Wits AI Declaration Form (Science and Health Sciences), Filled In
Wits' Faculty of Science asks postgraduates to put a signed AI declaration in the front matter at first submission, and the Faculty of Health Sciences uses the same ten categories for coursework and research. Tick what you used AI for and copy the declaration with the right boxes marked.
Checked 4 October 2026 against the Wits Faculty of Science and Faculty of Health Sciences guidelines. If your module gives its own form, use that.
Make your declaration
Faculty form, postgraduate. Wits Faculty of Science, for theses, dissertations and research reports.
University of the Witwatersrand (Wits): Faculty of Science postgraduate AI declaration (Appendix B)Faculty form, postgraduate
I understand that the use of generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT or similar) without explicitly declaring such use constitutes a form of plagiarism and is classified by Wits University as academic misconduct.
I declare that in the course of conducting the research towards my degree or in the preparation of this thesis/dissertation/research report:
[ ]I did not make use of generative AI tools
[X]I did make use of generative AI tools for the following:
[ ]1. Idea Generation (research problem/design, hypothesis)
[ ]2. Sourcing Related Work (summarising, identifying sources)
[ ]3. Methods and Experiment Design (experiment setup, model tuning)
[ ]4. Data Analysis (presentation, coding, interpretation)
[ ]5. Theoretical Development (theorem proving, conceptual analysis)
[ ]6. Code Development (generating algorithms, writing scripts)
[ ]7. Presentation (rendering graphics, formatting)
[ ]8. Editing (grammar, readability)
[ ]9. Writing (text generation, document structuring)
[ ]10. Citation Formatting (structuring, organising)
If generative AI tools were used as an integral part of the experimental design or in the direct execution of my research, I confirm that details of this use are clearly outlined in the relevant experimental/methodology chapters of my thesis/dissertation/research report.
Student number: [student number]
Candidate signature: [sign here]
Date: [date]
Before you submit: this format has you confirm the words below. Keep them only if they are true for your work.
- “I understand that the use of generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT or similar) without explicitly declaring such use constitutes a form of plagiarism and is classified by Wits University as academic misconduct.”
- “If generative AI tools were used as an integral part of the experimental design or in the direct execution of my research, I confirm that details of this use are clearly outlined in the relevant experimental/methodology chapters of my thesis/dissertation/research report.”
Left for you to write
- Delete the words that do not apply in "thesis/dissertation/research report"
Where it goes: Signed, in the front matter of your thesis, dissertation or research report at first submission.
Source: Faculty of Science student AI guidelines, Appendix B (Wits), file dated 21 July 2025 (checked 4 October 2026); AI Policy, G-C-2026-030 (Wits), version 2.2, presented at Senate 6 November 2025 (checked 4 October 2026)
Open the Faculty of Science guidelines (the form is Appendix B)
Your assessment brief, module guide or supervisor comes first.
OpenAI. ([year]). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chatgpt.com/
In the text: (OpenAI, [year])
APA (September 2025): no version number by default, and the year is the year the tool was last updated; if you are unsure, use the year on the tool's site. A share link and a chat description switch this to APA's format for a specific chat. Sources: Citing generative AI in APA Style: Part 1, Reference formats (APA Style blog, 9 September 2025), AI references (APA Style).
Keep these while you work, so you can show your process if you are asked.
Sources: Melbourne, Monash, UQ, Pretoria (Q3), Dundee, UKZN (clause 6.9.2), RMIT
Sources: Monash
Sources: Monash, Dundee, UTS, Cambridge HSS, UCL
If an AI tool suggested references, check they exist in the Reference Checker.
Sources: UKZN (clause 6.8.7), Stellenbosch, UQ, MLA
Working from a set of papers? Litrevu answers questions from the papers you add to it, and every citation opens the passage it came from, so you can check each point. Free to start with up to 20 papers, no card. Litrevu is in the tool list above, so you can declare it too.
Start a free libraryTwo faculty forms, one structure
The Faculty of Science's post-graduate student AI declaration (Appendix B of its student guidelines) and the Faculty of Health Sciences' student AI declaration of use (Appendix B of its student guide, dated 21 October 2025 and adapted from the Science guidelines) share the same parts: a statement that undeclared use is plagiarism, a did not / did choice, ten categories to tick, a table for other uses, a confirmation about AI used in your research design, and your student number, signature and date.
The ten categories, as both forms print them:
- 1. Idea Generation (research problem/design, hypothesis)
- 2. Sourcing Related Work (summarising, identifying sources)
- 3. Methods and Experiment Design (experiment setup, model tuning)
- 4. Data Analysis (presentation, coding, interpretation)
- 5. Theoretical Development (theorem proving, conceptual analysis)
- 6. Code Development (generating algorithms, writing scripts)
- 7. Presentation (rendering graphics, formatting)
- 8. Editing (grammar, readability)
- 9. Writing (text generation, document structuring)
- 10. Citation Formatting (structuring, organising)
Who needs it and where it goes
Faculty of Science: postgraduates include the signed form in the front matter of the thesis, dissertation or research report at first submission. Faculty of Health Sciences: the form covers coursework and research (assignment, research proposal, thesis, dissertation, research report or presentation), is submitted with the first submission, and the actual chat may be added as an addendum to the appendix.
The university-wide draft
Wits' AI Policy (G-C-2026-030, version 2.2) includes a draft sample plagiarism and AI declaration that it says is to be amended according to faculty guidelines. Because it is a draft sample, the generator uses the two faculty forms. If your faculty uses a different form, use that one.
- AI Policy, G-C-2026-030 (Wits), version 2.2, presented at Senate 6 November 2025
Which AI tool Wits recommends
The Faculty of Science guidelines say to use Microsoft Copilot (https://copilot.microsoft.com/) with your Wits ICT login, because your data stays private and is not used to train the AI. Pick Microsoft Copilot in the generator and its link is filled in.
Source
Both faculty documents, linked below. Checked 4 October 2026.
- Faculty of Science student AI guidelines, Appendix B (Wits), file dated 21 July 2025
- Faculty of Health Sciences Student Guide to Responsible use of AI for Learning, Appendix B (Wits), 21 October 2025
Questions
Is there a Wits AI declaration for undergraduates?
The Faculty of Health Sciences form covers coursework as well as research. The Faculty of Science form is for postgraduates. Other faculties publish their own guidelines, so check your course outline.
Where does the Wits AI declaration go?
For the Faculty of Science, the signed form goes in the front matter of your thesis, dissertation or research report at first submission. The Faculty of Health Sciences asks for the signed form with your first submission.
What if my use is not in the ten categories?
Both forms have a table for other uses: the tool and what it was used for. Anything you ticked that has no matching category goes there.
Does Wits have a university-wide AI declaration?
Wits' AI Policy includes a draft sample declaration that is to be amended according to faculty guidelines, so the faculty forms are the ones to use.
Other South African formats
All 21 formats, how each is sourced, and APA, Harvard and MLA references
Other free tools
- Dissertation Word Count Calculator
How long your literature review and every other chapter should be for your word limit and level, how many sources to cite, and how many themes to plan, from published university guidance.
- Reference Checker
Paste a reference list to see which references are real, which details are wrong, and which papers are retracted, checked against Crossref and OpenAlex.