Can you use AI for your dissertation? What 20 university policies say
Usually yes, but only in the ways your university, department or committee allows, and almost always with a disclosure. None of the 20 UK and US policies below bans every use, and none allows AI without conditions: the rule that applies to you sits in your assessment brief, dissertation handbook or committee agreement.
By Aithor.io team ·
Key takeaways
- The rule that applies to you is usually local: your assessment brief, dissertation handbook or thesis committee.
- Almost every policy asks you to acknowledge or disclose AI use, often in a specific place in the document.
- Help with spelling and grammar is treated differently from text that AI wrote for you.
- Doctoral theses tend to have stricter rules than taught dissertations.
- Hidden use is the common offence: undisclosed AI text counts as misconduct wherever a policy mentions it.
The short answer
Yes, in most universities you can use AI for parts of your dissertation, as long as the use is allowed for that piece of work and you say what you did. What changes from one place to another is who decides and how strict they are.
In the UK, “dissertation” usually means the final project of an undergraduate or master’s degree, and the rule normally comes from your module or assessment brief. In the US, the dissertation is the doctoral thesis, and the rule increasingly comes from your graduate school and your committee. Either way, a general university statement rarely gives you a final yes or no. It points you to a more local rule, and that local rule is the one you will be judged by.
How we read the policies
We picked 20 policies that a dissertation student can actually read: 10 from UK universities and 10 from US universities, all public and in English. We favoured pages that mention dissertations or theses directly, and included a few course-level policies from large US universities because their undergraduates write senior theses under them.
Every row in the table below was read on the university’s own website on 31 October 2026. We summarise in our own words and link to the original, which is the version that counts. This is not a ranking, and it is not legal advice: policies change between academic years, so check the page for your own programme before you rely on it.
The Russell Group, which represents 24 research-intensive UK universities, agreed shared principles in 2023: universities will help staff and students become AI-literate, adapt teaching and assessment to include the ethical use of AI, and uphold academic rigour and integrity [1]. Most of what follows is how individual universities turned that kind of statement into rules.
The 20 policies at a glance
| Policy | Default position | What you have to do |
|---|---|---|
| University of Birmingham, master’s dissertations | No AI-generated material in any part of the dissertation unless your School permits it | Tell your supervisor if you use AI for proofreading; add a clear statement in an acknowledgements section |
| University of Birmingham, doctoral theses | AI must not write the thesis, develop its arguments or translate large amounts of text; proofreading only | Declare the tool, what it was allowed to change and that it stayed within that remit |
| University of Cambridge | Fine for your own study; in summative work, unacknowledged AI content presented as your own is misconduct unless the brief says otherwise | Follow the assessment brief and acknowledge AI content |
| University of Glasgow | Generally allowed in unsupervised work such as essays and dissertations; course documents can restrict it | Acknowledge any use; unacknowledged AI content is misconduct |
| University of Leeds | Treated as a “technology” allowed in coursework in a supporting role, unless the brief restricts it | Acknowledge the assistance and reference your sources |
| London School of Economics | Each department or course picks one of three positions: no authorised use, limited use or full use | Find out which position applies to your course |
| Loughborough University | Depends on the assessment; undeclared use of AI ideas or text is treated as plagiarism | Acknowledge, describe and reference any use; keep outputs and drafts |
| University of Nottingham | Each assessment says whether AI is essential, optional or prohibited | Acknowledge and evidence your use; keep records of your AI interactions |
| The Open University | Use has to be acknowledged | Reference the tool and add an appendix describing how you used it |
| UCL | AI used as a tool in producing the work has to be acknowledged | Don’t list AI as an author or as a source in your reference list |
| Stanford University | Without a course policy: AI to study and for minor corrections, not to produce graded work | Document and disclose any other use; instructors can set different rules |
| Harvard College (Faculty of Arts and Sciences) | Every instructor has to state a policy, from fully restrictive to fully open | Follow each course’s policy |
| Yale University | Use has to comply with each course’s policy | Check the policy of the course or programme |
