> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.sharly.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Citing Sharly

> How to cite Sharly AI in your paper and disclose its use, with APA, BibTeX and the DOI.

Sharly is a research instrument, not a source. Cite it when it did work you report in your methods — screening literature, extracting data, content analysis in a review. Cite the documents you read, not Sharly, for the findings themselves.

## Cite Sharly

```text APA (7th ed.) wrap theme={null}
Macario, S. (2026). Sharly AI: an AI research assistant for source-grounded document analysis (Technical note, software version 2026.09). VOX AI Inc. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22803980
```

```bibtex BibTeX theme={null}
@techreport{macario_2026_sharly,
  author      = {Macario, Simone},
  title       = {Sharly AI: an AI research assistant for source-grounded document analysis},
  institution = {VOX AI Inc.},
  year        = {2026},
  type        = {Technical note},
  note        = {Software version 2026.09},
  doi         = {10.5281/zenodo.22803980},
  url         = {https://sharly.ai}
}
```

* In text: (Macario, 2026) · Sharly AI (Macario, 2026)
* The DOI above always resolves to the latest version of the note. To cite the exact version you used: [https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22803981](https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22803981) (version 2026.09).
* The citation file for Zotero, Mendeley and EndNote is on the [citation page](https://sharly.ai/cite).

## Disclose your use of Sharly

Most journals and universities require authors to declare any use of AI tools. Adapt one of these two sentences and record the software version you used. The version is shown at the bottom of every citations list in Sharly, next to **How to cite Sharly**.

```text Methods section wrap theme={null}
Documents were analysed with Sharly AI (VOX AI Inc., version 2026.09; Macario, 2026), which answers from passages retrieved from the uploaded documents and shows the source excerpt and page. All extracted statements were verified against the original sources.
```

```text AI-use statement wrap theme={null}
Sharly AI (VOX AI Inc.; Macario, 2026) was used to [summarise and cross-check sources] during this work. All citations were verified, and the author(s) take full responsibility for the content.
```

## Frequently asked

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can I cite an AI tool?">
    Yes, as an instrument, the way you cite VOSviewer, NVivo or SPSS. Not as an author, and not as a source of facts.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do journals allow this?">
    Most now require it. COPE and ICMJE state that AI tools cannot be listed as authors and that their use must be disclosed. The sentences above are written for that.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Which version should I cite?">
    The DOI above resolves to the latest version of the note. If your work depends on the exact behaviour you used, cite that version's DOI from the Zenodo record.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Is Sharly a source?">
    No. Sharly finds and extracts what your documents say. Cite the document for the finding.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

## The technical note

The technical note describes Sharly as a research instrument: what it accepts, how documents are processed, how answers and citations are produced, the research workflows it supports, and its limitations. Reviewers and librarians can check it.

<Card title="Technical note on Zenodo" icon="file-lines" href="https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22803980">
  Macario, S. (2026). Technical note, software version 2026.09. CC BY 4.0.
</Card>

Eighteen published works from 2024 to 2026 refer to Sharly; the list is on the [citation page](https://sharly.ai/cite).


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