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Investigative Journalism

Styles

Why Cite Your Sources

  • Professional honesty and courtesy: writers have an obligation to indicate when they have used someone else's ideas or words.
  • Citing sources strengthens the authority of your work.  It demonstrates that you have engaged other thinking on the subject you are writing about.
  • Accurate citations help others locate the materials you used in your research.

Citing AI Tools

First steps

  • Before submitting any work that has been aided or generated by generative AI, always check with your instructor whether tools like ChatGPT can be used for your assignment. If they can, double check to see whether your instructor has provided any guidelines on how the generative AI tools can be used
  • Make sure you always verify and evaluate the sources cited by generated AI tools, as generative AI tools can create fake or inaccurate citations

How to cite AI generated content

The following format is appropriate for attribution (although students must check with their instructors to ensure this is sufficient):

  • AI tool and version
  • Date
  • Prompt/s or instructions

More information

Check out the Student and Faculty Guide for using Generative AI LibGuide to learn:

  • Basic information about generative AI (including what generative AI is and what some examples of generative AI tools are)

  • Responsible use and best practices in using generative AI (including what to consider if you're going to be using a generative AI tool to create content for an assignment)

  • Avoiding plagiarism (including how to cite content created by generative AI)

  • Finding generative AI tools to use in research, teaching, and learning (including what to consider when picking a tool