Polk Library

AI for Papers & Research Assignments

Use AI thoughtfully while researching and completing papers and course assignments.

AI FOR PAPERS & RESEARCH ASSIGNMENTS

AI May be Able to Support Your Research

Explore ways AI can support topic development, research questions, discovery, 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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Be transparent about how you used AI.
    If AI use is allowed, be clear about how you used it—for example, brainstorming, developing questions, outlining, or reviewing your work. When in doubt, ask your instructor.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.

AI can suggest questions, sources, search terms, and explanations. You decide what to pursue and what to trust. This guide focuses on two important parts of that process: Discovery and Verification.

Discovery: Explore What to Investigate

Explore possible questions and research connected with your topic. AI can help surface possibilities; you decide which direction is worth investigating.

Choose a Research Question

Your decision: What could I research, and what questions could I ask?

A broad topic is only a starting point. AI can help you explore several possible research questions and see what kinds of scholarly research might connect with them. The goal is not to have AI choose your topic or position. You decide what you want to investigate.

Scholarly Discovery

Try Discovery With Consensus

Open Consensus Public AI Tool

Why Consensus here? Consensus is especially useful during discovery because it can help you explore possible questions while connecting those questions with scholarly research, useful terminology, and studies you can investigate further.

Treat the questions, keywords, and research it surfaces as starting points. Read the original studies and verify that they actually support what you think they do.

Sample Prompt

Explore a Research Topic

Replace: [topic or issue] with something you are interested in researching.

PROMPT TO COPY

I'm writing a college research paper 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 explain what I would need to investigate;
  • suggest several useful keywords or search terms;
  • identify 1–2 scholarly articles or studies that could help me begin exploring the question.

Do not choose a question or position for me. I will evaluate the possibilities and decide which direction to pursue.

Your decision:

Which question interests you and seems workable for your assignment? Look at the suggested keywords and research as starting points, not a finished search. Choose a direction and begin exploring the literature.

Course Activities

Using This Guide in WRT 188 or WRT 288

If you are using this guide for WRT 188 or WRT 288, expand your course below and work through the steps alongside your course worksheet. Everyone else can continue to Bring Your Research Forward.

WRT 188 — Discovery Activities

COURSE 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.

PROMPT TO COPY

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;
  • suggest useful keywords or search terms;
  • identify 1–2 scholarly articles or studies I could explore as a starting point.

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 record it on your worksheet. Share your question here in this poll.

COURSE 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. Record your choices on your worksheet.

COURSE STEP 3

Explore a Scholarly Source

Choose a promising source from your first Consensus search. Open it and read the abstract or introduction.

As you read, notice:

  • What question or idea does the source investigate?
  • What useful words or concepts could help you search for more sources?

Your turn: Record a few useful terms or ideas on your worksheet. Use them to continue searching, and revise your question as you learn more.

Following the WRT188 librarian class visit, please take this short survey.

WRT 288 — Discovery Activities

COURSE 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.

PROMPT TO COPY

I'm a student in WRT 288: Advanced Writing / Connect. I'm exploring [public issue or debate]. Help me discover researchable questions and relevant scholarly conversations. I am exploring possibilities, not choosing a position.

Explore these four angles:

  • Economic: costs, resources, employment, access, or economic effects.
  • Cultural: values, identities, beliefs, communities, or lived experiences.
  • Technological: how technology contributes to, changes, or might address the issue.
  • Environmental: sustainability, natural resources, or impacts on future generations.

Suggest two open-ended research questions per angle when the angle meaningfully fits the issue. If an angle is a poor fit, say so rather than forcing a connection, and suggest a more relevant lens.

For each question, provide briefly:

  1. What makes it worth investigating, including a meaningful disagreement or uncertainty in the scholarship if one is evident.
  2. Three to five useful scholarly keywords or concepts.
  3. One relevant, identifiable scholarly article or study to start with (title, author, year, and link or DOI when available). Do not invent references.
  4. Which WRT 288 course question it connects to: community life, a more sustainable world, or bridging cultural differences.

Favor questions that invite research, analysis, and synthesis rather than simple factual or yes-or-no answers. Include different interpretations where supported by scholarship; do not manufacture opposing sides.

Keep the response concise and organized by angle. Do not choose a question or position for me. I will decide what interests me, check and read the original sources, and refine my question as I learn.

