UMGC librarians have been testing AI to see if it can accurately proofread and correct a reference citation, and if it can suggest how to do an in-text citation. We've found that AI does a pretty good job, so we can recommend it as a tool for students to use.
Here we'll show you examples of using AI to check an APA citation, but AI will also do a fairly accurate job with other citation styles as well, like MLA and Chicago.
The examples below use Copilot to check citations, but other versions of AI, like ChatGPT, produce similarly useful results.
UMGC students can use Microsoft's AI Copilot for free (if prompted, login with your UMGC email and password).
Please note: If you have problems accessing Copilot, please contact the UMGC Help Center. The Help Center can assist you with Microsoft products, like Copilot, that are freely available to UMGC students.
This video shows an example of using Copilot to check an APA reference citation and then suggest a corresponding in-text citation. After you've watched the video, you can read a copy of the prompts used in the video and Copilot's responses, below.
In the video above, here is the prompt we gave Copilot to check an APA reference citation:
Please check this citation. Is it correct according to APA style? Bukaveckas, Paul A. (2022). Carbon Dynamics at the River–estuarine Transition: A Comparison Among Tributaries of Chesapeake Bay. Biogeosciences, 19(17), 4209–4226. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4209-2022
Here is Copilot's answer, including its explanation of what it did and the corrected citation:
Your citation is almost correct, but there are a few adjustments needed to align it with APA style:
Here is the corrected citation:
Bukaveckas, P. A. (2022). Carbon dynamics at the river–estuarine transition: A comparison among tributaries of Chesapeake Bay. Biogeosciences, 19(17), 4209–4226. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-4209-2022
Does this help? If you have any more citations to check, feel free to share!
Here is how we prompted Copilot to give us an in-text citation for the above reference citation:
Please suggest an in-text citation for that reference citation.
Here is Copilot's answer:
For an in-text citation in APA style, you can use the author's last name and the year of publication. Here are two examples:
Would you like any more help with citations or anything else?
Copilot did an accurate job correcting the reference citation and suggesting an in-text citation!
Ask your professor, and acknowledge your use of AI!
The library recommends that you check with your professor before using AI to proofread citations in an assignment. If, for example, the professor will carefully check your citations and grade them, the professor might want to see your citation work alone, without the assistance of AI.
Whenever you use AI as part of your class work, you should acknowledge that you've done so. When using AI to check citations and help with in-text citations, there is no way to formally cite that within your paper. But you can include a note to your professor when submitting your assignment, something like this: "I wrote the APA references myself first, then used Copilot to proofread them. I also used Copilot to suggest in-text citations."