Instructions for Disclosing Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence

These instructions are for authors who have used (or plan to use) generative AI in a research proposal, report, article, award application, or other work that will be submitted to the Natural Hazards Center. Please read our Policy on Generative Artificial Intelligence for a full explanation of our expectations for AI use and examples that require disclosure. As stated in the policy, AI tools should never be used to create data, original scholarly writing, or other related outputs.

Any submission that does not comply with the AI disclosure policy outlined below will be returned to the author without review. If you are unsure if the disclosure requirement applies to you or have other questions about our AI policy, please reach out to us at hazctr@colorado.edu.

Steps for Disclosing AI Use

Authors who used generative AI at any point in their research or writing process should disclose each use in the body of their contribution and in an author note. This includes researchers who use (or plan to use) AI to conduct research and authors who use AI to assist in writing their proposal, report, or article. Please follow the two steps explained below.

Step 1. Cite and Provide a Full Reference

Authors should explain each way that they used generative AI in the body of the paper, cite the AI tool or chat (see below for more information on circumstances when it is encouraged to cite specific AI chats), and add a full reference. Authors should use their discretion in determining which section of their paper to disclose AI use. As a rule of thumb, consider the following guidelines:

• If AI was used during the writing process, describe and cite its use in the introduction.
• If AI was used to identify or summarize past research, describe and cite its use in the literature review section.
• If AI was used during the research process, describe and cite its use in the methods section.

See below for information on how to format AI in-text citations and reference entries.

Step 2. Add an Author Note

Authors should briefly summarize each way that they used AI in an author note. Your note should cite the AI chats or tools that you used. During the submissions process, you will be provided with instructions on where to place the author note in your manuscript as the placement will vary depending on whether you are submitting a proposal, report, article, or other submission. Please closely follow the instructions you are provided.

Here is an example of an author note:

• Author note on use of generative AI: During the research process, we used Nvivo Transcription (Lumivero, 2025) to transcribe interviews. We disclosed our plan to use this AI transcription tool to research participants during the consent process and received their approval. We removed all personal identifying information from the audio files prior to sharing them with AI. After the transcription was completed, we closely compared the AI transcripts to the audio files to verify their accuracy and updated the transcripts when the AI had made errors. During the preparation of this report, we used ChatGPT (OpenAI, 2025) to edit the report and provide feedback on its organization and clarity. Prior to sharing the manuscript with AI, we obtained approval from all co-authors and research collaborators. After using this AI tool, we reviewed the AI output, verified each cited source, and substantially revised the text. We take full responsibility for the content of this report and all research elements.

Format for AI Citations and References

The Center follows the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA, 7th edition) style guide and reporting standards. The APA recently updated its style guide to include information on how to cite specific AI chats or general use of an AI tool.

Below we summarize APA’s guidance for when and how to cite AI chats or tools. Authors should use their discretion when deciding which type of citation format to use. For APA’s full guidance and detailed examples, please see the APA Style Blog's post, “Citing generative AI in APA Style: Part 1—Reference formats.”

Citing Specific AI Chats

Most AI tools now include a sharing option that allows you to generate a unique URL to specific chats. Authors should cite specific AI chats when doing so is helpful for the reader. For example, if you used AI to generate a research instrument or code for data analysis, readers may want to review the AI chat output. Peer reviewers may also request to see AI chats during the review process.

APA recommends that authors preserve any AI chats and prompts that they used to generate research or writing elements to ensure full transparency. See the APA Style Blog post linked above for more information on documenting AI prompts.

Here is the reference template for citing a specific AI chat:

• Date. Use the full date on which you conducted or concluded the AI chat.
• Description. Authors can use their discretion in deciding what description of the AI chat to put in brackets after the title. Currently, “Generative AI chat” is usually sufficient, but other descriptions which provide more detail are welcome.

Citing an AI Tool Generally

Authors should cite an AI tool generally when citing an AI chat would be unhelpful or otherwise inappropriate. For example, it would be unhelpful to cite AI chats that are not central to your work, such as using AI to generate statistical code that was not important to your final analysis. Similarly, it would be inappropriate to cite dozens of AI chats in ways that inflate the reference list. In these instances, citing the AI tool generally is appropriate.

Here is the reference template for citing an AI tool generally:

• Year. In contrast to citing an AI chat, when you are citing an AI tool the date is the year in which the AI tool was most recently updated. If you are unsure of the date, ask the AI.
• Description. For the description of the AI in brackets after the title, use a term that best fits the type of AI model or tool you used. For chat tools, currently “[Large language model]” is usually correct, but other descriptions are possible.

Additional Information

AI Cannot Be an Author

Do not list AI as a co-author or cite an AI tool as an author on your proposal, report, or application. Only humans—or human-run organizations—can be authors. When you cite AI, the company that made the AI tool should be named as the author in the citation. See instructions on formatting AI citations and references above for more information. Readers interested in an ethical consideration of this topic should see “The ethics of disclosing the use of artificial intelligence tools in writing scholarly manuscripts,” by Mohammad Hosseini, David B. Resnik, and Kristi Holmes.

Disclosure Not Required for Basic Grammar, Spelling, or Reference Tools

Authors do not need to disclose the use of basic AI tools that are integrated into computer applications, such as basic spelling or grammar tools integrated into word processors or reference tools that automatically format citations. In addition, authors usually do not need to disclose the use of AI-assisted search engines, unless such use substantially affects the research or writing process. For a fuller discussion of this topic, see “Disclosing artificial intelligence use in scientific research and publication: When should disclosure be mandatory, optional, or unnecessary?” by David B. Resnik and Mohammad Hosseini.

Questions?

If you have questions or suggestions regarding this policy or disclosure instructions, please reach out to us at hazctr@colorado.edu.

Published: May 2026