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Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Learn about Artificial Intelligence (AI) at NIC

Examples of How to Cite and Acknowledge

In addition to citing in-text and in the reference list, it is best practice to acknowledge the use of AI in your paper.  In some cases, you may decide (or be asked) to attach the original output as an Appendix to your paper. Your instructor may provide detailed guidelines.  If not, follow the suggestions below.

  • Describe how you used the tool in the Method section or in the Introduction.
    • If your instructor has provided an AI Acknowledgement or Disclosure form for you to attach to your assignment, you could follow your acknowledgement with something like:  See attached Disclosure Form for details.
  • Provide the prompt(s) you used.
  • If the output is not too lengthy, include the portion of it as an in-text citation with corresponding reference list entry.
  • If the output is lengthy, you may provide it in an Appendix.

 

Example 1 

I acknowledge the use of ChatGPT-4 to help me find peer reviewed articles on on my research topic "the impact of cold water swimming." I entered the following prompt on January 25, 2025:  "peer reviewed articles on cold water swimming." The output included titles, dates and links to articles. I then used this information to find the full-text of these, and similar, articles in the NIC Library databases.  

As the example above does not reference specific information found in ChatGPT, it is sufficient to acknowledge the use of AI, but not include in-text citations and corresponding references list entries.

Example 2 - Using Several AI Tools

This presentation was prepared using several AI tools including ChatGPT-4, Gemini 2.0 flash, and Claude 3.7 sonnet.  

Sometimes you may use several AI tools to write a paper or prepare a presentation.  Provide acknowledgement and if necessary, in-text citations and references list entries (based on the examples in this guide, using the AI tool developer as the author).

Example - Acknowledgement, Citation and References List Entry

In the introductory paragraph of your paper, you acknowledge the use of artificial intelligence:

I acknowledge the use of ChatGPT-4 to help brainstorm ideas and keywords for my essay on the benefits and challenges of using pet therapy in nursing homes.  I entered the following prompts on January 25, 2025: "pet therapy and nursing homes."  I have attached the original output as Appendix A in my assignment.

Later in your paper, you may include an in-text citation to a specific piece of information that was generated by ChatGPT-4. You then advise your reader that your research also included a literature review of academic articles.

"Pet therapy has been shown to offer numerous physical, emotional, and social benefits for elderly individuals in long-term care facilities" (OpenAI, 2025; see Appendix A for full transcript). To explore this topic more fully, an examination of the peer-reviewed literature reveals that . . . ."  The remainder of your paper will now include in-text citations and reference list entries for the peer-reviewed literature. 

In the example above, you acknowledge the general use of AI in your paper. And, because you refer to specific information that you found in ChatGPT-4, you provide an in-text citation and reference list entry.

The References entry for the ChatGPT citation will look like this:

OpenAI. (2025). ChatGPT-4 [Large multimodal model]. https://chat.openai.com

 

 

 

TEMPLATE:

Author of Model. (Year of the version). Name of the model in italics (Version if available) [Descriptor]. https://source_address

EXAMPLES:

Note:  a "version number" may be treated as part of the title.

Anthropic. (2025). Claude 3.7 sonnet [Large language model]. https://claude.ai/chat/
Google. (2025). Gemini 2.0 flash [Large language model]. https://deepmind.google/technologies/gemini/flash/
Microsoft. (2025). Microsoft copilot (365 version) [Artificial intelligence system]. https://copilot.microsoft.com/
OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT-3.5 [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat
OpenAI. (2025). ChatGPT-4 [Large multimodal model].  https://chat.openai.com/chat

If you use different AI tools produced by the same organization with the same date, treat this as you would same author/same date.  For example, say you use Google Gemini and Google NotebookLM, both 2025.  The author is Google, the date is 2025. To differentiate in-text and direct your reader to the correct reference list entry,  your in-text citations and reference entries will be: (Google, 2025a) and (Google, 2025b).

Notes:  

  • Author: The author of the model (tool) (usually name of the organization that developed the tool)
  • Date: Year of the version used (usually the year in which you are searching)
  • Title: The name of the model (tool); as with computer software, use the title by which the tool is commonly known
  • Version: Version of the model/tool used. The rule for this is evolving. In the meantime, if a version number is not obvious, then:
    • Leave the version blank AND
    • Incorporate what looks like the version number into the title.  For example, ChatGPT-4; Gemini 2.0 flash
      • According to S. Lazer, APA Style Expert, "publishers don't have a standard place or way that they depict version number (and ChatGPT does not do so anymore), so if you aren't finding one reasonably visible on the landing page of the tool, then you can proceed with the reference as if a version number is not provided (as it likely is not)." Furthermore, Lazer suggests "incorporating the number into the title instead (e.g., ChatGPT-3.5)" (personal communication, February 9, 2025).
  • Additional description: In [square brackets] provide extra information to help a reader understand what is being cited. Different versions and software or models from various companies may need different descriptions, based on how the company describe the model.  In the above example, you will see that ChatGPT-3.5 is described as a [Large language model], whereas ChatGPT-4 is a [Large multimodal model].
  • Link: Use the URL that links as directly as possible to the source (the page where you can access the software, not the company's homepage and not the page to the specific information that you found, as this information changes)

If you are permitted to use AI in your paper, we recommend that you include the following: 

  • Prompt(s) used to generate the content
  • Generated response as part of the paper, appendix, or supplemental materials
  • Appendix:  CLICK HERE for guidelines and examples

Examples of in-text citations and corresponding reference list entries:

 

In-text Citation 

When the prompt of "explain what is meant by peer-reviewed articles" was used, the

response generated stated that... (OpenAI, 2023; see Appendix A for the full transcript).  

If the prompt results in a short response, then provide a direct quote or paraphrase followed by
the in-text citation without referring your reader to an Appendix.  If you have included the full short response in-text, then there is no need for an Appendix.

Corresponding
Reference List Entry

                                                             

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT-3.5 [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat                                          

 

In-text citation

 

 

Using the prompt "what behaviours are affected by the full moon," a number of behaviours were described. . . . (Google, 2025; see Appendix A for the full transcript).

 

Corresponding
Reference List Entry

Google. (2025). Gemini 2.0 flash [Large language model]. 

  https://deepmind.google/technologies/gemini/flash/

 

In-text citation

According to Microsoft's AI tool, the prompt "full moon effects," describes the one predominant behaviour as . . . .(2025).

As this prompt results in a short response, then provide a direct quote or paraphrase followed by the in-text citation without referring your reader to an Appendix.   If you have included the full short response in-text, then there is no need for an Appendix.
Corresponding Reference List Entry

Microsoft. (2025). Microsoft copilot (365 version) [Artificial intelligence

system]. https://copilot.microsoft.com/

Remember, in-text citation formatting may change depending on a number of factors.

See Number of Authors, Publication Date, and Page/Paragraph Number or Heading for more information.