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When citing GenAI, think critically about what you are using the tool for, and what you are citing.
Assess your use of GenAI alongside the University’s Responsible AI Use Principles. Always check with your instructor and/or the journal editors about what their preferences and expectations are around citation, use, and disclosure and when each of these is appropriate.
Prior to using generative AI for publications, please confirm if generative AI use is permitted with the journal
If permitted, journals have varied citation/disclosure standards required for manuscripts. Confirm with the journal for their citation/disclosure guidelines.
The 7th edition of the American Psychological Association (APA) publication manual does not provide guidance on citing generative AI.
However, the APA website has provided up-to-date guidance: American Psychology Association blog post [Guidance from September 9th, 2025].
The Modern Language Association Style Center has provided guidance on citing generative AI on their website:
Citing generative AI in MLA blog post [Guidance from August 13 2025]
The 18th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style has guidance on citing AI-generated content [Available through the University of Waterloo Libraries WatIAM login required for access]
The author centre for IEEE has provided the following guidance when using generative AI for IEEE submissions:
"The use of content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) in an article (including but not limited to text, figures, images, and code) shall be disclosed in the acknowledgments section of any article submitted to an IEEE publication. The AI system used shall be identified, and specific sections of the article that use AI-generated content shall be identified and accompanied by a brief explanation regarding the level at which the AI system was used to generate the content.
The use of AI systems for editing and grammar enhancement is common practice and, as such, is generally outside the intent of the above policy. In this case, disclosure as noted above is not required, but recommended.
Information or content contained in or about a manuscript under review shall not be processed through a public platform (directly or indirectly) for AI generation of content for a review. Doing so is considered a breach of confidentiality because AI systems generally learn from any input."
Read more on the IEEE submissions and peer review policies webpage.
The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) has not released guidelines on generative AI citations.
Based on the established guidelines, the guidelines for software on the internet (item #44 on the webpage).
If you require guidance on disclosing your use of AI, please refer to the Artificial Intelligence Disclosure Framework (the AID Framework).
The AID Framework should only be used for attribution of GenAI tools that are approved for use in the research or writing process, with permission of the publisher, supervisor, and/or instructor. You are still required to cite your information sources directly. Using the AID Framework does not replace the need to find reputable and valid sources of information, cite your use of GenAI tools, nor does it imply you have permission to use these tools.