Look, I’ve been there. It’s 2am and you’ve got an assignment due later that day. Your references are looking a bit thin, and the temptation to ask an AI tool to whip up some citations for you can be irresistible. One prompt and you’ve got a neat list of journal articles and books. Perfect, right? Well… not always.
Here’s the catch (there’s always a catch!): AI tools are great at generating convincing-looking references. The titles sound plausible, author names are familiar, and the journals look legitimate. But sometimes appearances are deceptive, and the references have no connection to reality. This is what people mean when they talk about AI hallucinations. The tool invents a source that looks perfectly credible but doesn’t actually exist.
Why does this matter?
- The most important reason is: that you shouldn’t put anything in your bibliography that you haven’t actually read. A bibliography isn’t just a list of things that might support your argument; it’s a record of the sources you’ve genuinely engaged with. If you haven’t read the book, article, or paper, you can’t know whether it really says what you think it says, or whether it fits your argument at all.
- Putting a made-up citation into your work undermines the credibility of your whole assignment.
- Your lecturers and tutors can (and often will) check your references. If they can’t find them, it’s a problem.
- Good referencing isn’t just box-ticking, it’s how you show you’ve done the reading and can back up your ideas. It’s also about giving proper credit and joining the scholarly conversation.
- Universities take referencing seriously: misusing or inventing sources can be flagged as poor or even unacceptable academic practice, with real consequences for your marks.
So what should you do?
- Verify, verify, verify! If an AI gives you a reference, always double-check it against a reliable source – in the library catalogue, Google Scholar, or a subject database.
- Ask your librarian. That’s what we’re here for. We can help you find legitimate, citable sources, show you how to search databases effectively, and help you guide you through proper referencing styles so you don’t have to wrestle with formatting at 2 a.m.
AI has lots of uses, but it’s not infallible, and it’s definitely not a replacement for critical thinking (or a decent library search).
So next time you’re tempted to drop those AI generated citations straight into your bibliography, stop, double-check, and if you need help, turn to your librarian, although if it’s 2 a.m., the library catalogue is probably your best bet!
For more information on AI can be found here.
