AI tools are transforming scientific literature research. To help you get started with this topic, the University Library offers “LOKI” – an e-learning course on AI-assisted literature research (in German only, an English translation is being planned). This OPAL course has been developed with TUCacademy as part of their microcredential learning offerings.
We plan to highlight a few topics from the course over the next few weeks to present them through various channels. In this blog post, we’ll start with a topic that actually comes at the very end of the literature review process: how do I cite AI-generated text?
Can AI-generated text be cited as an academic source at all?
No, output from generative AI is not suitable as a traditional scientific source of knowledge, as it tends to produce so-called hallucinations (confabulations) and can invent sources or bibliographic references. In student papers, references must always be cited from an original academic source; in exceptional cases, at least from a reliable secondary source. AI-generated text is not actually citable.
Are there, however, situations in academic context where AI-generated text outputs need to be cited?
It is difficult to identify specific cases in which outputs from generative AI must actually be cited in academic work. Whether AI tools may be used at all when writing an academic paper is determined by the guidelines und rules of the respective department, research funding agency, or publisher.
In certain cases, however, outputs from AI tools can serve as primary sources and thus become the subject of scholarly analysis – supported by direct quotations. This necessitates transparent documentation. It might be thinkable that written output from AI tools might need to be cited, for example, in the context of linguistic, information science, or technical works that deal with syntax and lexicology or with the functioning and language models of AI systems themselves.
How should the output be cited in such a case? What do the citation guidelines say?
In recent years, the organizations that publish citation guidelines have updated their guidelines or supplemented them with blog posts.
When citing AI tools, the following elements are generally included across all citation styles: title (for text, image, and multimedia generation tools, this is the prompt; if the prompt is too long, only the beginning of it may be sufficient), name and version of the tool, provider (company/organization that developed the tool), date the content was generated, and address (URL of the tool or the prompt).
Specifically, the following is said in the citation guidelines:
MLA
The MLA guidelines emphasize that the AI tool should not be treated as the author.
If the AI’s final output is not publicly available, the URL of the AI program must be provided. Depending on the departments requirements, a copy of the prompt may need to be attached to the paper. If the output is available via a public URL, this should be listed in the bibliography.
| template: | example: |
| bibliography: „Prompt“, Name of AI, Version (if applicable), Publisher/developer, Date the content was generated, URL of content or URL of AI program. | bibliography, with publicly available URL: “How many “r” are there in strawberry?“ prompt. Le Chat AI, Mistral Large, Mistral AI, 28 March 2026, https://chat.mistral.ai/chat/31035bcc-c38c-4457-ba8e-16cd5d94c419. |
| in-text citation: (“text of prompt”) | in-text citation: Comparing the fast and the research modes in Le Chat by Mistral AI one can state that the research mode has come up with a correct answer in this case whereas the fast mode’s reply was proved wrong (“How many „r“ are there in strawberry?”). |
APA
The additional guidance in the blog post “Citing Generative AI in APA Style” recommends documenting the prompt used in an appendix or footnote.
| template: | example: |
| referencing: AI Company Name. (year, month day). Title of chat in italics [Description, such as Generative AI chat]. Tool Name/Model. URL of the chat citing AI tool in general: AI Company Name. (year). Tool Name/Model in Italics and Title Case [Description; e.g., Large language model]. URL of the tool | referencing: Mistral AI. (2026, March 28). How many “r” are there in strawberry? [Generative AI chat]. LeChat (Mistral Large). https://chat.mistral.ai/chat/31035bcc-c38c-4457-ba8e-16cd5d94c419 citing AI tool in general: Mistral AI. (2026). LeChat Mistral Large [Large language model]. https://chat.mistral.ai |
| in-text citation: Author of AI model (year) or (Author of AI model year) | in-text citation: Mistral AI (2026) responses… or (Mistral AI 2026) |
Chicago
Section 14.112 of the Chicago Manual of Style recommends using footnotes to identify AI-generated content, so that the full prompt does not need to be included in the text. Multiple prompts from a longer conversation can be summarized.
Since chat conversations are interpreted as personal communication, they are not typically listed in a bibliography or list of references. If an AI conversation is nevertheless included in such a list, it should be cited under the name of the software company and, if possible, contain a publicly available URL. If the content generated by an AI tool is not publicly accessible, it should not to be included in the bibliography.
| template: | example: |
| in a footnote: 1. Response to “[prompt text],” AI software, Name of the company/developer, date of search. URL | in a footnote: 1. Response to “„How many “r” are there in strawberry?” Le Chat-Mistral Large, Mistral AI, March 28, 2026. https://chat.mistral.ai/chat/31035bcc-c38c-4457-ba8e-16cd5d94c419 |
| in the bibliography / list of references: Name of the company/developer. Response to „[prompt text]“ AI program, date of search. URL | in the bibliography / list of references: Mistral AI. Response to „How many „r“ are there in strawberry?“ Le Chat (Mistral Large), March 28, 2026. https://chat.mistral.ai/chat/31035bcc-c38c-4457-ba8e-16cd5d94c419 |
Harvard
In the Harvard style (see Cite them right), a distinction must be made between whether the output of the GenAI tool is publicly accessible or not. If the output cannot be made publicly available via a URL, it is treated as a private communication between the author and the tool. You should check with your advisor to see if a copy of your chat needs to be included as an attachment to your paper.
| template: | example: |
| in bibliography/list of references without publicly open URL: Company and Name of AI (Year) Medium of communication to Receiver of communication, Day Month of communcation. | in bibliography/list of references without publicly open URL: Mistral AI (2026) Le Chat response to Jochen Kroll, 28 March. |
| in bibliography/list of references with publicly open URL: Name of Tool (Year) AI-generated [medium, e.g. text] by [name LLM] with prompt ‘…’, Day Month. Available at: URL (Accessed: date). | in bibliography/list of references with publicly open URL: Mistral AI (2026) AI-generated text by Le Chat with prompt ‘How many “r” are there in strawberry’, 20 March. Available at: https://chat.mistral.ai/chat/31035bcc-c38c-4457-ba8e-16cd5d94c419 (Accessed: 28 March 2026). |
| in-text citation: Name of Tool (Year)… …(Name of Tool, Year) | in-text citation: Mistral AI (2026) carries out… (Mistral AI, 2026) |
IEEE
The IEEE citation style uses footnotes [1], [2], [3], etc., within the text. The complete references are listed in the bibliography. Generative AI is cited as software (see NTU libguide). The text of prompts can be documented in an appendix.
| template: | example: |
| bibliography: Title of Software. (Date). Repository or Archive. (version or year). Publisher Name. Accessed: Date (when applicable). [Type of Medium]. Available: site/path/file | bibliography: ChatGPT. (GPT-4). OpenAI. Accessed: Sep. 26, 2023. [Online]. Available: https://chat.openai.com/chat |
Background information: “LOKI” E-Learning Course
“LOKI” E-Learning Course is offered by the Chemnitz University Library in cooperation with TUCacademy. In addition to basic research skills, the e-learning course teaches participants about how selected AI tools work and how to use them. When is it appropriate to use them, and when is it not? In addition, the course covers the documentation and citation of AI-generated text, AI features in academic databases, and risks and challenges such as data protection, copyright, and good academic practice.
The german acronym “LOKI” is intended to highlight the ambivalence of the topic by referring to german youth slang and Norse mythology.
Translation supported by DeepL
