Writing publications
Research findings are synthesised into theses, manuscripts or reports to communicates the project outcomes to the research community, the professional community and to the general public.
Researchers should comply with policies and guidelines from funding bodies, from publishers and the University.
Responsible use
- Consider using add on GenAI tools for copy editing to check spelling and punctuation.
- Do check the Deakin Research Authorship Procedure to ensure ongoing compliance.
Cautions
- Don’t use GenAI tools to synthesise reports or manuscripts.
- Don’t add GenAI tools as authors. Authors must be able to take responsibility for the manuscript, and GenAI cannot do this.
Case examples
Click on the plus icons below to explore exemplar and cautionary hypothetical scenarios for writing for publication.
Exemplar - Case example 1
Charlie is a PhD student who is writing a manuscript to submit to a major journal in his field. Writing is not one of his many strengths, but he has found that using a GenAI tool added into his word processing software helps him with copyediting. He uses it to check for and correct spelling errors, and he declares his use of this tool in his manuscript. He also checks the guidelines of the Institute for Professional Editors to ensure that his use of the tool is still in alignment.
Charlie is compliant with Deakin’s guidelines to support the use of Generative AI for researchers because this allows for the use of AI tools in copyediting.
Cautionary - Case example 2
Jurgen is writing up his research findings for submission to a high impact journal. He is concerned that he has not communicated his ideas clearly, so he uploads his draft into a GenAI tool and uses prompts to direct the tool to rewrite his introduction in a scholarly style. Jurgen fails to disclose his use of GenAI in the preparation of his manuscript.
Jurgen has breached both of Deakin’s guidelines to support the use of Generative AI for researchers and the journal’s guidelines by uploading his draft into GenAI as he has risked the confidentiality of the manuscript and has also failed to declare his use of GenAI.