Before using an AI tool to find sources for your research, it’s worth asking yourself a couple of questions:
• “Will I need to double-check the information with credible academic sources?”
• “What about hallucinations – won’t I have to verify AI-generated information to make sure it’s factual?”
If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, heading straight to the library’s databases might save you time and give you more reliable results; it’s often smarter to begin your search in the library, where everything is vetted and ready to use.
Still interested in using AI to kick off your research? Check out the box below to learn about ways you can check the quality of the information these tools give you.
When AI tools like ChatGPT or Copilot give you links or cites sources, don’t just take their word for it – read the source yourself.
Ask:
• Does this source actually say what the AI claims?
• Is the site trustworthy and up to date?
Not sure how to tell if a source is credible? Watch our short video on Evaluating Sources for Credibility – it walks you through what to look for.
If a source looks questionable, double-check the information using reliable websites or library databases. Caution: search engines now use AI, too, so don’t fact-check one AI with another. Stick with sources you know you can trust.
If an AI tool mentions a source but doesn’t give you a link, be sure and verify its existence by:
1. Doing a quick internet search – place the entire citation in Google, Bing, or another internet search engine and search for it there.
2. Looking for the article in the library – search the title of the article in quotation marks using the Knight Search on the library homepage, or you can search by publication, year, volume, and issue using the library's Publication Finder.
If you can’t find evidence of the article online or within the library databases, it might be made up – AI sometimes “hallucinates” sources.