Your course lecturer can tell you if you are able to use content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) tools in your assessment tasks, including content generated by tools such as OpenAI's ChatGPT. Please confirm with your course lecturer for a specific assessment task before using any AI tools.
If you are able to use AI tools in your assessment task, you need to appropriately acknowledge and reference all of the AI-generated content that you include. Failure to reference this AI-generated content can result in academic misconduct.
Please note that the information about using generative AI tools such as ChatGPT will continue to be updated - we recommend checking this guide regularly and confirming with your course lecturer if you are unsure. We will be reviewing and updating the referencing guidelines for text generated by AI tools after the RMIT Semester 1 (HE) assessment period (Monday the 26th of June 2023).
AI tools that generate text, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT (GPT stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer), are large language models with a conversational type of interface, where you can ask a question, receive a detailed response and follow up with additional queries.
Generative text-based AI tools have been trained on large amounts of text data, which they use to create responses to prompts from users. There are restrictions on the information these AI tools use. For example, their access to scholarly information and valid scientific studies is limited, and they often find information from less reputable sources, like social media. Also, the content generated by AI tools is not always accurate, and the references provided by these tools are not always correct.
The text content generated by AI tools such as OpenAI's ChatGPT is not published and is an example of a nonrecoverable source. As content generated by artificial intelligence is an emerging technology, there are not yet clear guidelines for how to incorporate it into existing referencing styles such as APA 7th, Chicago, etc.
Our current recommendation is to reference AI-generated text as a personal communication or written correspondence in the relevant referencing style. Please note that our recommendations for how to reference AI-generated content may change in the future as referencing style manuals are updated. We will be reviewing and updating the referencing guidelines for text generated by AI tools after the RMIT Semester 1 (HE) assessment period (Monday the 26th of June 2023).
If you are referring to content generated by AI tools within your work, we recommend that you include this AI-generated content as an appendix or supplemental information. It is also good practice to include the question or prompt that generated the response to provide context for your readers.
In the APA 7th style, personal communications are not included in the reference list and are only cited in the text. Within the in-text citation, include the name of the communicator and as exact a date as possible, for example:
In-text citation - narrative (author-prominent):
Rule: Context of communication with Communicator (personal communication, Month Day, Year)
Examples: When asked to explain ..., OpenAI's ChatGPT's response included ... (personal communication, February 22, 2023)
When asked ..., Bing Chat responded with ... (personal communication, March 2, 2023)
In-text citation - parenthetical (information-prominent):
Rule: (Communicator, personal communication, Month Day, Year)
Examples: (OpenAI's ChatGPT, personal communication, February 22, 2023)
(Bing Chat, personal communication, March 2, 2023)
In the RMIT Harvard style, personal communications are not included in the reference list and are only cited in the text. Within the in-text citation, include the name of the communicator and as exact a date as possible, for example:
In-text citation - narrative (author-prominent):
Rule: Context of communication with Communicator (personal communication, Day Month Year)
Examples: When asked to explain ..., OpenAI's ChatGPT's response included ... (personal communication, 22 February 2023)
When asked ..., Bing Chat responded with ... (personal communication, 2 March 2023)
In-text citation - parenthetical (information-prominent):
Rule: (Communicator, personal communication, Day Month Year)
Examples: (OpenAI's ChatGPT, personal communication, 22 February 2023)
(Bing Chat, personal communication, 2 March 2023)
Chicago A (footnotes)
In the Chicago A (footnote) style, personal communications are cited in a footnote, but are not listed in the bibliography.
Rule: Note number. Correspondent's Full Name, medium if relevant, Month Day, Year
Example: 1. OpenAI's ChatGPT, response to prompt from author, February 22, 2023
Shortened note rule: Note number. Correspondent's last name, medium
Example: 1. ChatGPT, response to prompt from author
Chicago B (author-date)
In the Chicago B (author-date) style personal communications are cited within the text, but are not listed in the reference list.
Rule: (Correspondent's Full Name, medium if relevant, Month Day, Year)
Example: (OpenAI's ChatGPT, response to prompt from author, February 22, 2023)
The RMIT Vancouver guide is based on the e-book Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors, and Publishers [Internet]. 2nd edition. The NLM Style Guide recommends that personal communications are only cited in the text, and are not included in the reference list. Generally, the Vancouver referencing style uses numbered in-text citations, but for personal communications the advice is:
Example: In response to the question ..., OpenAI's ChatGPT gave the following response ... (2023 Feb 22, unreferenced).
In IEEE, personal communications are included as numbered in-text citations that match the corresponding reference list entry. Use the full name of the AI tool as the author.
Reference list entry:
Template: Reference number. Author name, private communication, Mon. Year
Example: 1. OpenAI's ChatGPT, private communication, Feb. 2023
The Australian Guide to Legal Citation 4th edition does not specifically contain information about citing and referencing personal communications, however the written correspondence section (p125) contains sources that can be categorised as personal communications. The advice below is therefore based on the written correspondence template:
Rule: Note number Type of correspondence from Author to Recipient, full date
Example: 1 Response from OpenAI's ChatGPT to Matt Smith, 22 February 2023
