GenAI tools can be used in the early stages of research to brainstorm ideas and to identify possible suitable research design. They can also be used to support project management.
It is incumbent upon all Deakin researchers to take reasonable steps to ensure the use of generative AI does not breach any legal or ethical obligations and to exercise the utmost professionalism and academic standards. Remember that when using genAI tools:
Click on the plus icons below to explore exemplar and cautionary hypothetical scenarios for beginning research.
Sara is a PhD student preparing for her research project. She consults with her supervisor, then uses a genAI tool to generate and refine her research ideas. She then employs a different tool to explore research design approaches. Sara keeps a record of how she has used genAI tools and all her prompts and outputs to ensure transparency when reporting her research.
Sara is compliant with Deakin’s guidelines to support the use of Generative AI for researchers because she has used the tool to stimulate her creativity and has been transparent about her use of the tool. She has not shared any confidential information with the tool.
Aarifa has just completed her PhD project work and is in the final stages of preparing her thesis for submission. She uses a genAI tool within her word processor software to help her in proofreading her thesis for spelling and grammatical errors. Aarifa only uses it for minor copyediting, she does not use it for re-writing any part of her work. She checks the referencing style she is using for her thesis and acknowledges her use of the genAI tool in the appropriate format.
Aarifa is compliant with Deakin’s guidelines to support the use of Generative AI for researchers because she has only used genAI to support minor copyediting and has declared her use.
Caleb is an early career researcher about to embark on his research project and uses genAI to help him plan his research proposal. Caleb uses a genAI tool and copy-pastes the full text of his colleague’s published article from the team’s earlier research. He prompts the tool for new research ideas which would build on this work. He copies the output text into a Word document without noting the genAI as the source. A few weeks later, he finds the notes and, forgetting that they came from genAI, integrates them verbatim into his project proposal.
Caleb has failed to adhere to Deakin’s guidelines to support the use of Generative AI for researchers because he has breached copyright in copying text from a published work. He has failed to exercise critical evaluation of the genAI output and he has used genAI output verbatim and without disclosure which is an example of plagiarism.