Guidance to Students on how to acknowledge, describe and reference the use of Generative AI tools in assessed work
Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to the use of AI to create new content, such as text, images, music, audio, and videos. There are many Generative AI tools, but common tools are ChatGPT, Bing Chat, DALL.E and Google Bard.
If you have used Generative AI tools when producing your work, it is important that you acknowledge this when submitting your work for assessment. This includes if you have used it to generate materials for background research and independent study, or if you have used it to produce materials which you have subsequently adapted and included in your work. Failure to acknowledge its use will be regarded as academic misconduct by the University.
If using AI tools to correct spelling and grammar, you must follow the Guidance note for Proofreading Written Work and you should acknowledge their use when submitting your work for assessment.
It is strongly recommended that you retain the developmental work (plans, drafts, sketches etc) that you have produced when working on your assignment so that you can demonstrate, if requested, the process you undertook to produce the work submitted for assessment, For example, if you used Generative AI tools as your initial background search, you should keep the material they generated and then show through a version history how you developed and moved on from the content to create your own independent work.
Step 1. You must acknowledge the use of Generative AI tools
If you have used Generative AI tools when producing your work for assessment, you must include a statement in your work, acknowledging their use by naming the tool(s) and how it was used, using the following statement:
I acknowledge the use of (insert name of AI tool(s) and link) to generate materials for background research and independent study and/or that I have adapted to include within the work submitted for assessment. I confirm that all use of AI content is acknowledged and referenced appropriately.
Step 2: Description of use
You must describe how the information or material (including images, computer code, video content etc) was generated, including the prompts you used, what the output was and how the output was changed by you. You should use the following style of wording, depending on the nature of use:
The following prompts were input into (name of AI tool: [Provide details])
The output obtained was: (Paste the full output generated by the AI tool)
Full detail of how the output was adapted: (explain how you adapted the output for use in your work)
Step 3. You must reference the use of AI tools
As the content created in Generative AI tools cannot be replicated by another person and cannot be linked to, you must reference the outputs in the same way that you would a personal communication or correspondence.
Cite them Right has guidance on referencing generative AI.
For example, Cite Them Right Style Harvard is as follows:
In-text Citation:
Format: (Corporate Author, Year)
Example: (OpenAI, 2023)
Reference as per a website:
Format: Author (Year) Title. Source [online]. Available from: website [Accessed date].
Example: OpenAI (2023) ChatGPT [online]. Available from: https://chat.openai.com/ [Accessed 18 September 2023].