Online Referencing Generator FAQs

What is the SLASA Online Referencing Generator?
The SLASA Online Referencing Generator is an online tool that creates references in the Harvard style and APA style.

When you type in the details of your source of information (author, title) the online reference generator creates a reference with the correct formatting and punctuation.

You can then copy and paste the reference into your reference list or bibliography.

Who uses the SLASA Online Referencing Generator?
The SLASA Online Referencing Generator is used by schools across Australia and around the world.

Why am I seeing a message “The page you requested is only available to subscribers.”
Please speak with your school library staff if you have problems accessing the Online Referencing Generator.

How do I subscribe to the ORG?
Membership and subscription options can be found here.

How do I contact SLASA if I have questions about referencing?
Please email slasa@slasa.asn.au with your question/s about how to reference.

How do I contact SLASA if I have problems accessing the ORG?
Please email slasa@slasa.asn.au and include details of any troubleshooting that has been attempted, the current URL that is being used, supporting screenshots etc.

How do I reference ChatGPT and other AI tools?
As generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools are evolving, we recommend checking this FAQ page regularly as advice may change.

If you use content produced by generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT, in your work you will still need to acknowledge the source of information by referencing it correctly.

As this source of information can’t be recovered by the reader of your work, you will need to describe the prompt (the question you asked) and / or content generated by AI in your writing. This means there are two steps to acknowledging your source.

Step 1.

Follow the reference format for a personal communication. You will find this on the Senior level of the ORG in the Special publication or material section. Click on Interviews, emails, text messages, letters, phone conversations and fill in the details.

Include the name of the program (e.g. OpenAI ChatGPT) as the author and be as precise as you can with the date that you created it. Include the link in the section for email address.

Remember: Personal communication is cited in text only (as personal communications cannot be retrieved by the reader, you should not include them in the reference list). Check your teacher's requirements.

Step 2.

Include the generative AI output in an appendix to your work. Describe how you used the tool, even if you didn’t include any AI generated content in your work.  Describe the AI tool used, how the information was generated (listing the prompts you used) and the date you used the tool.

If you used generative AI to develop ideas for your work, you will need to acknowledge this in a bibliography.