Referencing the use of generative AI in your work
08/07/2026

We recognise that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has, and will increasingly, become a part of our everyday lives and that we need to adapt to it. Hopefully you will have already seen the guidance for staff and students that has been published on MyCranfield.
It is provisional as we recognise that we are at the beginning of a long journey and over time our position may change. It’s a journey that we are on together and we have much to learn about how to embrace the opportunities that AI will present in education and research and beyond, how to adapt to it, how to avoid misuse and how to provide effective support and guidance.
- Considerations for using generative AI in academic work.
- Acknowledging the use of generative AI in academic work.
- In-text citations and inclusion of AI generated output in a reference list.
- Use of standardised referencing styles.
Please note that this advice is also provisional and will also change over time, so please refer back to it often in case we make any updates.
If you have any questions about referencing AI in your work, please get in touch with us.
An example of an output produced by a generative AI tool

Image created by generative AI Craiyon.
Acknowledgement
Craiyon was used to create the above image.
The prompt used was: landscape in a futuristic style.
The category chosen was ‘Art’.
Citation in an APA7 style:
Craiyon. (2024, January 22). Craiyon [AI Image Generator]. https://www.craiyon.com/
————-
Banner image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Categories & Tags:
Leave a comment on this post:
You might also like…
Using AI tools for your literature review
There are a proliferation of AI tools that can help you organise your life, work and study. This post focuses on academic or scholarly tools that have been developed to enhance the literature searching process, whether for independent research, an assignment or thesis. Bear in mind that these predominantly relate to finding journal/research papers, and not technical, business or trade sources such as standards, market research, industry reports or financial data. So ...
Finding successful past Cranfield theses
It’s always a good idea to look at examples of theses before you start work on your own. You may find them valuable for reading previous research, and for looking at structure, style and methodology. ...
On‑campus or off‑campus? How Cranfield students found their home away from home
Finding the right place to live is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make as you begin your student journey. Whether you’re looking for the convenience and community of living on-campus or the independence ...
Avoiding common referencing errors
As librarians, we get to see the full spectrum of reference lists in student work —from exemplary to … well, let’s just say, works still very much in progress! We are experts in spotting mistakes ...
Using your Mendeley library after you have left Cranfield
So you have spent the whole year (or more) lovingly collecting references around the topics that matter to you and now you have a large, personalised library in Mendeley Reference Manager containing all that information. ...
Referencing the use of generative AI in your work
We recognise that Artificial Intelligence (AI) has, and will increasingly, become a part of our everyday lives and that we need to adapt to it. Hopefully you will have already seen the guidance for staff ...
