The essentials first
Academic work should be transparent and comprehensible. During your studies, it is also assessed work. Taken together, this means: Check with your supervisor before using AI tools whether and how you may use them. The rules vary depending on the examination, faculty and university.
You can find TH Nürnberg’s AI guideline here: Ohm AI Guideline (in German).
If you use AI, you must also document that use.
Caution: Missing or incorrect declaration of AI use may be treated as an attempt to deceive.
What does NOT need to be declared?
AI tools are not literature sources. You do not cite them, and you do not include them in your reference list.
You do not mark passages in the text that you developed with AI support and for whose content you take responsibility. You stand behind the content, as is generally the case in academic work.
If you adopted entire passages unchanged from AI output, you must mark them. However, these passages then no longer count as your own independent work.
You document how you used AI in the appendix, for example as a simple declaration or as a detailed table (see below).
What needs to be declared?
If you use AI in your academic work and writing, you must document it, for example for:
- Generating ideas and brainstorming
- Literature search
- Summarising texts
- Generating examples
- Structuring and outlining
- Help with phrasing, e.g. when you have sentences or paragraphs rephrased
- Creating figures
Exception: You do not need to document spelling and grammar checks.
Important: Depending on the subject and learning objectives, your supervisors will set different rules. If the goal is language acquisition, using an AI tool for translating or phrasing makes less sense than when the goal is acquiring subject knowledge.
How do I document AI use?
If your supervisor has not given you any guidelines, choose one of these two options, or ask which one they prefer:
Option 1: Simple declaration
Add a declaration after your reference list. In the declaration, use a simple list or table to state which tools you used for which purposes. Example:
Declaration: Use of AI tools
- Microsoft Copilot (GPT 5): generating ideas, improving phrasing, generating examples
- SciSpace: support with literature search
- Midjourney: creating figures
When is this option suitable? If you used AI occasionally and as a supplement, and/or your supervisor is satisfied with a general declaration.
Option 2: Detailed documentation
Use a table to specify exactly which tools you used in which phases of your work. Place it in the appendix under the heading “Detailed documentation of the use of AI tools”. Example:
|
Work step |
Finding and narrowing down a topic |
Researching |
Structuring |
Writing |
Revising |
|
Tool (incl. version) |
ChatGPT 4o |
Semantic Scholar |
ChatGPT 4o |
— |
ChatGPT 4o |
|
Degree of use |
For inspiration |
Supportive |
Complementary |
— |
Supportive |
|
What exactly? |
Brainstorming possible focal points |
Literature suggestions on my topic |
Outline suggestion based on my notes |
— |
Having gaps in the argument of my discussion section pointed out |
Degree of AI use: what does it mean?
|
Degree of AI use |
For inspiration |
Complementary |
Supportive |
Content-generating |
|
Explanation |
AI provides impulses, you decide |
AI explains or structures your own ideas |
AI works with you in dialogue |
AI provides content directly |
|
Examples |
Topic suggestions, alternative phrasings |
Explanations of terms, outline based on your notes, summaries of your own texts |
Refining the research question, revision suggestions, summaries of literature |
Having background knowledge generated, AI text adopted, outline provided by AI |
(abridged from Baresel et al. 2024)
When is this option suitable? If you used AI extensively and/or your supervisor requires detailed documentation.
Caution: If you use AI in a content-generating way, your work no longer counts as independent work.
Do I need to include prompts?
Yes, if the prompt was decisive for your result. A prompt is relevant if it contributed significantly to answering your research question or developing your argument.
Example of a prompt that must be documented:
Prompt: Compare the definitions of ‘organisational learning’ by Argyris & Schön (1978), Senge (1990) and Nonaka & Takeuchi (1995). Identify similarities and differences and create a synopsis in table form.
ChatGPT 5, OpenAI, 28.10.2025, https://chatgpt.com/share/6900ab46-f85c-800d-af68-3b5bc76ae99d
Why this prompt must be documented: Here, the AI tool performed a central analytical task (comparing theories) that fed directly into your argument.
Example of a prompt that does not need to be documented:
Prompt: Make this sentence shorter.
Why this prompt does not need to be documented: Here, the AI only provided linguistic support and did not contribute to the content.
Special case: AI as part of your research method
If AI use is part of your research method (e.g. for analysing interviews or for text analysis), the description belongs in the methods section of your work. There, you explain how you used which tool in enough detail for others to replicate your approach. In addition, the prompts you used go in the appendix.
Labelling AI-generated images
For AI-generated figures, state the tool you used in the caption:
Example: Figure 1: Visualisation of the research process (created with DALL-E 3).
Checklist: Have I done everything correctly?
- I have checked with my supervisor whether I may use AI.
- I have documented my AI use (except for pure spelling/grammar checks).
- I have not listed AI tools in my reference list.
- I have backed up AI-generated statements with original sources that I have read myself.
- I have checked all content.
- I take responsibility for all content in my work.
References
Baresel, Kira; Eube, Cornelia; Knorr, Dagmar; Lutter, Ly; de Nys, Jasmin; Röben, Marieke (2024): KI-Gebrauch im Studienkontext dokumentieren. Hinweise und Arbeitsmaterialien. DOI: 10.48548/pubdata-1476 (25.06.2026).
Hochschule Bayern (08.05.2025): KI-LEITLINIE HOCHSCHULLEHRE. Empfehlungen zum Umgang mit KI in der Lehre der bayerischen Hochschulen für angewandte Wissenschaften und Technischen Hochschulen. https://www.hochschule-bayern.de/fileadmin/daten/Positionspapiere/KI-Leitlinie_Hochschule-Bayern-19052025.pdf (25.06.2026).
Hochschule RheinMain (n.d.): Empfehlungen für Lehrende: Studentischer Einsatz von KI-Tools beim wissenschaftlichen Schreiben. https://www.hs-rm.de/fileadmin/HSRM/EXTERN/Abteilung/V_Studium_und_Lehre/V.1/KI%40HSRM/KI_Handreichungen_und_Anleitungen/AG_Empfehlungen_fuer_Lehrende.pdf (25.06.2026).
Technische Hochschule Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm (2026): Leitlinie zum Umgang mit KI-Werkzeugen an der Technischen Hochschule Georg Simon Ohm. https://www.th-nuernberg.de/fileadmin/zentrale-einrichtungen/szs/sb/sb_docs/Amtsblatt/2026/KI-Leitlinie_der_Ohm_Amtsblatt.pdf (25.06.2026).
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to list the AI tools I used in my reference list?
No. AI output is not an academic source. If you get information from an AI, look up the original source and cite that. Only the original source belongs in your reference list.
Am I allowed to use AI for my thesis?
That is up to your supervisor. Before you start, clarify whether and to what extent you may use AI tools.
What are the risks of using AI?
Unnoticed plagiarism: AI can reproduce passages of text without naming the source. Copyright infringement: AI-generated content may contain protected works. Data protection issues: Sensitive data (e.g. from interviews) must not be entered into AI tools. Missed learning opportunities: If you let AI do too much for you, you deprive yourself of important learning processes.
What happens if I do not declare my AI use?
This may be treated as an attempt to deceive and can have serious consequences, ranging from a “fail” grade to exmatriculation.
Can I adopt AI-generated text directly?
No, not unchanged. You can use AI output as a starting point, but you must check it for accuracy, revise it and take responsibility for it. AI makes mistakes, invents sources and can be factually wrong. You are responsible for all content.
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This article was published in October 2026 and last updated in December 2025.