AI Disclosures in Academic Writing: When and How to Acknowledge AI Use

Generative AI tools are now an integral part of academic writing. From summarizing literature and structuring arguments to paraphrasing dense text and polishing grammar, students and researchers are using AI at nearly every stage of the scientific writing process, making AI disclosures more of a norm.  

Rising Adoption of AI Tools in Academia

A 2024 large-scale study found that 81% of researchers (n = 816) have already incorporated large language models (LLMs) and generative AI in research workflows. A global student survey from the Digital Education Council reports that 80% of students (n = 3,839 across 16 countries) regularly use generative AI tools for academic tasks, including writing and studying.  

New findings from a July 2025 Nature survey further reinforce this shift. Out of nearly 2,000 researchers surveyed:  

• 64% had used generative AI in research
• 31% used AI for writing papers or proposals
• 25% used it to analyze data
• Many respondents expressed enthusiasm for AI’s efficiency, but also concern about oversight, fairness, and long-term reliance.

The Nature article highlighted another key issue: while AI is becoming a powerful productivity tool in science, researchers want clearer institutional guidance on how to use generative AI in research and how to include AI disclosures responsibly. 

Uncovering an Urgent Need for Clear Guidance on AI Use

Paperpal’s 2025 internal survey mirrors this need amid an increasing focus on ensuring responsible AI use and academic integrity. In the survey, 74% of respondents said clear, consistent guidance from institutions would increase their confidence in disclosing AI use. Others pointed to peer examples (49%) and access to AI usage logs (45%) as valuable supports. 

Despite AI’s growing role, disclosure is still a sensitive matter for academics. Only 28% of the respondents were very comfortable disclosing AI use, while 42% were only somewhat comfortable, and 30% were still uncomfortable, fearing misunderstanding or judgment. 

These worries are grounded in real concerns: 87% of respondents fear being flagged for plagiarism or misconduct, with issues like accuracy (64%), loss of originality (54%), and ethical risks (50%) ranking high among the list of worries when using AI in academic writing.  

Together, these results paint a clear picture: AI is here to stay, but researchers need clarity and support to use it responsibly. Without that, many will remain cautious, under-disclosing their use or avoiding AI tools altogether, despite their potential to improve writing efficiency. That being said, it’s important to remember that AI disclosure isn’t just a technical or ethical requirement; it’s a key step toward enhancing academic integrity and building trust in the future of research.  

Acknowledging AI Assistance: When to Disclose AI Use? 

A good rule of thumb: disclose use if AI has meaningfully changed or contributed to your writing. This includes AI assistance for: 

• grammar or clarity editing
• rewriting for tone, flow, or consistency
• summarizing literature or background content
• suggesting phrasings, transitions, or rewordings

You typically don’t need to disclose simple spelling or formatting suggestions. But if the AI writing tool has helped you reshape ideas or polish writing, most academic institutions expect AI disclosures for complete research transparency. 

What Universities and Publishers Expect: Know The Rules

Across the academic landscape, the stance is consistent: AI writing tools cannot be credited as authors and their use must be clearly declared. Major publishers require authors to state which AI tool was used and for what purpose, while ensuring that all content is reviewed and approved by the human authors. Leading universities echo the same message—AI disclosure is part of maintaining academic integrity and research transparency. Together, these policies make it clear that researchers must take responsibility for all material in their manuscripts while being open about the role of AI. 

Publisher/body	AI Disclosure Requirement
Elsevier	Requires disclosure of any AI tool that supported manuscript preparation. AI cannot be listed as author
Wiley / COPE	Substantial AI assistance (writing, rewriting, idea generation) must be disclosed. Minor grammar tools may be exempt
IEEE	Requires disclosure for any AI-generated content, including code, figures, or text
ICMJE	AI tool use should be declared in both the manuscript and the cover letter. No AI authorship allowed
Springer Nature	AI can be used for language support, but its role must be transparent and disclosed appropriately

In general, authors are expected to: 

• name the AI tool used for research and writing
• specify what tasks it supported (e.g., summarizing, paraphrasing, editing)
• confirm that the human authors reviewed and approved all AI-assisted content.

Examples of AI Disclosures From Published Research

AI disclosures are already being published in high-impact journals. Here are a few examples of how these are framed in published research articles: 

• Nature: “This manuscript was prepared with the assistance of ChatGPT to improve linguistic readability.” (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-60681-w)

• Springer: “This manuscript was prepared with the assistance of ChatGPT, a language model developed by OpenAI, which was used for refining language. The authors have reviewed, revised and approved the final content.” (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11976344/)

These AI disclosures are short, clear, and aligned with current publisher expectations and serve as effective templates for responsible AI use, ensuring research transparency and maintaining academic integrity. 

How to Disclose AI Use: Paperpal Can Help!

To support both researchers and students, Paperpal is all set to provide AI Disclosures, a new feature that offers a generalized safe template. For researchers, this ensures compliance with publisher and institutional guidelines when submitting manuscripts. For students, it offers a clear framework to acknowledge AI writing tool use in coursework or theses, helping maintain academic integrity. Apart from a standard disclosure template, Paperpal offers 14 publishers and curated templates to choose from. In all cases, the templates provided under the AI Disclosures feature will help authors identify the tool used, describe its purpose, and confirm that the final responsibility rests with the human authors. By adopting this approach, users can maintain research transparency and accountability in their academic writing. 

Track How You Use Paperpal with AI Footprint

With the goal of research transparency, Paperpal recently also launched AI Footprint, which allows you to track how its AI supports your writing. This puts you in control by giving you a clear record of work done on Paperpal, which makes it easy to prepare AI disclosures when submitting your research. When partnered with our upcoming AI Disclosures templates, this feature makes it easier to ensure originality, transparency, and academic integrity.  

Building Credibility through Research Transparency and Responsible AI Use

Disclosing AI use is about more than formality—it’s about accountability, credibility and academic integrity. With the increasing use of generative AI in research workflows, clear and transparent AI disclosure is expected by journals, reviewers, and institutions alike. 

With Paperpal’s AI Disclosures feature, researchers and students can meet those expectations easily—reinforcing academic integrity and ensuring research transparency while embracing innovation. 

All set to make your academic writing more transparent, ethical, and future-ready? Sign up for free now and be among the first to explore Paperpal’s upcoming AI Disclosures feature!  

Paperpal is a comprehensive AI writing toolkit that helps students and researchers achieve 2x the writing in half the time. It leverages 23+ years of STM experience and insights from millions of research articles to provide in-depth academic writing, language editing, and submission readiness support to help you write better, faster.

Get accurate academic translations, rewriting support, grammar checks, vocabulary suggestions, and generative AI assistance that delivers human precision at machine speed. Try for free or upgrade to Paperpal Prime to access premium features, including consistency, plagiarism, and 30+ submission readiness checks to help you succeed. Experience the future of academic writing – Sign up to Paperpal and start writing for free!