Use AI thoughtfully while researching and completing papers and course assignments.
AI FOR PAPERS & RESEARCH ASSIGNMENTS
Use AI to Support Your Research
Explore ways AI can support topic development, research questions, searching, source evaluation, and other parts of the research and writing process—while keeping your own thinking and judgment at the center.
Before You Use AI for an Assignment
AI can support parts of the research and writing process, but your own thinking, evaluation, and decision-making remain essential. Use this guide to explore possibilities while following your instructor's expectations.
The library supports student learning and research by helping you explore tools and evaluate information. The university (IT/data security) provides guidance on UW-approved AI tools and responsible use.
This guide includes both UW-approved AI tools and public AI tools students commonly encounter. UW-approved tools are the best choice for university-related work. Public tools are included for awareness and optional exploration and do not imply university endorsement or requirement.
Protect your privacy: Do not enter private, identifying, or confidential information into any AI tool.
Follow course rules: Always follow your instructor's expectations and course policies.
No student should be required to create an account or use a non-university AI tool for a class. When in doubt, ask your instructor or the library.
Keep These in Mind
5 Things to Remember When Using AI
Use AI to support your thinking, not replace it.
AI can help you brainstorm ideas, explore topics, develop questions, or clarify confusing concepts. Your final work should reflect your own thinking, analysis, and voice.
Always fact-check and verify sources.
AI can provide inaccurate information and may generate citations or sources that do not exist. Verify important information using library databases, original sources, or other trusted resources.
Be transparent about how you used AI.
If AI use is allowed, be clear about how you used it—for example, brainstorming, developing keywords, outlining, or reviewing your work. When in doubt, ask your instructor.
Keep yourself in the research and writing process.
Research and writing involve making decisions: which questions matter, which evidence is credible, how sources relate to one another, and what conclusions the evidence supports. AI can assist with parts of this process, but those intellectual decisions remain yours.
Know your instructor's expectations.
Acceptable AI use can vary by instructor and assignment. Check your syllabus and assignment instructions, and ask your instructor when expectations are unclear.
Research Workflow
Start With the Decision You Need to Make
AI tools are most useful when you have a specific research task in mind. The sections below move from developing a research question to finding evidence, evaluating sources, and documenting your AI use.
Step 1 — Explore & Plan
Develop Your Research Question and Search Strategy
Use it for: Initial topic exploration and research-question development. Consensus can also help you identify terminology and keywords to test later in library catalogs and databases.
Key Question
What could I research, and what questions could I ask?
AI can help you move from a broad area of interest to several possible research questions. The goal is not to have AI choose your topic for you. Use it to expand the possibilities, then decide which direction you want to investigate.
WRT 188 — Step 1
Explore Possible Research Questions
Start with a topic or issue you are interested in. Use Consensus to explore several possible research directions before deciding what you want to investigate.
Replace:[topic or issue] with something you are interested in researching.
I'm a college student in WRT 188 developing a research project about [topic or issue]. Suggest 5 possible research questions that approach this topic from different perspectives. The questions should be focused enough for a college research paper, require investigation and analysis rather than a simple factual or yes-or-no answer, and be answerable using credible sources. For each question, briefly identify what I would need to investigate to answer it. Do not choose a question or position for me.
Your decision:
Look across the questions Consensus generated. Which question connects most closely with what you want to understand about your topic? Consider whether the question interests you, gives you something meaningful to investigate, and seems workable for the assignment. Choose one question and copy it. You will use it in the next step.
What you should get: Several possible research questions—not a finished topic or argument. Consensus provides possibilities, but you decide which direction you want your research to take.
WRT 288 — Step 1
Explore Questions From Different Angles
WRT 288 asks you to investigate a contemporary public issue from different perspectives. Start with an issue you are interested in, then use Consensus to explore possible directions.
Replace:[public issue or debate] with the issue you are considering.
I'm a student in WRT 288: Advanced Writing / Connect. I'm researching [public issue or debate].
Generate possible research questions that examine this public issue from these four angles:
Economic: costs, benefits, employment, resources, access, or other economic impacts
Cultural: values, identities, beliefs, communities, experiences, or cultural differences
Technological: how technology contributes to, changes, or could address the issue
Environmental: sustainability, natural resources, environmental impacts, or effects on future generations
Give me 2 possible research questions for each angle. Each question should require research, analysis, and synthesis rather than a simple factual or yes-or-no answer.
For each question, identify which of these broader WRT 288 questions it could help me explore:
How do people understand and engage in community life?
How do people understand and create a more sustainable world?
How do people understand and bridge cultural differences?
Do not choose a question or position for me. Present the questions by angle so I can compare possible directions for my research. Identify questions that are aligned with current and vigorous scholarly discussions.
Your decision:
Look across the questions Consensus generated. Which one best connects your interests with the goals of the assignment? You do not need to address every angle. Choose one question and copy it. You will use it in the next step.
Key Question
What words should I use to search for evidence?
Once you have chosen a promising research question, pause before asking AI for keywords. First, identify the main concepts yourself. Then use AI to expand your vocabulary and decide which suggestions are worth testing.
WRT 188 — Step 2
Identify Your Main Concepts
Look at the research question you chose. What are the 2–4 main ideas or concepts you would need to search for to investigate that question?
Think of concepts as the important ideas in your question rather than every word in the sentence.
Your turn:
Write down what you think are the 2–4 main concepts in your research question. There may be more than one reasonable way to identify them. You will use your choices in the next prompt.
WRT 188 — Step 3
Expand Your Search Vocabulary
Now use Consensus to help you think of additional ways your concepts might be described.
Replace:[research question] and [my concepts] with your choices.
