Attribution is a less formal approach for crediting ideas and material from others. In scholarly writing and presentation the exact form attribution takes varies by discipline. A widespread example is the inclusion of an acknowledgements section or slide. Attribution can also  include information beyond the direct citation, including licensing information, multiple hyperlinks, and a detailed description of how and why the material is being attributed in the work. With the current state of generative artificial intelligence systems, direct citation may not fit a specific use case, and attribution offers a path to transparent disclosure across academic or research work.

The Artificial Intelligence Disclosure (AID) Framework (2024) was developed by Kari D. Weaver, Learning, Teaching, and Instructional Design Librarian, to enhance transparency and consistency in attribution practices for generative artificial intelligence.

Artificial Intelligence Disclosure (AID) Framework

The purpose of the Artificial Intelligence Disclosure (AID) Framework is to provide brief, targeted disclosure about the use of AI systems based on the range of activities used for research writing. The AID Statement is appended to the end of the paper (similar to an Acknowledgements section), detailing the AI tools used and the manner in which they were used, based on the possible points of engagement through the writing process, as captured in the headings below. The formatting is intended to be both human- and machine-readable, and uses the following structure:

AID Statement: Artificial Intelligence Tool: [description of tools used]; [Heading]: [description of AI use in that stage of the work];…

Each heading: statement pair will end in a semi-colon, except for the last statement, which will end in a period. Any other symbols can be used in “statement” portion of the heading: statement pair except for colons and semi-colons.

If AI tools were used at any point in the writing, research, or project management processes, the AID Statement will always begin with the “artificial intelligence tool” section. It will then be followed by any heading: statement pairs necessary to disclose AI tool use. Heading: statement pairs will only be included if AI was used in that portion of the writing process. If a heading is not needed, it should not be included. If AI was not used at any point in the writing, research, or project management processes, authors would not include an AID Statement in their work.

The potential headings for the AID Statement, and their definitions, are the following:

1. Artificial Intelligence Tool(s): The selection of tool or tools and versions of those tools used and dates of use. May also include note of any known biases or limitations of the models or data sets.
2. Conceptualization: The development of the research idea or hypothesis including framing or revision of research questions and hypotheses.
3. Methodology: The planning for the execution of the study including all direct contributions to the study design.
4. Information Collection: The use of artificial intelligence to surface patterns in existing literature and identify information relevant to the framing, development, or design of the study.
5. Data Collection Method: The development or design of software or instruments used in the study.
6. Execution: The direct conduct of research procedures or tasks (e.g. AI web scraping, synthetic surveys, etc.)
7. Data Curation: The management and organization of those data.
8. Data Analysis: The performance of statistical or mathematical analysis, regressions, text analysis, and more using artificial intelligence tools.
9. Privacy and Security: The ways in which data privacy and security were upheld in alignment with the expectations of ethical conduct of research, disciplinary guidelines, and institutional policies.
10. Interpretation: The use of artificial intelligence tools to categorize, summarize, or manipulate data and suggest associated conclusions.
11. Visualization: The creation of visualizations or other graphical representations of the data.
12. Writing – Review & Editing: The revision and editing of the manuscript.
13. Writing – Translation: The use of artificial intelligence to translate text across languages at any point in the drafting process.
14. Project Administration: Any administrative tasks related to the study, including managing budgets, timelines, and communications.

Artificial Intelligence Tools: Microsoft Copilot, Piktochart, and Grammerly; Conceptualization: Microsoft Copilot was used to brainstorm ideas for my research question; Information Collection: I used Microsoft Copilot to find relevant journal articles and other sources; Visualization: I used Piktochart to create a graph demonstrating the average temperature increase in the last 50 years; Writing – Review & Editing: I used Grammerly to help break down my paragraph long draft sentences into clearer, shorter ones.

This resource is an adaptation of the Artificial Intelligence Disclosure (AID) Framework (2024) by Dr. Kari D. Weaver, University of Waterloo Libraries. It has been produced as allowed under its assigned CC-BY-SA 4.0 license.