Your decision:

Look across the possibilities. Which question best connects your interests with the goals of the assignment, how might you adjust and personalize? You do not need to address every angle. Choose one question and record it on your worksheet.

COURSE STEP 2

Explore the Scholarly Conversation

Look at the sources suggested by Consensus. Choose one or two that interest you and begin reading them.

As you read, notice:

  • What questions or ideas are scholars investigating?
  • Where do their perspectives differ?
  • What useful words or concepts could help you find more research?

Your turn: Record a few useful ideas or terms on your worksheet. Use them to explore more sources in library databases or by following references. Your research question may change as you learn more.

Other Helpful Discovery Tools

These tools can help you continue exploring scholarly research. Use them to identify promising literature, then read and evaluate the original sources before using them in your work.

Elicit

Open Elicit Public AI Tool

Use it for: Exploring scholarly literature related to a research question and identifying potentially relevant studies for closer examination.

Best fit for: Upper-level undergraduate and graduate assignments involving scholarly literature or evidence-based research.

Example Questions

  • What research examines the relationship between social media use and adolescent mental health?
  • What research examines food access and community health outcomes?

Librarian Tip: Use AI-assisted discovery to identify potential literature—not as a substitute for reading and evaluating the original research.

Semantic Scholar

Open Semantic Scholar Research Discovery Tool

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.

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.

Before moving on: Choose a working research question and identify promising sources to read and verify.

Verification: Decide What You Can Trust

Your decision: Is this information accurate, credible, and useful for my question?

Check that each source exists, read the original, and compare its findings with the AI's description. Verify important claims against the source itself. Then judge whether the evidence is relevant to your question and supports the claim you want to make.

ChatGPT for Practicing Source Evaluation

Open ChatGPT UWO Approved AI Tool

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

  1. Ask ChatGPT to apply the CRAAP or SIFT framework to a source you are evaluating.
  2. Evaluate the source yourself rather than accepting the AI response.
  3. Compare the two evaluations. Where do you agree? Where do you disagree? Did the AI make claims that need verification?

Takeaway

AI should not make the credibility decision for you. Use it as a way to practice and challenge your own evaluation.

Before moving on: Identify which sources and claims you can use, which need more checking, and where the evidence has limits.

Cite and Disclose AI Use When Required

Your decision: 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.

Quick Examples: APA & MLA

If your instructor allows AI-generated material in your paper, pair the in-text citation with a full entry below. These hypothetical examples use a ChatGPT response to “Explain confirmation bias,” generated on October 1, 2026.

APA 7

In-text citation

(OpenAI, 2026)

References entry — specific chat

OpenAI. (2026, October 1). Explain confirmation bias [Generative AI chat]. ChatGPT. [Shared chat URL]

MLA 9

In-text citation

(“Explain confirmation bias”)

Works Cited entry

“Explain confirmation bias” prompt. ChatGPT, model [model used], OpenAI, 1 Oct. 2026, [shared chat URL].

Make it yours: Replace the example title or prompt, date, model, and URL with your own details. The APA title is the chat's title; the MLA description identifies the prompt or generated content. Bracketed model and URL fields are placeholders; APA's [Generative AI chat] label stays.

Use a shareable chat link when appropriate, and check for private information before sharing. MLA permits the tool's general URL when a stable chat link is unavailable. For quotations, add a paragraph number or other locator when available. In your text, explain the prompt and how you used the response.

APA's current AI citation guidance · MLA's current AI citation guidance

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, question development, editing, or other uses may also have disclosure expectations depending on your instructor, assignment, discipline, or publication context.

When in doubt: ask your instructor and consult the current guidance for the citation style required by your course.

AI Disclosure Tool

Document How You Used AI

If you used generative AI during several parts of your research or writing process, you may need to explain what tool you used, what you used it for, and how it contributed to your work.

The Artificial Intelligence Disclosure (AID) Framework provides a standardized way to describe how generative AI contributed to research and writing. Its AID Statement Builder can help you create a concise disclosure statement describing your AI use.

You might document AI use for activities such as:

  • Brainstorming research questions or ideas
  • Developing an outline
  • Analyzing or synthesizing information
  • Editing, translation, readability, or organization
  • Creating visual elements such as tables, diagrams, images, or videos

Looking Ahead

Doing More Advanced or Original Research?

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.