My research question is:
[research question]
I identified these as the main concepts in my question:
[my 2–4 concepts]
Keep the concepts I identified and clearly distinguish them from your suggestions.
For each concept, suggest:
synonyms or alternative words;
related terms;
other terminology researchers might use when writing about this idea.
Organize the terms by concept so I can see which words belong together.
Then suggest 2–3 combinations of terms I could try when searching for sources. Treat these as possibilities for me to test, not as a final search strategy.
What you should get: Your original concepts plus additional words and phrases that might help you find sources. The suggestions are possibilities, not a finished search.
Your decision:
Review the terms Consensus suggested before you search. Which ones actually fit what you mean by your research question?
Which terms seem useful enough to try?
Which seem too broad or too narrow?
Are any unclear or not really related to what you want to investigate?
Choose several terms you think are worth testing when you search.
WRT 288 — Step 2
Build Search Terms From Your Concepts
Before using this prompt: Choose your research question and identify its 2–4 main concepts yourself.
Replace:[research question] and [my concepts] with your choices.
My research question is:
[research question]
I identified these as the main concepts or important ideas in my question:
[my 2–4 concepts]
Keep the concepts I identified and clearly distinguish them from your suggestions.
For each concept, suggest:
useful synonyms and alternative terms;
related terminology researchers may use;
broader terms that might expand my search;
narrower terms that might make my search more specific.
Organize the terms by concept so I can see which words belong together.
Then suggest 2–3 search combinations using these terms that I could test in Consensus and later in library databases.
Treat these as possibilities for me to evaluate and test, not as a final search strategy.
What you should get: Your original concepts plus additional vocabulary you can consider when searching. Decide which terms accurately represent what you want to investigate, and be prepared to revise them as you encounter scholarly research.
Sample Prompt
Refine a Search That Is Not Working
Replace: the placeholders with your research question and the search you already tried.
My research question is [research question]. I searched for [keywords or search string], but my results were too broad, too narrow, or not relevant. Suggest alternative keywords and Boolean search combinations I could try. Briefly explain how each change might affect my search results.
Key Question
What kinds of evidence could help me answer my question?
Different research questions require different evidence. Before searching, consider whether your question calls for scholarly studies, statistics, reports, primary sources, interviews, policy documents, historical evidence, or other types of information.
Sample Prompt
Identify Evidence to Look For
Replace:[research question] with your working question.
I'm investigating this research question: [research question]. Identify the kinds of evidence I might need to answer it, such as scholarly studies, statistics, government reports, primary sources, interviews, policy documents, or other credible sources. Explain what each type of evidence could help me understand. Do not invent specific sources or statistics.
Step 2 — Discover
Explore Published Research
Key Question
What has already been published about my question?
Use it for: Exploring what published research says about a focused question and identifying studies you may want to investigate more closely.
Best fit for: Students working on assignments that require scholarly or evidence-based sources, particularly in fields with substantial published research.
Example Questions
What does research say about the relationship between social media use and adolescent mental health?
What does current research say about the relationship between food access and community health outcomes?
Librarian Tip: Follow the citations back to the original studies and evaluate those studies yourself. Use library databases to locate full text when needed.
Use it for: Finding scholarly articles and exploring connections among papers, authors, topics, and citations.
Best fit for: Assignments requiring scholarly sources, particularly when you already have a reasonably focused topic or research question.
What it does: Provides scholarly search, paper information, citation connections, and AI-assisted features that can help you scan research.
Example Searches
social media adolescent mental health
food access community health outcomes
Librarian Tip: Discovery tools help you identify promising research. Retrieve and read the original source before using it as evidence in your paper. Check Polk Library databases for full-text access when needed.
Use it for: Practicing source analysis and comparing an AI-generated evaluation with your own evaluation. Be critical of the AI's analysis—your evaluation may be better.
ChatGPT can apply source-evaluation frameworks such as CRAAP or SIFT when prompted. You can then examine its reasoning, verify its claims, and compare its evaluation with your own.
Two approaches to evaluating information
CRAAP Test
SIFT Method
Helpful for evaluating many traditional information sources.
C — Currency
R — Relevance
A — Authority
A — Accuracy
P — Purpose
Useful when evaluating online and rapidly circulating information.
S — Stop
I — Investigate the Source
F — Find Better Coverage
T — Trace Claims, Quotes, and Media to the Original Context
Practice
Compare the AI's Evaluation With Your Own
Ask ChatGPT to apply the CRAAP or SIFT framework to a source you are evaluating.
Evaluate the source yourself rather than accepting the AI response.
Compare the two evaluations. Where do you agree? Where do you disagree? Did the AI make claims that need verification?
Bottom Line
AI should not make the credibility decision for you. Use it as a way to practice and challenge your own evaluation.
Step 4 — Document
Cite or Disclose AI Use When Required
Key Question
Does my AI use need to be cited or disclosed?
Start With Your Instructor's Requirements
Citation and disclosure expectations can vary by assignment, instructor, discipline, and citation style. Always follow your instructor's directions first.
When Might AI Use Need to Be Cited or Disclosed?
If material generated by an AI tool contributes to your submitted work, you may need to cite, acknowledge, or otherwise disclose that use. Examples can include:
Quoting AI-generated text.
Paraphrasing AI-generated material.
Using AI-generated content, examples, or structures in submitted work.
Using AI in a way your instructor or assignment requires you to disclose.
Brainstorming, keyword development, editing, or other uses may have different disclosure expectations depending on your instructor and the citation style you are using.
When in doubt: ask your instructor and consult the current guidance for the citation style required by your course.
This guide focuses on using AI for papers and research assignments. If you are conducting original research, a literature review, a capstone, faculty research, or other scholarly work, explore the AI Research Hub for more advanced guidance on using AI throughout the research process.
