ChatGPT or other generative AI tools may be used in academic writing, but should be done so sparingly and with transparency. Take care to check any sources that these tools cite, since they may not actually exist. Also take care to verify that the information they provide is actually accurate, since they frequently produce incorrect “facts.”
Here is the latest guidance on how to cite these tools in APA version 7, based on the rules for software in Section 10.10 of the Publication Manual (American Psychological Association, 2020), and described in more detail in their blog post How to Cite ChatGPT.
In your References section, follow the template below:
Company. (Date Content Generated). Name of Tool (Version) [Type of Generative AI]. URL
For example, a ChatGPT session could be cited in the References section as:
OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Version 3, 14 March release) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat
The date in parentheses reflects the version of ChatGPT, since ChatGPT uses release dates as well as a version number. Other AI tools may only use a version number like 2.
In addition to this citation in the References section, in the text of your assignment or paper, you should be transparent about the prompt you used for the tool. For example:
When prompted with “Is the left brain right brain divide real or a metaphor?” the ChatGPT-generated text indicated that although the two brain hemispheres are somewhat specialized, “the notation that people can be characterized as ‘left-brained’ or ‘right-brained’ is considered to be an oversimplification and a popular myth” (OpenAI, 2023).
If the prompt you used was part of a longer conversation with the tool, then you should include the full transcript in an Appendix.