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Vancouver Referencing

Instructions and links for Referencing support

General advice on using ChatGPT

  • In each unit you are taking, read the assessment instructions/guidelines to understand what artificial intelligence (AI) tools you can and cannot use. Check with your lecturer or tutor if you are not sure.
  • Acknowledge how you have used generative AI in your assessments. See below for guidelines on how to do this.
  • Generative AI tools may have drawbacks (such as providing inaccurate information, bias, use of your personal data). Investigate each tool you plan to use to understand potential risks and fact-check responses carefully. Suggestions for evaluating AI tools.
  • Check regularly for updates and advice from Macquarie University on using generative AI tools for your studies.

Last updated 12 July 2024

  • AI models sometimes produce incorrect, biased or outdated information. Verify (fact check) the accuracy of AI-generated content using reliable sources (such as textbooks, peer-reviewed articles and reference works) before including it in your work.
  • Additionally, there may be legal or ethical issues to consider when using AI. Works created by non-humans are not eligible for copyright protection under Australian law. If you intend to publish work incorporating AI-generated content, check the publisher guidelines about what is allowed.
  • When using AI models, be careful about supplying sensitive information, including personal, confidential or propriety information or data.
  • Find more about ChatGPT and generative artificial intelligence tools (GAITs) at AI Tools at Macquarie University.

Last updated 12 July 2024

How to reference generative artificial intelligence (AI)

Advice from the Editors of the AGLC at the University of Melbourne:

Follow rule 7.12 which deals with Written Correspondence. This is included in the bibliography under Other (Rule 1.13). Include the name of the creator and recipient first. Information explaining the prompt that was used can be included in the footnote. The full detail of the prompt and output can also be included in an appendix.

Note format:

Number Output from [program], [creator] to [recipient], [full date].

Example 1

OpenAI, ChatGPT to Fred Jones, Output, 24 February 2023.

1Output from ChatGPT, OpenAI to Fred Jones, 24 February 2023. 

Example 2

Note including details of prompt:

1 Output from ChatGPT, OpenAI to Fred Jones, 24 February 2023. The output was generated in response to the prompt, ‘What is the history of the Macquarie University Law School’: see below Appendix C.

If you use ChatGPT or other generative AI to help you generate ideas or plan your process, you should still acknowledge how you used the tool, even if you don’t include any AI generated content in the assignment. Provide a description of the AI tool used, what you did and the date accessed.  Save a copy of the transcript of your questions and responses from the generative AI tool.

Additional example:

Example

Prompt and response using ChatGPT
In-text citation

Citation Number

Social media has become an essential and powerful tool for marketing, allowing companies to “establish a more personalized connection”1 with a target audience.
Footnote

Number Output from [program], [creator] to [recipient], [full date]. Discursive text is included in the footnote to provide information about the prompts used to generate the output.

1 Output from ChatGPT, OpenAI to SE, 20th March 2023. The output was generated in response to the prompt, ‘Write 1000 words on the benefits of social medial for marketing’: see below Appendix A.
Reference list

Written Correspondence should appear in the Bibliography under the heading Other.  See Rule 1.13. 

E Other 

Output from ChatGPT, OpenAI to John Smith, 23 February 2023 
Appendix An appendix is included in order to provide comprehensive information about the series of prompts used to generate the output.

Last updated 12 July 2024

Advice from APA Style:

Cite/reference text generated by AI such as ChatGPT as software.

Example

Prompt and response using ChatGPT 
In-text citation

(Author of AI model, Year of version used)

(OpenAl, 2023)

Social media has become an essential and powerful tool for marketing, allowing companies to “establish a more personalized connection” with a target audience (OpenAI, 2023; see Appendix A for the full transcript). 
Reference list

Author of AI model used. (Year of AI model used). Name of AI model used (Version of AI model used) [Description of AI model used]. Web address of AI model used

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (November 22 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/
Appendix The full transcript of a response can be included in an appendix or other supplementary materials, so readers have access to the exact text that was generated.

Last updated 23 June 2023

Advice from the Chicago Manual of Style Online

As of November 2023, Chicago Style Guide recommends that a footnote is used but no reference list entry.

Therefore, you should acknowledge ChatGPT and similar tools when you reproduce its words within your own work, but that information should be put in the text or in a note - do not include ChatGPT in your bibliography or reference list.

Elements of footnote

AI tool name, response to “Full text of prompt,” Company Name, Date of prompt, URL.

Footnote

If the prompt hasn’t been included in the text, it can be included in the note:

26  ChatGPT, response to “Explain how to make pizza dough from common household ingredients,” OpenAI, March 7, 2023.

or 

26  Text generated by ChatGPT, OpenAI, March 7, 2023, https://chat.openai.com/chat.

Subsequent notes

29  ChatGPT response, March 7, 2023. 

Further information

  • ChatGPT stands in as “author” of the content, and OpenAI (the company that developed ChatGPT) is the publisher or sponsor, followed by the date the text was generated.

  • After that, the URL tells us where the ChatGPT tool may be found, but because readers can’t necessarily get to the cited content  that URL isn’t an essential element of the citation.

  • Don’t cite ChatGPT in a bibliography or reference list unless you provide a publicly available link (e.g., via a browser extension like ShareGPT or A.I. Archives). Though OpenAI assigns unique URLs to conversations generated from your prompts, those can’t be used by others to access the same content.

  • If you’ve edited the AI-generated text, you should say so in the text or at the end of the note (e.g., “edited for style and content”).

Additional example:

Example

Prompt and response using ChatGPT 
In-text citation

CitationFootnote number

Social media has become an essential and powerful tool for marketing, allowing companies to “establish a more personalized connection”1 with a target audience.
Footnote or Endnote

1. ChatGPT, response to “Write 1000 words on the benefits of social media for marketing", March 7, 2023, OpenAI.
Reference list

ChatGPT or similar are treated as personal communications (Rule 14.214). Do not include in your bibliography. 

Last updated 12 July 2024

At present, there is no official guidance from IEEE on how to cite AI-generated content. Based on feedback from staff and students at MQ, Macquarie University Library recommends following the advice for software.

In-text citation:

In response to a prompt "prompt text here" on December 12, 2023, Open AI’s ChatGPT [1] responded that...

Reference list:

Format:

[#] Title of Software. Date Repository or Archive. (version or year). Publisher Name. Accessed: Abbrev. Month. day, year. [Type of Medium]. Global Persistent Identifier (e.g. DOI where available). Available: URL

Example:

[1] ChatGPT. GPT-3.5. (2023). Open AI. Accessed: Dec. 12, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://openai.com/chatgpt

Further example:

Example

Prompt and response using ChatGPT
In-text citation

Tool Use Date (Month Day Year) 

In response to a prompt ("Write 1000 words on the benefits of social media marketing") on March 7, 2023, Open AI’s ChatGPT [1] responded that social media has become an essential and powerful tool for marketing, allowing companies to “establish a more personalized connection” with a target audience.
Reference list [1] ChatGPT. GPT-3.5. (2023). Open AI. Accessed: July. 18, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://openai.com/chatgpt

Last updated 21 Aug 2024 

At present, there is no official guidance on how to cite AI-generated content using the Vancouver style.

Macquarie University Library recommends referencing AI-generated content in the same way as personal communications.  

Example

Prompt and response using ChatGPT
In-text citation

Type of communication Communicator Date in this format (DD Month YYYY) 

Allowing companies to “establish a more personalized connection” with a target audience was one benefit identified in an online chat with OpenAI's ChatGPT AI language model (20 March 2023) on the benefits of social media for marketing.
Reference list Do not include in the Reference list.

Last updated 23 June 2023