Referencing & academic integrity

What the IB expects

• Your submitted work must be your own thinking and writing.
• If you use words, ideas, data, images or AI output, you must say so clearly — both in-text and in your Works Cited.
• Using AI to learn — to brainstorm viewpoints, to find search terms — is acceptable. Using AI to pretend you did the thinking is not.
• When you use AI text or images, the IB expects an in-text reference that includes the prompt and the date, plus a full Works Cited entry. A short "how I used AI" note at the end of your work is good practice.

MLA quick rules

1. In-text citations sit inside your sentences whenever you paraphrase or quote — usually (Author page). No page number? Use the author, or a short title.
2. Quotation marks for any exact words you copy.
3. Works Cited is a single alphabetized list, hanging indents, double-spaced.
4. Build entries from MLA's core elements, as available: Author. Title of source. Title of container, other contributors, Version, Number, Publisher, Publication date, Location (pages / URL / DOI).
5. Prefer DOIs over bare URLs. If you must use a URL, strip the tracking junk. Add Accessed day Month year for sources likely to change.
6. Be consistent — the same style across news, videos, websites, reports, images and datasets.

Citing AI in MLA

In-text — required by the IB

Work the attribution into your sentence, and include the prompt and the date:

According to ChatGPT (prompt: "Define legitimacy with a school example", 12 Sep. 2025), …

or parenthetically:

"…school norms can create perceived right to rule" ("ChatGPT response to 'Define legitimacy…'", 12 Sep. 2025).

Works Cited

Text output used in the work

OpenAI. ChatGPT. Response to "Define legitimacy with a school example." 12 Sept. 2025, chat.openai.com. (Include the version if you know it.)

Image generated and used

OpenAI. DALL·E. Image generated with prompt "Poster illustrating civil society's role in local politics." 5 Oct. 2025. PNG file.

If the output is not publicly retrievable, the prompt and date are what let a reader understand what you used — MLA allows descriptive titles like Response to "…" for exactly this. The IB also encourages a brief AI-use statement at the end of your work, for example: "I used ChatGPT on 12 Sep. 2025 to brainstorm counter-arguments; I rewrote and checked all points and cited any text I used verbatim or closely paraphrased."

Fast templates

Source	Pattern
Book	Lastname, Firstname. Title. Publisher, Year.
Chapter in an edited book	Lastname, Firstname. "Chapter Title." Book Title, edited by Editor Name, Publisher, Year, pp. xx–xx.
Journal article (with DOI)	Lastname, Firstname. "Article Title." Journal, vol. #, no. #, Year, pp. xx–xx. https://doi.org/xxxxx
News / web article	Lastname, Firstname. "Title." Site, Day Mon. Year, URL. Accessed Day Mon. Year.
YouTube video	Channel/Name. "Video Title." YouTube, uploaded by Uploader, Day Mon. Year, URL.
Report (organization as author)	Organization Name. Title of Report. Publisher (if different), Year, URL/DOI.
Image	Creator. Title / Description. Year, Site/Collection, URL. Accessed …
Interview you conducted	Interviewee Lastname, Firstname. Interview. Day Mon. Year.

Good practice with AI and sources

Do

• Keep your drafts and notes — teachers may ask to see your process.
• Cross-check AI leads in real sources, and cite the originals you actually used.
• Add a short "how I used AI" note if AI featured anywhere in your workflow.

Don't

• Paste AI text or images without attribution.
• Ask AI to rewrite your entire piece for submission.
• Use AI to translate your assessed work into the IB language of study.

The one-minute pre-submission check

• Every quotation and paraphrase has an in-text citation.
• Works Cited matches what appears in-text, and vice versa.
• Any AI use is transparent — in-text, in Works Cited, and ideally in a short note.