| Cornell University | Instructors decide and are asked to say when and how AI is allowed | Ask if your course policy is unclear |
| University of Georgia, Graduate School | Prohibited in theses and dissertations unless your advisory committee authorises it | Disclose the extent of use in a statement inside the thesis |
| University of Illinois Chicago, Graduate College | Any use needs documented pre-approval from your thesis committee, within a defined scope | Describe AI’s role in an appendix |
| University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Graduate College | No central rule; programmes and committees set expectations | Agree with your committee whether AI can be used and how any use is cited |
| Illinois State University, Graduate School | Allowed within your discipline’s guidelines; schools can be stricter | Disclose all use to your committee and cite it in your discipline’s style |
| University of Alabama, Graduate School | Your committee sets what is acceptable | Include a thorough disclosure of how AI was used |
| NC State University, Graduate School | Agreed with your advisor and committee | Include an authorship statement saying whether and how AI was used, before the first chapter |
Five patterns across the 20 policies
1. The rule is set close to you
Very few of these pages give a university-wide yes or no. Cambridge, Leeds and Glasgow defer to the assessment brief or course documents. LSE asks each department to choose between three positions. Harvard requires every instructor to state a policy, and Yale and Cornell leave it to the course. In US graduate schools, the committee is the decision-maker: Georgia, Illinois Chicago, Alabama and NC State all put the agreement between you and your committee at the centre [4] [5].
In practice, the document you need is the one closest to your dissertation: the module handbook, the dissertation guidelines of your department, or the written agreement with your committee.
2. Disclosure is the norm, and often has a set place
Almost every policy that allows AI asks you to say so. The difference is where. Birmingham asks for a statement in an acknowledgements section [2], the Open University and Illinois Chicago for an appendix, Georgia for a statement inside the thesis, and NC State for an authorship statement in the preliminary pages. If your handbook names a place, use it. If it doesn’t, a short statement after the acknowledgements is a sensible default; our guide on how to disclose AI use has a template.
3. Editing help is a separate category
Several policies draw a line between proofreading and writing. Birmingham’s doctoral rules limit AI’s role in the thesis text to proofreading: spelling, punctuation and basic grammar, without changing the meaning or the arguments. Stanford’s default allows minor corrections such as spelling and grammar but not producing graded work [3]. If a tool rewrites whole sentences, you are closer to “writing” than “proofreading”, and you should treat it that way.
4. Doctoral theses are stricter than taught dissertations
Compare Birmingham’s two policies: master’s students may use AI if their School permits it, while doctoral researchers may use it on the thesis text only for proofreading. The US thesis policies are written the same way, around committee approval rather than course rules. A doctoral thesis has to be your own original contribution, and the rules protect that.
5. Hidden use is the real offence
Loughborough treats undeclared AI ideas or text as plagiarism. Glasgow and Cambridge call unacknowledged AI content presented as your own work misconduct, even where AI is otherwise allowed. Georgia and Illinois Chicago treat unapproved use as unauthorised assistance. The pattern is consistent: being open about what you did is what keeps legitimate use legitimate.
What “using AI” can mean in a dissertation
Policies rarely list every possible use, so it helps to sort your plans into categories before you ask anyone. Here is how the policies above tend to treat each one. Your own brief decides.
| What you want to do | How policies tend to treat it | What to keep as evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Brainstorm topics or questions | Usually allowed as part of your own study | Notes on which ideas you kept and why |
| Search for literature | Usually allowed; you must read and check every source | Your search terms and the papers you actually read |
| Summarise a paper you have read | Allowed for study in most places; don’t paste the summary into your text | Your own notes on the paper |
| Proofread spelling and grammar | Often allowed, sometimes with a declaration | The tool and what it changed |
| Rewrite or paraphrase your paragraphs | Grey area; often needs permission and disclosure | Before and after versions |
| Generate text, arguments or analysis | Not allowed unless explicitly permitted, and then disclosed | The prompts, outputs and how you edited them |
| Analyse data or write code | Depends on the discipline and the committee | The code, the prompts and how you checked results |
Before you use AI on your dissertation
- Find the rule closest to your dissertation: the assessment brief, the dissertation handbook or your committee’s written guidance.
