The Great

          Gatsby” follow-up prompt to list sources. ChatGPT, 13 Feb. version,

          OpenAI, 9 Mar. 2023, chat.openai.com/chat.