Guides · Updated 25 October 2026
AI-use declaration for a thesis: what to include, with samples
What a thesis AI-use declaration should say, three sample texts you can adapt, and how to back it up with a log your guide can check.
Does your university ask for one?
Rules differ by university and are changing fast. Some universities now use a formal AI declaration form (for example Chulalongkorn University's thesis form). We found no single national UGC rule on AI use in Indian PhD theses, and claims about fixed "AI percentage" limits circulate mostly on unofficial blogs (an example, unverified). Check your university's current regulations and ask your guide; then declare what you actually did.
What a good declaration includes
- The tool and version, and the AI model if known.
- What you used it for: e.g. language editing, paraphrasing your own draft, outlining, finding sources. Also what you did not use it for.
- How much: roughly how much AI-suggested text you kept, and that you reviewed and edited it.
- Responsibility: that the research questions, analysis, interpretation and conclusions are your own.
- References: how you checked that every reference is real.
Sample 1: language help only
I used [tool, version] only to improve the grammar and clarity of text I had written. It did not generate ideas, analysis or references. I reviewed every suggestion and take full responsibility for the content.
Sample 2: drafting assistance
I used [tool, version; model] as a research and writing assistant for outlining, paraphrasing my own drafts and suggesting wording. About [N] words of AI-suggested text (around [P]% of the final [W] words) were accepted after review and editing. All research questions, analysis, interpretations and conclusions are my own. A time-stamped log of AI use is available on request.
Sample 3: no AI used
No generative AI tools were used in writing this thesis, apart from the spelling and grammar checker built into my word processor.
Back it up with evidence
A declaration is stronger with a record behind it. CitedWriter keeps a log of every AI action in your document (time, task, model, what you accepted), shows how much text you typed, pasted or accepted from AI, and writes the declaration from that log. Your guide can open the log with a link and check it in their own browser. See academic integrity.