- Write down what you plan to use AI for, using the categories above, and ask your supervisor or committee to confirm it in writing.
- Check where the disclosure goes and what it should say before you start, not the night before submission.
- Keep evidence as you go: drafts, notes, search logs and any AI conversations, with dates.
- Check every fact and every reference an AI tool gives you against the original source.
- Write the disclosure as you work, so it describes what you actually did.
If your university has no clear rule
Some programmes still have nothing written down. In that case, don’t read silence as permission. Treat AI-written text as you would text written by another person. A useful test, which Stanford’s guidance also uses, is to ask whether a human tutor would be allowed to give the same help: if not, don’t ask AI for it either. Ask your supervisor, get the answer by email, and disclose anything beyond basic spelling and grammar help.
If you are about to start, our guide on how to write a dissertation covers the whole process, and the 12-week dissertation timeline shows where these conversations fit.
Where Aithor.io fits
Aithor.io’s Guided writing works with you section by section rather than writing the dissertation in one go, and you decide what goes into the document. Cites real academic sources from OpenAlex and Crossref. None of that changes your university’s rules. If your brief says no AI-written text, the rule applies to every tool, ours included.
What can help with disclosure is a record of how the work was done, and that is what the Process report is for. Shows how much you wrote, who wrote each part (typed, pasted, edited from the guide or from the guide) and how it was done (days, messages and edits). Know its limit before you rely on it. It measures what happened in the editor: it does not certify that no AI was used. It helps you describe your process honestly; it is not a way around your policy. Our page on AI for your dissertation shows how Guided writing fits each stage, from the proposal to the final Word file.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to declare a spellchecker or grammar tool?
Ordinary spellcheckers are rarely covered. Tools that rewrite sentences are a grey area: Birmingham, for example, allows AI proofreading in doctoral theses but asks you to declare the tool and what it was allowed to change. If your handbook is silent, declare it in one line; it costs nothing.
Can I use AI to find sources for my dissertation?
Most policies focus on what ends up in the text you submit, so searching is usually treated more gently than writing. You still have to read and check every source yourself, because AI tools can produce references that do not exist.
Will my dissertation be run through an AI detector?
Some universities use one and many do not, so check your assessment guidance. A detector score is an estimate, not proof, and the safer habit is to keep your drafts, notes and any AI conversations so you can show how the work developed.
What if my supervisor says one thing and the handbook says another?
The written rule for the assessment usually wins. Ask your supervisor to confirm any extra permission by email, and in the US ask your committee to record it, as several graduate schools require.
Is it the same for a master’s dissertation and a PhD thesis?
Not always. Birmingham has separate rules for each, and US graduate schools write their thesis policies for committees rather than for courses. Check the rules for your level of study.
Sources
- Russell Group principles on the use of generative AI tools in education. Russell Group (2023). www.russellgroup.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2025-01/Russell%20Group%20principles%20on%20generative%20AI%20in%20education.pdf
- Guidance for academic schools relating to PGT dissertations and the use of generative AI tools. University of Birmingham. www.birmingham.ac.uk/libraries/education-excellence/gai/guidance-pgt-dissertations
- Generative AI policy guidance. Stanford University, Office of Community Standards. communitystandards.stanford.edu/generative-ai-policy-guidance
- Policy on use of generative AI in theses and dissertations. University of Georgia Graduate School (2024). grad.uga.edu/policy-on-use-of-generative-ai-in-theses-and-dissertations/
- Authorship statement (electronic theses and dissertations guide). NC State University Graduate School. grad.ncsu.edu/students/etd/etd-guide/authorship-statement
How this article was made: AI-assisted draft, edited by the team · Editorial review: Aithor.io team.