One of the most common complaints about ChatGPT is that it provides information whose veracity and accuracy are questionable. This is due to the fact that ChatGPT does not provide citations, footnotes, or links to the sources from which its answers are derived.

However, this statement is only partially accurate.

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How to make ChatGPT supply citations and sources

If you know how to effectively prompt ChatGPT, it will provide you with source information. Listed below are the steps.

1. compose a query and request assistance from ChatGPT

You must begin by posing a question to ChatGPT that requires sources or citations. I've discovered that it's preferable to pose questions with lengthy responses, so that ChatGPT has more "meat" to digest.

Keep in mind that ChatGPT will no longer be able to provide any information after 2021, and requests for pre-Internet information (such as for a paper on Ronald Reagan's presidency) will have significantly fewer sources available.

Here's an example of a prompt I wrote about a subject I worked on extensively during graduate school:

Describe the cognitive, behavioral, and constructivist theories of learning.

2. Request that ChatGPT cite its sources

Here is where a bit of expedient engineering comes into play. This question is an excellent starting point.

Please provide references for the preceding response.

I've discovered that this frequently yields offline sources, such as books, articles, etc. The issue with offline sources is that you cannot verify their credibility. However, this is merely a starting point. This is the superior query:

Please provide URL sources

This tells ChatGPT explicitly that you want interactive links to sources. You can also modify this by requesting a particular number of sources, although the number of results you receive may vary:

Please provide 10 URL sources

In the next stage, we will determine what can be done with these.

3. Attempt to validate and/or verify the provided sources

Keep in mind this fundamental rule regarding sources provided by ChatGPT: ChatGPT is frequently incorrect.

I've asked ChatGPT for URL sources numerous times, and roughly half of the URLs provided are simply broken. More than 25 percent of the links are to topics that are extraneous to the one you are attempting to cite.

For instance, I requested sources for a backgrounder on the phrase "trust, but verify," which is commonly attributed to Ronald Reagan, president of the United States during the 1980s. The majority of the sources I received back did not exist. I received some links that led me to active pages on the Reagan Presidential Library website, but the page content had nothing to do with the phrase in issue.

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Step 1's question on learning theory went a tad better for me. There, I received offline communications from individuals whom I knew from my studies had actually worked on the theories in question. I was also returned URLs, but only about two out of ten were functional or accurate.

But don't despair. The expectation is not that ChatGPT will provide sources that are immediately usable. Instead, if you consider ChatGPT as a research assistant, it will provide you with excellent starting points. Use the titles of the articles (which may be entirely fabricated or simply inaccessible) and enter them into Google. This will provide you with interesting search queries, which will more than likely lead to fascinating reads and material that can legitimately be incorporated into your research.

Also, remember that you are not limited to ChatGPT. Even though ChatGPT exists, you shouldn't neglect about the other tools available to researchers and students. Conduct independent Internet searches. If you have access to primary sources and subject matter experts, consult with them. If you are in school, you can even seek assistance from your neighborhood librarian.

There are numerous outstanding traditional sources. Google Scholar and JSTOR, for example, provide access to a variety of academically-acceptable resources that can be cited with a reasonable degree of assurance.

Last but not least, if you simply copy and paste ChatGPT sources into your investigation, you're likely to get in trouble. Use it as a source of information, not as an excuse to avoid real investigation.

FAQ

How are sources cited in APA style?

APA style is a citation format mandated by many academic programs. APA stands for the American Psychological Association, and I've often believed that they created these style guidelines in order to attract more clients. However, the Purdue OWL is the definitive starting point for APA style. It provides a variety of aesthetic recommendations.

Caution: online formatters may not do a thorough job, and your professor may return your work. It pays off to do the labor yourself and with care.

How can I ensure that ChatGPT's responses are supported by more reliable sources?

This is a valid inquiry. Occasionally -- occasionally -- if you ask ChatGPT for additional sources or re-ask for sources, it will provide you with additional listings. If you inform ChatGPT that the sources it provided were inaccurate, it will occasionally provide you with more accurate ones. It may also merely repent and provide explanations. Alternately, you can re-ask your original query with a new emphasis or direction and then request sources for the new answer.

Again, my best piece of advice is to refrain from using ChatGPT as a tool that writes for you and instead utilize it as a writing assistant. Requesting sources so that you can simply copy and paste a ChatGPT response constitutes close to plagiarism. But it is perfectly acceptable to use ChatGPT's response and any sources you can glean from it as leads for further research and writing.

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Why are ChatGPT sources typically so incorrect?

For some connections, it's just link rot. Some connections may have changed, as all sources are at least three years old. Other sources' ages are undetermined. Since we do not have a complete list of ChatGPT's sources, it is impossible to determine their initial reliability. However, due to the fact that ChatGPT was largely trained without human supervision, we know that the majority of its sources were not vetted and therefore may be incorrect, fabricated, or nonexistent.

Trust, but verify.