APA-guidelines (based on APA7): Data Sets and software reference examples

Data sets
Software or mobile apps

Data sets consist of research data ('raw data') used in a document for a table, for example.

• If there is no version number it is omitted.
• The publication date for published sets is the year of publication and for unpublished sets is the year(s) of collection.
• If you are citing existing data or statistics, cite the publication in which the data were published (e.g., a journal article, report, or webpage) rather than the data set itself.

Owner of the data set. (Publication date). Title of data set (Version number) [Data set]. Publisher. Retrieved Month day, year, from http://xxxx or https://xxxx or https://doi.org/xxxx

Parenthetical citation: (Pew Research Center, 2018)
Narrative citation: Pew Research Center (2018)

• Common software (e.g. Word, Excel, Photoshop or SPSS) and mobile apps (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) mentioned in the text, but not paraphrased or quoted, do not need citations. Simply give the proper name of the software or app along with version number in the text, if relevant.

• The publication date of a computer software is the year of publication of the version used;
• The bracketed description is flexible: [Computer software], [Mobile app], [Apparatus and software];
• For a mobile app the publisher can be stated as Google Play Store or App Store;
• To cite a content of a social media app see Social Media.

Author, A. (Publication date). Name of programme (Version number) [Description]. Publisher. Retrieved Month day, year, from http://xxxx or https://xxxxx

Parenthetical citation: (Koha-community, 2021)
Narrative citation: Koha-community (2021)

ChatGPT

Regarding source citations for AI-generated texts, like ChatGPT, the APA still needs to formulate guidelines.

For now, the advice is to refer to software generated texts like you would refer to software. Use 'OpenAI' when you mention the author. In addition, include the generated text as an appendix to your report, so the reader or assessor can read the content.

Parenthetical citation: (OpenAI, 2022)
Narrative citation: OpenAI (2022)

Indicate in your text which part is generated by ChatGPT, by using a citation or paraphrase and which orders were given to generate the text. For example:

At “…” write the text/order used for the chatbot.

If you included the by chatbot generated text in the appendix of your report, you only need to refer to the appendix.