AI, Plagiarism, and Citation of Sources

Even though we have already covered College Board’s policy regarding Academic Dishonesty and the use of AI, it is essential that all students have a clear understanding of the expectations.

In accordance with AP’s Capstone Policies, here is a reminder of the expectations and policies for all students in AP Research:

Plagiarism and Falsification or Fabrication of Information

Participating teachers shall inform students of the consequences of plagiarism and instruct students to ethically use and acknowledge the ideas and work of others throughout their coursework. The student’s individual voice should be clearly evident, and the ideas of others must be acknowledged, attributed, and/or cited.

A student who fails to acknowledge the source or author of any and all information or evidence taken from the work of someone else through citation, attribution, or reference in the body of the work, or through a bibliographic entry, will receive a score of 0 on that particular component of the AP Seminar and/or AP Research Performance Task. In AP Seminar, a team of students that fails to properly acknowledge sources or authors on the Team Multimedia Presentation will receive a group score of 0 for that component of the Team Project and Presentation.

A student who incorporates falsified or fabricated information (e.g., evidence, data, sources, and/or authors) will receive a score of 0 on that particular component of the AP Seminar and/or AP Research Performance Task. In AP Seminar, a team of students that incorporates falsified or fabricated information in the Team Multimedia Presentation will receive a group score of 0 for that component of the Team Project and Presentation.

Why can’t you rely on AI?
You never know what you are going to get. Follow the guidelines, & ALWAYS double check

AP Capstone Policy on Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Generative AI tools must be used ethically, responsibly, and intentionally to support student learning, not to bypass it. Accordingly, all performance tasks submitted in AP Seminar and AP Research must be the student’s own work. While students are permitted to use generative AI tools consistent with this policy, their use is optional and not mandatory.

Students can use generative AI tools as optional aids for exploration of potential topics of inquiry, initial searches for sources of information, confirming their understanding of a complex text, or checking their writing for grammar and tone. However, students must read primary and secondary sources directly, perform their own analysis and synthesis of evidence, and make their own choices on how to communicate effectively both in their writing and presentations. It remains the student’s responsibility to engage deeply with credible, valid sources and integrate diverse perspectives when working on the performance tasks. Students must complete interim “checkpoints” with their teacher to demonstrate genuine engagement with the tasks.

Required Checkpoints and Affirmations

To ensure students are not using generative AI to bypass work, students must complete interim checkpoints with their teacher to demonstrate genuine engagement with the tasks.

AP Seminar and AP Research students will need to complete the relevant checkpoints successfully to receive a score for their performance tasks. Teachers must affirm, to the best of their knowledge, that students completed the checkpoints authentically. Failure to complete the checkpoints will result in a score of 0 on the associated task.

Checkpoints:

In AP Seminar, teachers assess the authenticity of student work based on checkpoints that take the form of short conversations with students during which students make their thinking and decision-making visible (similar to an oral defense). These checkpoints should occur during the sources and research phase (IRR and IWA), and argument outline phase (IWA only).
In AP Research, students must complete checkpoints in the form of in-progress meetings and work in the Process and Reflection Portfolio (PREP).

Affirmation of Authenticity:

In AP Seminar and AP Research, teachers are also required to affirm, to the best of their knowledge, that the student’s final submission is authentic student work.

College Board reserves the right to investigate submissions where there is evidence of the inappropriate use of generative AI as an academic integrity violation and request from students copies of their interim work for review.

Citation Matters!

The easiest way to ensure that you are not flagged for potential academic dishonesty is to be sure to attribute all of your work and sources properly. Your style of citation will depend upon your topic and style of research; however, academic disciplines utilize different citation and formatting styles that are dependent upon and based upon their field’s requirements and needs. It wouldn’t make sense to include formulas in a literature textbook, right?

Infographic of Popular Citation Styles. Full text available in the table at the end of the lesson

When you write a report, essay, or presentation, you often use information from books, websites, articles, or interviews. This information helps support your ideas and shows that you've done research. But whenever you use someone else's words, ideas, or facts, you must cite your sources. Here's why:

Giving Credit Where It's Due - Citing sources shows respect for the original creators. Just like you’d want credit for your hard work, authors, scientists, and researchers deserve recognition for theirs. It’s a way of saying, “I learned this from someone else.”

Showing You Did Your Research -When you include citations, it proves that you didn’t just make things up—you looked up reliable information. This makes your work more trustworthy and shows your teacher (or audience) that you took the time to learn. You’re developing not only your research skills, but your ethos as well.

Avoiding Plagiarism - Plagiarism means using someone else’s work and pretending it’s your own. It’s considered cheating and can lead to serious consequences in school and beyond. Citing sources helps you stay honest and ethical. Since this course is rooted in the development of ethical research, citation and proper attribution is key.

Helping Others Learn More - When you cite a source, you’re giving your readers a path to find more information. If someone wants to learn more about your topic, they can look up the sources you used. In the same way that you will look at the Bibliographies of the articles that you will use in your own research, your Bibliography and citations serve as a foundational path for others interested in the same topic to find and use credible research.

Practicing Academic Skills - Learning to cite sources is part of becoming a strong student and thinker, and it is essential for ethical and advanced research, which is the entire purpose of this course.

Use the chart below as a general reference; you can also download and save a copy. As you get started researching (soon!), you will also notice trends in the research that you find – once you’ve finalized your Research Question, you will see that the research in a particular/given field all use the same style. If you’re in doubt about what formatting style to use, head to the research. Your research style should reflect the appropriate research style used in that field.

In fact, that is always the go-to in this course: if you’re in doubt, refer to the research in the field.

Citation Styles by Discipline
Discipline	Citation Style	In-Text Citations	Footnotes/Endnotes	Bibliography/Works Cited	Research Methods
Humanities (Literature, Philosophy, Arts)	MLA	Author's last name and page number (e.g., Smith 23)	Not Typically Used	Works cited page, alphabetized by author	Textual analysis, literary criticism
Social Sciences (Psychology, Sociology, Education)	APA	Author;s last name, year, and page (e.g., Smith, 2020, p.23)	Not Typically Used	References page, alphabetized by author	Surveys, experiments, statistical analysis
History and some Humanities	Chicago (Notes and Bibliography)	Not used in-text	Footnotes or endnotes with full citation	Bibliography with full citations	Historical interpretations, archival research
Sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Physics)	CSE	Numbered superscripts or parentheses (e.g., ¹ or (1))	Not Typically Used	References list in order of citation	Experimental Design, quantitative analysis
Law	Bluebook	Not used in-text	Footnotes required for all citations	No separate bibliography, all citations in footnotes	Case Law analysis, theological critique
Fine Arts, Art History	Chicago (Notes and Bibliography)	Not used in-text	Footnotes or endnotes	Bibliography required	Visual Analysis, historical context research

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