Definition:

Acknowledging sources of information, ideas and research used in academic work.

A set of instructions to know what order to put the information into.

Other terms:

• • Bibliography
  • Cite
  • Citation
  • Attribution

Role in academic writing:

Introduction to APA

MLC uses the American Psychological Association (APA) citation style.

Guidelines for citing various sources of information in a consistent manner

The Four Key Components:

• • Author(s): The person(s) or organization(s) responsible for creating the work
  • Date: The year of publication or creation
  • Title: The title of the work being cited
  • Source: The publication information or retrieval details for the work

Examples of common formats:

• • Books: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book. Publisher.
  • Journal articles: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), pages.
  • Websites: Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of web page. Site name. URL

In-text citations vs. reference list entries

• • In-text citations: Brief citations within the text that refer to a specific source; includes the author’s last name, the publication year, and the page number(s) if applicable, e.g. (Smith, 2020, p. 12).
  • Reference list entries: Complete citations for each source mentioned in the text, listed alphabetically at the end of the paper; provides all necessary information for readers to locate and consult the original sources.

Referencing skills are aligned to the Australian Curriculum

The following guide is a suggested map of APA citation skills aligned to the ICT General Capability to use with students when they are creating a piece of work that has required them to use the work of others in their research:

Referencing at MLC Continuum – Teachers Guide.pdf
(To access, use your MLC password if prompted)

Consider which classroom activities/ assignments where you can integrate referencing skills and assess students’ understanding and application of proper citation techniques in line with the ICT Capability learning continuum.

Teachers should expect students to submit a reference list (bibliography) for any substantial research assignment.

Seek assistance from MLC Teacher Librarians if you require some support.

Students must check with their teacher first if they are permitted to use AI tools in an activity. If approval is given by the teacher, then students must communicate this in their submission and include the name of the tool and the prompt used to generate content.

How to cite AI generative tools?

Note: The following is related to the use of ChatGPT for research-based learning, i.e. using ChatGPT to gather information, answer an inquiry focus question. For this type of use and any other use, teachers may also like to consider having students submit a declaration where student provide details on how the AI tool has been used in the assignment (i.e. idea generation, research, structure, writing). See the example from Curtin University HERE.

In addition to academic integrity issues, when referencing ChatGPT there is an absence of traditional authorship and publication information with AI-generated content, making citing it in academic work rather complex.

ChatGPT – As responses from a ChatGPT “chat” is unretrievable, it is currently widely considered to reference ChatGPT as personal communication. However, as the communication isn’t with a person, according to APA (McAdoo, 2023) it should be treated as though the creator of the AI model is the author, and citing it like software is considered appropriate.

At MLC?

The expectation for referencing ChatGPT and other AI tools at MLC is still to be finalised. Here is a recommendation being put forward. It is subject to change as guidance continues to evolve.

Year 7 & 8 – Include an end-text reference list & attach the full-text response (i.e. screenshot) from the AI tool after the referencing list.

Referencing Format:

Author of AI Model used. (Year of AI model used). Prompt Description. Name of AI model used (Version). URL of the AI model used.

Example:

OpenAI. (2023). Prompt, ‘How was Stonehenge built?’ ChatGPT (Mar 14 version). https://chat.openai.com/

Year 9 -12

1. Include an in-text reference. Example:

When prompted with “What are man-made causes of salinity in agricultural land in Australia?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that there are several man-made causes including land clearing and inefficient irrigation and soil management practices (OpenAI, 2023).

2. Include the end-text reference

Open AI. (2023). Prompt, “What are man-made causes of salinity in agricultural land in Australia?” ChatGPT (Mar 14 version). https://chat.openai.com/

3. Attach the full-text response to the prompt/s from the AI tool.

Important

Not citing the use of ChatGPT or using it when not permitted could be considered cheating. Students should be made aware of the MLC Assessment policy.

Citing AI-generated content is complex and students need to verify the accuracy of AI-generated content using reliable sources of information as AI models sometimes produce inaccurate responses.

It is also important to foster student awareness of the ethical use of AI-generated content and its impact on intellectual property rights.

Some further APA referencing guidelines from various universities:

University of Queensland – Referencing ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

University of WA – Referencing style – APA 7th: Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Curtin University – APA 7 Referencing – Generative AI

How to cite ChatGPT – APA Style

Reference:

McAdoo, T. (2023, April 7). How to cite ChatGPT. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt