Only if your advisor or program agrees. The BGSU Graduate College tells graduate students who use AI in their thesis or dissertation process to consult their advisor or program, and it leaves the approval to them. If AI is used, you cite it with the help of the University Libraries AI Literacy Research Guide. One use is ruled out for everyone: AI generated alt text for figures. The rule is a short paragraph in the Graduate College's Thesis/Dissertation Handbook, a web page last updated on October 8, 2026, which we read on November 9, 2026.
If your AI statement clearly doesn't cover what you describe elsewhere in your thesis, Esmond points it out.
BGSU's Thesis/Dissertation Handbook is mostly about format: templates, margins, headings and the upload to OhioLINK ETD. Near the top, before the formatting chapters, it has a paragraph headed AI usage. Its first sentence tells graduate students who use AI during the thesis or dissertation process to consult their advisor or program.
The second sentence says who holds the decision: “It is at the discretion of the advisor/program to approve the use of AI within the context of related University policies and thesis/dissertation requirements.” So there is no default permission in the handbook, and no list of approved or banned uses beyond the alt text rule below. Ask your advisor first, before you use Esmond or any other AI tool for this thesis or dissertation, and follow what your advisor or program decides.
The phrase "within the context of related University policies" means that wider BGSU rules, such as the ITS data rules below, still apply to whatever your advisor allows.
A hypothetical example of a commentThe caption of Figure 3 says the trend reverses after 2019, but the paragraph that refers to Figure 3 says it holds through 2022. Which description matches the data, and does the alt text you added to the figure say the same thing?
A first comment on one part of your own draft, right away and without an account.
Get a free previewThe middle column follows the handbook. The right column is our suggestion, not a BGSU requirement.
| Use of AI | What the handbook says | What to have ready (our suggestion) |
|---|---|---|
| Any use during the thesis or dissertation process | Consult your advisor or program; approval is at their discretion | A short note to your advisor naming the tool and the task, and the reply |
| Text, data or code in the manuscript | Cite AI, using the Libraries AI Literacy Research Guide | The citation format of the style manual your program or advisor chose |
| Alt text for figures | AI generated alt text is not allowed | Alt text you composed yourself for every figure and scheme |
| Program extras | Check program-level requirements with your coordinator or program handbook | The program's own AI guidance, if it has one |
On disclosure, the Graduate College sends students to the library: “We ask you to use the University Libraries AI Literacy Research Guide which includes ways to cite AI in the various style guidelines.” The handbook does not prescribe a separate AI statement or a fixed place for it.
The citation format therefore follows your style manual. The handbook asks you to choose that manual according to your discipline or program, or together with your faculty advisor, and to apply it consistently. APA, Chicago and MLA each have their own way of citing a generative AI tool. If your advisor approved AI for a task that leaves no quoted output in the text, such as checking code, ask your advisor how to record it, since the handbook speaks only of citing.
The last sentence of the AI paragraph is the only fixed ban in the handbook: “Remember that AI generated alt text for your figures is not allowed.” It applies whatever your advisor decides about other uses.
Alt text is not optional at BGSU. The accessibility part of the handbook's checklist asks for alt text on each figure and scheme, and on equations that appear as pictures rather than typed text. Each description has to come from you, and it should say what the figure shows in the same terms as the paragraph that cites it.
The handbook calls itself supplemental to the Graduate College's master's, doctoral and thesis policies, and it tells students to check with their graduate program coordinator or program handbook for program-level requirements. A program can therefore add expectations on AI that the Graduate College page does not list.
The handbook treats other outside help the same way: a student may hire a professional copy editor with the approval of the faculty advisor and the program graduate coordinator.
The AI Resources page of Information Technology Services, last updated on September 9, 2025, is not a thesis rule, but it addresses ChatGPT directly: “The use of ChatGPT is permitted; however, users must change their memory settings per the guidelines in this article” ITS recommends turning the memory off altogether.
The same page sets a data rule: “Do not share any personal information, proprietary BGSU information or confidential information regarding students/potential students, coworkers, customers or partners (for example, student personal data, contractual or health information) when interacting with AI.” The examples are about people and contracts, and the page does not mention thesis drafts. Participant names, health details, student records or data you received from a BGSU office or a partner under conditions stay out of AI tools. Whether your own unpublished draft counts as proprietary BGSU information is not settled by these texts, so ask your advisor before you upload it to Esmond or any tool BGSU has not approved.
ITS also links to a separate document, Generative AI Guidance for Privacy and Security. We could not open it on November 9, 2026, so its content is not reflected here; read it before you upload any part of your thesis to an AI tool.
This example is made up. A master's student in geology asks her advisor whether she may use an AI tool to check the logic of the statistical code behind chapter 3. Her advisor agrees by email, and she cites the tool in the chapter as the Libraries guide suggests. Two weeks before the ETD deadline she pastes her eleven figures into a chatbot and uses its descriptions as alt text. Her advisor approved one use. The other falls under the one rule an advisor cannot waive, so she has to compose all eleven descriptions again before the manuscript goes to OhioLINK ETD.
Esmond evaluates every assignment before you submit. It never writes it.
Esmond is an AI tool that doesn't write for you. If your course doesn't allow any AI tools, don't use Esmond for that work. If you're unsure, ask your instructor or advisor.
Esmond evaluates the content of a draft from within your field and points out factual errors, inconsistencies between chapters and blind spots in the argument; how Esmond works and the sample report show what you get back. At BGSU the approval sits with your advisor or program, so ask your advisor before you use Esmond on any chapter, and cite the use as the Libraries guide describes if they agree. Keep personal and confidential data out of what you upload, in line with the ITS rule above. Whether the draft itself counts as proprietary BGSU information is not settled by these texts, so ask your advisor about that before you upload it, and see whether you can use Esmond for the general question. Bowling Green State University has not reviewed or approved Esmond.
We found no ban. The Graduate College leaves AI use in a thesis or dissertation to the discretion of your advisor or program. ITS says the use of ChatGPT is permitted with memory settings changed, which is a general rule, not approval for your thesis.
Your advisor or program. The handbook tells you to consult them and leaves the approval to them.
The Graduate College asks you to use the University Libraries AI Literacy Research Guide, which covers citing AI in the common style guides. Use the format of the style manual your thesis follows.
No. The handbook says AI generated alt text for figures is not allowed, and the accessibility checklist asks for alt text on every figure and scheme.
ITS says not to share personal information or confidential information about students, coworkers or partners when interacting with AI. Remove identifying details first, and ask your advisor if the data came with conditions.
Read on November 9, 2026.
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