AI Guidance

CSU Writes AI Guide and Resources

Your strategic and ethical engagement with GenAI begins with understanding the expectations and norms of your scholarly ecosystem.

By developing an internal compass for ethical decision-making, you will be able to navigate the continually evolving AI systems, gray areas, and practices with integrity and discernment.

Most journals, funding agencies, universities, and scholarly associations have issued guidance on appropriate and responsible AI use in research and writing. 

The decision to use (or not use) AI, may be your own, but we all will make better decisions together if we stay well informed and talk openly about evolving guidelines for AI use in research and scholarship.

Let’s begin!

This CSU Writes AI Guide is comprised of three parts:

  1. COORDINATES: Directions for deciding what, when, and how you will choose to use AI in your research and scholarship.
  2. PATH: Questions and corresponding rules to further guide your use along the way of your project.
  3. EXTRAS: References and recommended reading to support your ongoing AI professional development.

COORDINATES

Directions for deciding what, when, and how you will choose to use AI in your research and scholarship.

1. CSU

Institutional guidelines and university support are essential for your wise and ethical decision making. Colorado State University encourages responsible, transparent use of GenAI, and various units have provided guidance on the use of GenAI and the responsible conduct of research and production of scholarship.

Links to guides:

2. Publishers

Academic journals and presses are rapidly developing policies around GenAI use. These may include guidelines for disclosure, limits on AI-generated content, or ethical considerations around data and authorship. Follow these steps:

  • Review the guidelines for all journals you have identified as a good fit for your manuscript in advance of using AI in your writing process (e.g., literature review, drafting, reviewing, revising, etc.).
  • Track your use of AI: programs and versions, date used, prompts, outputs, URLs.
  • Disclose your use of AI either as an AI Disclosure Statement or in the manuscript’s methods and citations.

3. Funding Agencies

Many granting bodies have clarified how AI may (or may not) be use in the grant writing process. Some now require disclosure of GenAI use in proposal development or research design, especially when AI tools are used to generate or analyze data. Review your funder’s guidelines in advance of using AI to avoid compliance issues and to maintain your credibility. Some examples include:

4. Scholarly Associations 

Disciplinary organizations are beginning to release position statements and best practices for GenAI. Many associations will also set the guidelines for the field’s journals as well. These resources can help you understand how your field is approaching questions of originality, transparency, and responsible use. Some examples include:

5. Your Professional Goals

Your use of GenAI should reflect your scholarly identity across your career span. You may be a student crafting a thesis, a faculty member preparing for tenure, a postdoc/faculty mentoring graduate students, or an early-career researcher building a public-facing profile.

  • Consider how the AI systems and programs you use in each of your roles will support (or undermine) your long-term goals and academic values.

6. Career-Long Cognitive Development

GenAI can streamline tasks, but over reliance may hinder the development of critical thinking, writing fluency, and disciplinary expertise (Chunpeng, Z., et al. 2024; Dergaa, I. et al. 2024; Kosmyna, Z., et al. 2025). 

  • Use GenAI to support (not substitute for) your intellectual growth across your career.

7. Sustainable Use

CSU is an internationally recognized award-winning sustainability campus (Source 2025). 

  • There is no escaping the fact that GenAI systems require significant energy and computing resources. Consider the ecological footprint of your digital tools and seek out practices that align with CSU’s commitment to sustainability.

8. Collaborations and Communities of Practice

AI use is rarely limited to an individual decision in our scholarly and research ecosystems.

  • Labs, writing groups, co-authors, and research teams need to explore shared norms, devise AI-use agreements, and create transparency and accountability structures to support their work together. Discuss expectations early, establish shared practices, and document decisions to support trust, integrity, and collective learning.

PATH

Questions and corresponding rules to further guide your use along the way of your project.

Paths are in process. More information coming soon!

  • Principles: Align AI use with CSU’s ethical standards and values.
  • AI-Use: Ensure responsible and secure use of AI tools.
  • Transparency: Be open with students about how AI is used.
  • Humanity: Keep human oversight and relationships central to the grading process.

EXTRAS

References and recommended reading to support your ongoing AI professional development.

GenAI and Research Writing References and Reads

ETHICS

ADVICE 

RESOURCE PAGES