In response to the rapidly evolving landscape of generative AI and its growing presence in research and scholarly writing, CSU Writes developed an “AI-Use Agreement for Co-Authors” for the Faculty Writes workshop on “How to AI: Tools, Guides, and Conversations.” The AI-use agreement is designed to help co-authors and collaborative teams navigate the often uncomfortable conversations about the responsible and ethical use of AI programs or other text predictive software in collaborative projects.
The AI-use agreement outlines shared expectations for using AI tools when coauthoring, including phases of brainstorming, drafting, editing, and citation management. The “AI-Use Agreement” emphasizes human oversight, transparency among colleagues, and awareness of journal or institutional guidelines. The template can help authors establish a clear process for documenting which tools are used, for what purposes, and ensures that all AI-assisted content is reviewed and revised by humans prior to submission.
Note that the agreement prohibits the use of AI for data interpretation because a project’s analysis and purported meaning is, to date, a uniquely human contribution. It also limits the generation of citations to software such as Zotero, Mendeley, or EndNote since many AI chatbots are likely to miscite or manufacture citations.
It clarifies that the final review of any manuscript or proposal remains the responsibility of the lead author or others agreed upon the collaborators because only human text generators hold copyrights or can be listed as authors on a publication. AI should not be used for the final manuscript review before submission. As much as we might disagree or have conflicting writing styles, human writers must be the arbiters of authorial voice and scholarly integrity on a coauthored document.
The AI-use agreement also provides a model AI disclosure statement for manuscripts, helping authors align with journal and institutional requirements.
For research teams looking to initiate thoughtful and transparent conversations about writing together with AI, this agreement document can foster ethical and essential transparency.
If you or your unit is interested talking more about how to (or how not to) incorporate AI text generating programs into your writing projects, reach out to schedule a consultation or a group presentation with CSU Writes.
Copies of the AI-Use Agreement are available for download here.