For this policy, AI refers to generative LLM AI tools and does not include grammar-checking software, citation software, or plagiarism detectors.
Additional reading material:
If you’ve used ChatGPT or other AI tools in your research, describe how you used the tool in your Method section or in a comparable section of your paper. For literature reviews or other types of essays or response or reaction papers, you might describe how you used the tool in your introduction. In your text, provide the prompt you used and then any portion of the relevant text that was generated in response.
Unfortunately, the results of a ChatGPT “chat” are not retrievable by other readers, and although non-retrievable data or quotations in APA Style papers are usually cited as personal communications, with ChatGPT-generated text there is no person communicating. Quoting ChatGPT’s text from a chat session is therefore more like sharing an algorithm’s output; thus, credit the author of the algorithm with a reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citation.
You may also put the full text of long responses from ChatGPT in an appendix of your paper or in online supplemental materials, so readers have access to the exact text that was generated. It is particularly important to document the exact text created because ChatGPT will generate a unique response in each chat session, even if given the same prompt. If you create appendices or supplemental materials, remember that each should be called out at least once in the body of your APA Style paper.
Citing creative visual works for images created by generative AI
Visual materials can include illustrations, photographs, images, paintings, diagrams, maps and graphs.
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000
McAdoo, T. (2024). How to cite chatgpt. American Psychological Association. https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt
Policies related to the use of AI-generated text and images may vary by instructor. AI can be used in your work in many ways such as generating images, formatting papers, and as a textual source. When using AI-generated content as a source that you are quoting, paraphrasing, or otherwise incorporating, cite the source.
When using generative AI tools in your process (e.g., brainstorming, outlining, proofreading, etc.), do not cite but do acknowledge your use somewhere in your text or in a footnote (check with your instructor for their guidelines).
MLA does not consider AI-generated work to have an author. As AI becomes increasingly common, MLA policies may be subject to change. Examples of correct citations are provided on this page.
Quoting or reproducing the text created by ChatGPT in your paper in MLA Style
The MLA template of core elements is meant to provide flexibility in citation. As new technologies like ChatGPT emerge is a key reason why the MLA has adopted this approach to citation—to give writers flexibility to apply the style when they encounter new types of sources. In what follows, we offer recommendations for citing generative AI, defined as a tool that can analyze or summarize content from a huge set of information, including web pages, books, and other writing available on the internet, and use that data to create original new content.
You should
We do not recommend treating the AI tool as an author. This recommendation follows the policies developed by various publishers, including the MLA’s journal PMLA.
Describe what was generated by the AI tool. This may involve including information about the prompt in the Title of Source element if you have not done so in the text.
Use the Title of Container element to name the AI tool (e.g., ChatGPT).
Name the version of the AI tool as specifically as possible. For example, the examples in this post were developed using ChatGPT 3.5, which assigns a specific date to the version, so the Version element shows this version date.
Name the company that made the tool.
Give the date the content was generated.
Give the general URL for the tool.
"Description of prompt" prompt. Name of AI tool, version of AI tool, Company, date text was generated. URL.
"Identify the themes in Mcteague by Frank Norris" prompt. ChatGPT, 21 November version, OpenAI, 4 Dec. 2023. https://chat.openai.com/share/2f2be19d-eadd-4151-8ceb-0785319074b3.
If you are incorporating an AI-generated image in your work, you will likely need to create a caption for it following the guidelines in section 1.7 of the MLA Handbook. Use a description of the prompt, followed by the AI tool, version, and date created:
Fig. 1. “Pointillist painting of a sheep in a sunny field of blue flowers” prompt, DALL-E, version 2, OpenAI, 8 Mar. 2023, labs.openai.com/.
Continued here: How do I cite generative AI in MLA style? | MLA Style Center
Snail Mail. “Thinning.” Habit, Sister Polygon Records, 2016. Vinyl EP.
Snail Mail. “Thinning.” Bandcamp, snailmailbaltimore.bandcamp.com.
Beyoncé. The “Formation” World Tour. 14 May 2016, Rose Bowl, Los Angeles.
Opening Night. Directed by John Cassavetes, Faces Distribution, 1977.
Richardson, Tony, director. Sanctuary. Screenplay by James Poe, Twentieth Century Fox, 1961. YouTube, uploaded by LostCinemaChannel, 17 July 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMnzFM_Sq8s.
“Hush.” 1999. Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Fourth Season, created by Joss Whedon, episode 10, Mutant Enemy / Twentieth Century Fox, 2003, disc 3. DVD.