Research Guides: AI in Research: Copyright, Citation & AI

Data, Publishing and Digital Scholarship

DPDS fosters the use of digital content and transformative technology in scholarship and academic activities. We provide consultative and technical support for a wide range of tools and platforms. We work with the campus community to publish, promote, and preserve the digital products of research through consultation, teaching, and systems administration. Our areas of expertise include data curation, research data management, computational research, digital humanities, and scholarly communication.

Note

Use of AI is fraught with complications involving accuracy, bias, academic integrity, and intellectual property and may not be appropriate in all academic settings. This guide is meant more for academic researchers looking to utilize AI tools in their research.

Students are strongly advised to consult with their instructor before using AI-generated content in their research or coursework. For information on Generative AI take a look at the Generative AI and Information Literacy guide.

AI & UC Irvine-Licensed Resources

In most cases you cannot use AI with Licensed Resources due to copyright and licensing agreements between the library and vendor that govern these resources.

For example, the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers (STM) was quite clear in their position on copyright and AI: "The collection of our members' content and its use in AI training without authorization, compensation, or attribution, amounts to infringement."

For more general information about use of UC Irvine-Licensed Resources see: Conditions of Use and Licensing Restrictions for Electronic Resources.

Copyright

Copyright and Artificial Intelligence – U.S. Copyright Office
"The Copyright Office has launched an initiative to examine the copyright law and policy issues raised by artificial intelligence (AI) technology, including the scope of copyright in works generated using AI tools and the use of copyrighted materials in AI training. "
Copyright Registration Guidance: Works Containing Material Generated by Artificial Intelligence - United States Copyright Office (PDF)
Sharing & Publication Policy – OpenAI
The Use of Generative AI and AI-assisted Technologies in Writing for Elsevier
When AI Is Writing, Who Is the Author? – Inside Higher Edu

How to Cite

Publishers may have different policies on whether or not generative AI is allowed and how to cite it. Check your publisher's information for authors webpage, or contact their editorial staff, for details.

If using a chatbot or other generative AI-created content, here are ways to acknowledge that usage:

Cite it in the text and references of your work
Describe your use as part of your methodology
Include an appendix with screenshots or transcripts of prompts and AI-generated responses

Citation Examples

Examples for different citation styles:

APA 7 reference	OpenAI. (Year). ChatGPT (Month Day version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com
MLA 9 works cited entry	“Tell me about confirmation bias” prompt. ChatGPT, Day Month. version, OpenAI, Day Month Year, chat.openai.com.
Chicago footnote	ChatGPT, response to “Tell me about confirmation bias,” Month Day, Year, https://chat.openai.com.