AI Declaration & Citing

• AI is NOT an Author

  • You cannot list ChatGPT, Gemini, or any Gen-AI tool as an author or a co-author. They cannot take responsibility for the work.

• Verify Everything

  •  AI tools "hallucinate" (make things up). 

  • Never cite an AI response without checking the facts in a real source (book, article, or database) first.

• Link to the Chat

  • Create a "Share Link" or "Import" to your chat session and include it in your Appendix.

Your declaration depends on how you used the tool. Identify your usage level below to find the correct template.

• Situation: You did not use AI, either because it was banned or by personal choice.

• Where to declare: In the Declaration Section.

• Template:

  "This paper was prepared without any assistance of AI tools."

   

• Situation: You wrote the content yourself but used AI tools (like ChatGPT or Grammarly) to polish grammar, proofread, or fix sentence flow.

• Where to declare: In the Declaration Section.

• Template:

  "I acknowledge the use of [Insert Tool Name] to refine my paper and correct grammar mistakes."

   

• Situation: You used AI as a "partner" to brainstorm topics, summarize notes, or structure your outline, but you wrote the final text.

• Where to declare: In the Declaration Section.

• Templates :

  "I acknowledge the use of [Insert Tool Name] for brainstorming and outlining my research paper."

   "I acknowledge the use of [Insert Tool Name] to summarize my initial notes and to proofread my final draft."

   

• Situation: You used AI to analyze data, synthesize literature, or generate code. The AI was integral to your research method.

• Where to declare: In the Methodology Section AND Appendix.

• Template (Methodology):

  "In this study, I used [Insert Tool Name] as a problem-solving tool. The AI tool assisted in [analyzing data patterns / summarizing key sources]. All AI-generated outputs were critically evaluated and validated by me."

• Requirement: You must include your prompts and the AI's full response in an Appendix.

• Situation: You used AI to generate text, images, or figures that appear directly in your paper. 

  Warning: This is high-risk. Ensure you have permission.

• Where to declare: In-Text Citation, Reference List, AND Declaration Section.

• Action 1: Cite it (APA Example)

  In-text: (OpenAI, 2023)

   Reference: OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (version 4.0) [Large multimodal model]. https://chat.openai.com/

   

• Action 2: Declare it

  "I acknowledge using [Insert Tool Name] to suggest keywords, support the organization of ideas, and generate [specific image/section]. All AI-generated content was reviewed, edited, and verified by me."

   

Before you cite or declare anything, you must determine if you are allowed to use AI at all. Do not assume a style guide (like APA or MLA) is a "permission slip."

Follow this top-down rule:

• Level 1 (Highest): The Publisher / Journal. If submitting a thesis or article, their policy is law.

   

• Level 2: The Instructor / Syllabus. For coursework, the professor's rules override everything else. They can ban AI entirely.

   

• Level 3: The University Policy. This applies if no specific rule is given.

   

• Level 4 (Lowest): The Style Guide. APA/MLA only tell you how to format, not if you can use it.

The Logic: Treat the AI company as the "Author" and the specific model version as the "Title."

• Format: Author (Company). (Year). Name of Model (Version) [Large language model]. URL

• Reference List Example:

  OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. [suspicious link removed]

• In-Text Citation:

  (OpenAI, 2023)

• Guidance: Since the output is not retrievable by your reader, APA recommends including the full transcript of your chat as an Appendix.