Academic Integrity and Artificial Intelligence: Principles and Guidelines

Principles

Instructors assign academic work for many reasons, but chief among them is the goal of helping students develop the ability to think clearly, logically, and independently. This goal underpins Northwestern University’s principles of academic integrity, which make clear that students may not present the work of others, including work generated by artificial intelligence or LLMs, as if it were their own. In this context and with the advent of easy access to Generative AI, we wish to restate certain principles regarding what we consider to be good-faith academic work.

In Weinberg College, we want students to produce academic work in good faith. This means that the sources one cites have been directly consulted as part of the process. Likewise, fragments or summaries of scholarship generated by online tools must not replace one’s own research and analysis. While coursework differs across disciplines, it always aims to create space for both the process and product of learning. The goal is far more than the generation of a final product. 

For this reason, Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences values curiosity, tenacity, and creativity; our mission is to cultivate one’s capacity to think through observation, reflection, expression, and critique. This critical thinking is developed by challenging oneself to grapple with complex and sometimes ambiguous ideas. In our classes, students learn through engaging in dialogue, research, and iterative processes: brainstorming, testing claims, collecting and interpreting evidence, and evaluating conclusions. These efforts, while challenging, are vital to the development of successful analytical writing, quantitative reasoning, and artistic work. 

We believe that learning can only truly be developed through the marshalling of accurate information, the honing of good judgment through experience, and ongoing individual accountability. While LLMs can be trained to offer solutions to problems, they cannot always be trusted to deliver accurate information, exhibit true judgment, or be held accountable. AI can supplement research and learning, but it should not replace the effort that leads to distinctly human discernment. 

Guidelines

In the College, artificial intelligence may be used for coursework only as specifically permitted by instructors.

Instructors who allow students to use AI should clearly describe in their course policies how students may and may not use AI to support or augment their own work, and students should adhere to these policies. In these courses, students should be prepared to say how AI was used or consulted.  

Given the various ways AI is embedded in research and writing tools, it will be important for instructors to be clear about whether AI may be used to support coursework. For example, it may be appropriate to use AI to create flash cards or other study tools. But it may not be acceptable in that same course for students to have AI summarize texts in lieu of reading them, solve problem sets before attempting them, or edit prose for them. If students aren’t sure whether a particular use of AI is appropriate, they should always ask the instructor in advance.