Learning About Citations with ChatGPT
Learning About Citations with ChatGPT
Alexis Murrell
As a librarian, I often teach guest sessions in courses about research, citation, and library resources. In some of my sessions for WRDS first-year writing classes, I discuss citation styles and how to correctly cite research articles in a reference list.
One activity I like to do with my students involves showing them three different citations from three different citation generators
and asking them to identify which one is correct.
The goal is to encourage students to think critically about how they would verify generated citations and how they might locate citation information from a source to manually generate or confirm a generated citation.
Generative AI tools often come up during these conversations. Many students and faculty
assume that these tools can accurately check citations or generate citations from a linked
resource. When I first implemented this lesson, ChatGPT could check citations for accuracy but could not generate citations directly from a linked resource. During the lesson, I demonstrate how generative AI can be useful for verifying citation accuracy. For example, I work through a ChatGPT conversation in class to illustrate how the tool can help students assess citations. This exercise serves as a way to introduce students to various citation tools available to them. Some students are more comfortable using a tool like ChatGPT to learn about citation styles; this feels more approachable than consulting a stylebook. While I emphasize the importance of using authoritative citation resources like stylebooks and online guides, I also highlight how generative AI platforms can provide similar guidance—along with their inherent limitations within this application.
One significant limitation I discuss is the lack of up-to-date information in ChatGPT. Citation styles are updated regularly, and since GPT-4o pulls from sources no later than October 2023, it may not reflect the most current style guidelines. Additionally, it struggles with providing citation information for less common resources. For example, it provides reliable information about sources like journal articles, books, and pages on websites, but it offers less information for sources like images, videos, and special collections materials.
We explore these nuances during the session, engaging in conversations about different use cases. Ultimately, I encourage students to use the tools that work best for them, while also ensuring they know how to access authoritative resources like official style guides to verify citation accuracy
Since I first taught this lesson, ChatGPT has gained the capability to generate citations in
various styles from a linked resource. However, some of the same pitfalls remain. The tool still relies on outdated information and does not update to reflect changes in citation styles. Furthermore, it still continues to struggle with generating accurate citations for more obscure sources. For example, as noted above, it can create reasonably accurate citations for journal articles and web pages, but it is much less reliable when citing images or artwork.
These ongoing conversations with students about citation and generative AI tools are essential in helping them develop critical evaluation skills, ensuring they understand both the capabilities and limitations of the tools they use in their academic work.