Skip to Main Content My Account Off-Campus Access Give 24/7 Chat Meet with a Librarian Directory Library Services Technical Support Submit a Digital Sign Give Newsletters Social Media

Generative Artificial Intelligence for Teaching, Research and Learning

Citation Best Practices

Citing your sources helps your readers or viewers distinguish content that is unique to you from information you found elsewhere. Given the rapid development of generative AI tools, guidelines on how to cite generative AI exchanges is evolving.

It is important to include accurate citations in your work: 

  • For ethical reasons.
  • To enhance your credibility as an author or creator.
  • To streamline communication and information sharing around topics.

For comprehensive information about citing sources beyond generative AI content, see the UC Davis Library's Citation Styles guide. See below for tips on using APA, MLA and Chicago.

Citation Guidelines

MLA

  • How do I cite generative AI? MLA Style Center
  • MLA recommends that you build your citations based on the criteria in their template. Note that MLA does not consider AI tools to be authors. 

APA

Chicago

  • How do I cite content developed or generated by artificial intelligence?
  • Chicago recommends treating content generated by artificial intelligence like other personal communications, which are cited in the text but not included in a References list or Bibliography, unless you have a publicly available link to your conversation with the tool.
  • If you use words that an AI tool generates in a paper, you need to cite them, either as a numbered footnote/endnote or within the text using the author-date. For other uses, Chicago suggests noting the tool you used within your text.