Are students guilty of plagiarism is they use ChatGPT or AI? MLA and APA say yes
- hughconrad52
- 34 minutes ago
- 4 min read
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During my four decades of teaching, I — fortunately — did not have to deal with the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) or ChatGBT. Certainly, in my later years, we had to confront the use of Wikipedia, but I tried my best to explain to college students how that should never be used in an academic essay or paper -- as a citation.
Today, however, teachers and professors and instructors must deal with the reality that students use these tools to actually write their papers.
Is this plagiarism?
To answer that, I researched through the two best-known organizations for citations of papers and essays: the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Psychological Association (APA).
In essence, they both strongly agree that use of these invariably invites charges of plagiarism.
MLA Directives
Here is what the MLA Citation Guide says about the use of those two controversial sources,
If you have used AI-generated content in your assignment, you are required not only to provide proper citations, but also, to explain how you used AI for your assignment.
For example, did the AI tool translate words for you? Did it explain a concept to you? Did it give you a plan for how you would structure your assignment? Describe all of the ways in which the AI tool(s) helped you.
If your assignment contains content that was originally generated by an AI tool and then modified (for example, you edited text that you got from ChatGPT, and then added it to your assignment), you should acknowledge this as well.
You can do this at any point in your assignment (in the introduction, the body text, and/or any other appropriate place).
Also, be sure to confirm that your instructor allows the use of AI tools in assignments.
“AI-Generated Content,” MLA Citation Guide (9th Edition)
APA directives on scholarly citations
Here is how the APA presents it for those who are writing using its tools for scholarly presentations,
Generative artificial intelligence, specifically the kind based on Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, has become a transformative force in many fields. Scholarly writing and publishing are no different, and generative AI has begun to have an impact on scholarly work.
In response to this impact, the APA Publications and Communications Board has approved policies regarding the use of generative AI in scholarly materials.
These policies (as well as APA policies on other potential issues in scholarly publishing, and additional reading on the subject) can be found on the APA Publishing Policies page and will continue to develop as we gain a better understanding of the effects of generative AI on scholarly publishing.
APA’s current policies on generative AI are:
When a generative AI model is used in the drafting of a manuscript for an APA publication, the use of AI must be disclosed in the methods section and cited.
AI cannot be named as an author on an APA scholarly publication.
“APA Journals policy on generative AI,” American Psychological Association, Current.
Is this plagiarism?
First, the use of these two is not automatically plagiarism, but guidelines are very specific, and the use are generally discouraged by teachers and professors.
To determine whether or not it is plagiarism, I copied something from Google. Yes, in a way, I feel like students who used Wiki this way, but it is interesting to see what AI says about AI. This is what I found from AI in order to obtain this information about the issue. In reality, it looks good based on what is presented above,
Under MLA guidelines, the unattributed use of content from ChatGPT or other AI tools is considered plagiarism. The MLA requires that any ideas, words, or other content (such as images) generated by an AI tool must be properly cited and acknowledged in your work.
Failure to provide proper attribution for AI-generated content is a form of academic misconduct, just like using a human-authored source without citation.
AI through Google
The APA stance through AI
According to APA guidelines, using content generated by AI tools like ChatGPT without proper acknowledgment and citation is considered plagiarism. The core principle is that any ideas, words, or content that is not your own must be attributed to its source.
Here is a breakdown of the APA stance:
Citation is Mandatory: You must provide an in-text citation and a reference list entry whenever you quote, paraphrase, or even use ideas generated by an AI tool in your work.
Transparency is Key: Authors are required to be transparent about how AI was used. This often involves describing the use of the AI tool in the paper's introduction or methods section and potentially including the full prompt and response in an appendix or supplemental material.
Responsibility Remains with the Human Author: The APA emphasizes that the human author is fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and ethical use of all information in their work, including AI-generated content. This means you must fact-check any information the AI provides.
AI Cannot be an Author: AI models cannot be listed as an author of a scholarly publication because authorship implies responsibility and ownership that AI cannot fulfill.
Conclusion
If students want to use either ChatGBT or AI generally, they must be very careful and follow the guidelines listed above, along with those presented by their teachers or professors.
Some professionals have different opinions on the use of both of these, so they must be the final ones in the process.
The guidelines above are very clear from the MLA and APA guidelines. Life is so difficult for professors and teachers that they are now going back to having students write essays and papers long-hand.
That can help, but it is a shame in a sense that they are forced to do so.
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