Research papers and theses: step by step in the chat
What help do I get writing a research paper or thesis in the chat, and what must be my own work?
The chat has 13 research and thesis cards in two groups, plus Research paper and thesis in the More menu. The AI writes an outline and a draft in stages and never invents a source: where unsure it writes [verify], and it writes no result without your data. Check every reference yourself, rewrite the draft in your own words, and declare AI help as your institution requires.
Where to find it
Open a new chat and the start page shows the research cards in two groups, "Research paper and thesis writing" and "Research: reading, comparing, checking", 13 cards in all. The "More" menu under the message box also has Research paper and thesis. Type your topic first and then press it, and it starts from what you typed.
The first group is for writing: a research paper draft, a thesis chapter, a literature review, fixing references, academic language and preparing for the viva. The second is for reading and checking: finding the research gap, comparing many papers side by side, the key ideas of your sources, reconciling conflicting studies, testing your own argument and auditing your sources.
What the AI does for you
- It writes in stages. A whole paper does not fit one answer. First a working title, the research question and an outline, then one or two sections an answer, each ending with the next step. The abstract comes last.
- It follows the structure. Introduction, methods, results and discussion (IMRaD) for a paper, chapter by chapter for a thesis, and by theme for a review, never paper by paper.
- It asks once. If you have not given the level (BSc, MSc, PhD), the length, the citation style or your supervisor's rules, it asks only for those, briefly, after the outline.
- It formats references. APA, IEEE, Harvard, MLA or Chicago, whichever your institution wants. If you name none, it picks one for the subject and tells you which.
It never invents a source
This is the most important rule, and the AI is told exactly this:
- An author, book, journal, year, DOI or statistic it is not sure of is never made up. It writes [verify] there instead, and names the kind of source that would support the claim.
- It writes no result without your data. A sample, responses, numbers or a p value you have not given stay blank, like [n = ?].
- It quotes from the papers and links you gave it.
Still, check every reference yourself: look it up in the library, on Google Scholar or on the journal's site, to see that the work exists and that it says what it is cited for.
The part that must be yours
The AI gives an outline and a draft, and explains. The work you hand in is yours.
- Read the draft and rewrite it in your own words. What you do not understand yourself, you cannot defend in a viva.
- Declare the AI's help as your institution requires. Many universities ask for it in writing.
- Collecting the data, the analysis and the results are your own work. The AI can only arrange them and show how the writing goes.
Why passing off AI-written sections as your own is dangerous is said plainly in How to use AI in your studies.
Start with your papers
It works best with the papers you have read. Give a PDF with the File button under the message box, or paste a paper's link into your message. Old scanned papers work too, up to 12 pages a message. How much it reads is in Answers from a PDF, a scanned book or a link.
Then say, for example:
Read these three papers and give me an outline for a literature review, arranged by theme, in APA 7 style.
Once it is written, the PDF / Print button under the answer lays the page out on A4 to print or save as a PDF; the other buttons are in Chat: Questions, Notes and Files.
What it costs
The same as the chat: free on the free Models, inside the day's free AI Token. A long thesis runs over many answers, so the day's limit can run out sooner. Which limit is how much is in Every limit in one place.