APA 7th edition - Citations

In this guide we use the terms citation, acknowledgement, and disclaimer to refer to distinct but related elements you may need to include in an assignment, whether or not you are using AI.

A citation is an indication of content that is paraphrased or directly quoted from AI, or is used when you mention an AI software. Citations will appear throughout the body of your paper and in the references list.

An acknowledgement is a specific statement (or acknowledgement) about how you used AI. Acknowledgements will appear throughout the body of your paper, in accompaniment with citations.

A disclaimer is a general statement made about if and how you used AI to create your assignment. Disclaimers will only appear on the title page of your paper, within the author note.

There are two ways to cite AI: when you cite generated content, and when you cite the AI software.

When you quote or paraphrase AI generated content you must include an in-text citation and a reference. When doing so, you are citing the output (text, images, etc.) from the software that was generated as a result of your prompt.

When you mention AI software, you must include an in-text citation and a reference. When doing so, you are citing the software, not the prompt or output of the tool. Include the in-text citation immediately after you name the AI software.

You may include the prompt you used, but do not cite it, as this is your own work.

Examples

Correct Citation for AI Output

I entered the following prompt into ChatGPT (OpenAI, 2025a): “What are synonyms for law enforcement in Canada?” I adapted and modified the original output from “Police, cops, mounties” (OpenAI, 2025b) to “Police, officers, RCMP.”

In this example, the first citation is for the software, the second citation is for the output, and the prompt and the revised response are written by the author.

Incorrect Citation for AI Software

I provided the following prompt to Gemini: “Please create an image of students in a classroom studying grammar concepts” (Google, 2025).

In this example, we are incorrectly citing the prompt. Although we are quoting the prompt used, this prompt is our own work, and does not need to be cited. The narration of “I provided the following prompt” is enough to clarify who created the prompt.

Correct Citation for AI Software

I provided the following prompt to Gemini (Google, 2025): “Please create an image of students in a classroom studying grammar concepts.”

In APA Style, software that is mentioned in the body of your paper requires an in-text citation when it is not commonly used for research, or when your reader might not be familiar with the tool. APA Style considers AI an emerging technology, so it is considered an uncommon software and needs to be cited. Compare this to the example for Word Processing software below.

Correct Citation for Word Processing Software

I wrote my paper using Microsoft Word and did my data analysis in Microsoft Excel.

I wrote my paper using LibreOffice Writer (Star Division, 2010) and did my data analysis in Microsoft Excel.

In this example, Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel do not have in-text citations because they are common and well-known software, especially for research purposes. LibreOffice Writer has an in-text citation because it is not as commonly used. The corresponding reference list entry is below:

Star Division. (2010). LibreOffice Writer (Version 25.8.1) [Computer software]. The Document Foundation. https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/writer/

Specific AI Chat or Generated Content

Reference List

General Format

AI Company Name. (year, month day). Title of chat in italics [Description, such as Generative AI chat]. Software Name/Model. URL of the chat

• Date: The date you concluded your chat.
• Title of chat: A descriptive name for the conversation you had with the software.

Example

OpenAI. (2025, August 21). High school grammar concepts [Generative AI chat]. ChatGPT. https://chatgpt.com/share/68a77b60-0ee4-800c-9acc-cd3fd573c311

In-Text

General Format

(AI Company Name, year)

Example

(OpenAI, 2025)

General AI Software

Reference List

General Format

AI Company Name. (year). Software Name/Model in Italics and Title Case [Description; e.g., Large language model]. URL of the software

Example

OpenAI. (2025). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com/

In-Text

General Format

(AI Company Name, year)

Example

(OpenAI, 2025)

Matching In-Text Citations

If you have multiple references with the same in-text citation, add a, b, c, etc. to the end of the matching citations and reference list entries.

Example

In-Text Citations

(OpenAI, 2025a) and (OpenAI, 2025b)

Reference List

OpenAI. (2025a). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com/

OpenAI. (2025b, August 21). High school grammar concepts [Generative AI chat]. ChatGPT. https://chatgpt.com/share/68a77b60-0ee4-800c-9acc-cd3fd573c311

What order do my references go in?

