I just got feedback on my essay and my professor commented that my reference list looked “unusually polished” and asked how I compiled it. Now I’m overthinking everything.
I did all the research myself using library databases and formatted everything carefully, but I also used a citation generator to double check the formatting. I didn’t use ChatGPT or anything like that to create sources, but I’ve heard of people getting flagged just because their citations look too clean or consistent.
Now I’m worried this might turn into an academic integrity issue even though I didn’t do anything wrong. I still have all my sources bookmarked and notes from when I was researching.
Is this something professors actually escalate, or was it just a comment? What should I say if they ask me about it?