Referencing AI in your work

Referencing is used to acknowledge sources that contribute to your writing. This may include books, journal articles, websites, newspaper articles, personal communication, and more recently, the use of AI tools and technologies. Failure to reference correctly will result in plagiarism and its associated penalties.

According to the UNSW plagiarism policy: copying material from other sources without acknowledgment, as well as incorrectly paraphrasing (changing a few words around while retaining the original structure and/or progression of ideas), are both grounds for plagiarism. This means that if you use outputs generated by AI in your assessment, you must cite and attribute this information accordingly.

Yes. It is important to let readers know where you get your information and who authored the work. This is so others can ensure the work is yours and can locate and verify the sources you are using.

If AI outputs (text or images generated by AI) are featured in your work, you need to flag this material with proper referencing, acknowledging that AI tools have been used. 

It is important to cite and acknowledge the use of AI tools if you have used them as part of an assessment. This helps to ensure the academic integrity of your work.

Should any parts of your work get detected as ‘AI generated’, referencing this material appropriately does not guarantee you have upheld academic integrity guidelines.

If you have used an AI tool’s output in your work and are unsure whether to cite it, it is always better to reference this material rather than leave it unacknowledged.

When using AI tools in academic work, it's crucial to acknowledge their impact on your research and ideas to uphold academic integrity. This includes any significant assistance from AI, such as clarifying concepts, identifying literature, or influencing the research direction, regardless of whether AI-generated content is directly quoted.

Acknowledging AI contributions maintains transparency and integrity, whether they've provided content, influenced themes and arguments, or supported research and analysis.

Before using AI to edit your work, make sure you have been given permission by your Course Authority to do so. Ultimately, you are responsible for the work you submit, and the suggestions made by AI tools may not always be accurate or reflect the quality of your ideas.

When it is permitted and you have used AI tools to edit, alter or translate your work, you should also acknowledge this with a brief statement under your reference list or at the bottom of the document.

Example of an acknowledgement

Acknowledgement:
I would like to acknowledge the assistance provided by [Name of AI tool] which offered editorial suggestions. Some examples of prompts I used include [list prompts here]. 

Generative AI tools should not be treated as a source like any other. Large Language Models (LLM) like ChatGPT use a multitude of data to inform its outputs, and in some cases, the information these tools provide may not be up-to-date or accurate.

AI tools may also, unknowingly, plagiarise other sources, or may not have correctly cited or attributed original author/s. In addition, these tools might "hallucinate" sources, making the information look and sound legitimate but are in fact fake.