If you have references with the same author or date, use the list below to help order your references. If two references have the same information, move to the next information in the list and compare.

1. Author name
2. Date (general year)
3. Date (specific month and day)
   1. If multiple, use chronological order
4. Title of chat (alphabetical; ignore "A." An," or "The" at the beginning of the title)

APA Style recommends citing the specific AI chat whenever possible. However, you may want to cite the tool itself more broadly instead. Use the table below to identify when to cite the chat vs the tool. Use the examples above to see exactly how to cite each.

Choose whichever format will be most transparent and helpful to your reader. 

Appendices

In some cases it may be better to include a brief mention of AI use in the body of your paper, and include details in an appendix. If you are using an appendix, follow regular APA Style rules regarding in-text citations and appendices.

See the APA Paper Formatting: Appendices guide for more information.

Follow the APA format for Tables, Figures, and Images when adding an image to your assignment.

You may include details about how you generated the image. If you mention the name of the AI software or quote from the output, include an in-text citation as you would in the body of your paper. Remember to include a reference list entry for the image.

Writing a Figure or Table Note

When writing the note for a figure or table, use the example based on

Specific AI chat OR linkable image: Note. Description (if necessary). From Title of chat in italics, by AI Company Name, year (URL of the chat).

General AI software OR image with no direct link: Note. Description (if necessary). From Software Name/Model, by AI Company Name, year (URL of the software homepage).

Example

Figure 1

A Bear in the Mountains

Note. This image was generated by DALL-E (OpenAI, 2022) with the prompt "A naturalistic image of a bear in a meadow with wildflowers on a sunny day and snow-capped mountains and forests in the background." From DALL-E, by OpenAI, 2022 (https://openai.com/product/dall-e-2).

Reference List

OpenAI. (2022). DALL-E. [Text-to-image model]. https://openai.com/product/dall-e-2

When you acknowledge your use of AI you are explaining to your reader exactly how you used AI by quoting or paraphrasing the output.

Why Acknowledge AI?

Because AI does not understand the content it creates, may be biased or contain outdated or incorrect information, and AI outputs may not be unique, acknowledging how you used AI helps place both the AI-generated output and your own writing in context with one another. An acknowledgement can also:

• Help validate your own research process
• Help you be transparent about the tools used for research and writing
• Explain the inclusion of the original output with your work (which should be there!)

How to Acknowledge AI

The acknowledgement belongs in the body of your paper.

It must include:

• What software you used (in-text citation required)
• Your prompt(s)
• The original output (as a quotation or paraphrased, in-text citation required)

It may also include:

• A note on modifications you made
• The revised output

Example

I entered the following prompt into ChatGPT (OpenAI, 2025): “What are synonyms for law enforcement in Canada?” I adapted and modified the original output from “Police, cops, mounties” (OpenAI, 2025) to “Police, officers, RCMP.” 

When you include an AI academic integrity disclaimer, you are stating if and how you used AI to create an assignment. A disclaimer may be required by your instructor, or you may choose to include one.

Disclaimers help us to:

• Ensure academic integrity
• Support transparent learning practices
• Allow instructors to fairly assess student work

The disclaimer belongs on the title page, specifically in the author note section. In APA Style, the "author note provides additional information about authors, study registration, data sharing, disclaimers or statements regarding conflicts of interest, and help or funding that supported the research." (APA, 2020, p. 35, emphasis added).

Examples

Where AI is not permitted or used

I affirm that this work is my own, has not been produced by another person or by artificial intelligence (AI) software, and does not involve any form of plagiarism, cheating, or academic misconduct, as outlined in the JIBC Academic Integrity Policy.

In this disclaimer, the student has not used AI. This disclaimer was provided by the instructor and was a required component of the assignment. The disclaimer appears in the author note on the title page.

Where AI is used (and how)

I used ChatGPT (OpenAI, 2025) to proof-read my paper for academic tone and clarity of ideas.

In this disclaimer, the student has used AI broadly across their entire paper. This disclaimer was written by the student to explain generally how they used AI throughout the assignment. The disclaimer appears in the author note on the title page.

Workshop Recording

Unless otherwise noted, this guide is licensed under a CC BY-SA 4.0 (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License).