Three ways ChatGPT Helps me in my Academic Writing

Improved my Academic Writing

Ever heard the Mantra “America First” For Generative AI? It’s context.

When using AI, keeping the context is a must. You can’t expect AI to provide a meaningful answer without proper context. When using a Chatbot to refine a section, make sure you start by outlining the context. What is the main argument? Then, write everything down in points – bullet points are a must.

Then, give this as a prompt to an AI of your choice. I typically use ChatGPT, made by OpenAI, but if something is more research-centric, then I prefer using Gemini. It was developed by researchers at Google. So, in my opinion, if you have something that has to do with a lot of research, then Gemini would be my preferred choice.

Regardless of which AI you are using, all of it depends on providing precise instructions. The clearer you are, the better. For Example, If you have to write something, You might use the prompt: I want you to write me an article on this topic. But if I had been at your place, I would have used as a prompt command is to “Give a written paragraph or blog to ChatGPT and then ask it to remove any jargon and repetitions and to make the text smoother while keeping a professional tone.

If you are a writer and you have already published your piece somewhere or sent it to a reviewer, then you can also use the reviewer’s comment to improve the quality of your text.

Always remember Chatbots are not actual humans and they are not just trained to perfect yet! So, always keep in mind that all of this is going to be a collaborative journey, and your every response will make the result better and better. Suppose if you are in you have a client who you are working on a campaign for, both of you are two different people with a different approach to dealing with things.

You are explaining something, but it seems like he is not getting it at all (his body language will tell you that). So what you will do is ask him if he is getting your point or not, and if he says no, you won’t just leave. You will try to make him understand in much simpler words same is the case when it comes to ChatGPT. The more you collaborate, the more refined your answer will be.

If you follow this approach, your writing will suddenly have more depth, which will take months of practice to achieve because AI is not writing the whole article for you. It’s a chatbot that was designed to make your text look better.

Better Peer Review:

Generative AI has brought a lot of Innovation to the world. Quite similarly, if you add AI to your day-to-day tasks, your efficiency will be 5X, and Savitar will no longer be the god of speed. Remember I told you how ChatGPT helps me in academic writing. Let me tell you the second one and it’s peer review. Suppose you have a script that you’ve been working on, and you need a review.

Filter out the main points that you need feedback for (Never add the full script because there are still some privacy concerns in these Generative AI). Then give ChatGPT this prompt: “Suppose you are a Professional [Field] writer with 20+ years of experience. Please provide me with a detailed review of a paper in [field] on the following [topic]. I want the results in this order:

1- Briefly discuss the core content.

2- Identify what could be Improved.

3- List everything that can be improved on the basis of their importance.

I’ve found that AI collaborations can guarantee exceptional results. Like something that I never thought existed, but with the help of AI, it was added to my text. The most fascinating part is that AI is evolving faster and faster than we think.

The new “reasoning” feature that was introduced with the deepseek R1 model is not integrated into ChatGPT. With this reasoning model, your AI has become even more thoughtful of its decisions. Previously, the questions that ChatGPT was unable to answer can now be addressed with the reasoning model.

Even after this, I don’t use the results exactly and copy-paste them into my paper. I connect the dots based on the AI’s conclusions, but I always do the final check. Because AI’s response can sometimes be laggy or far-fetching to the actual point, that is why you are there. You should be responsible for differentiating between right and wrong, which the AI can’t. 

Optimizing editorial feedback

As a journal editor, one of the most difficult areas of my work involves providing feedback to authors. I know how challenging it is to give proper feedback, especially when trying to manage several manuscripts each week. I’ve encountered feedback like, “We have reviewed your manuscript and decided not to pursue it” too many times. Clear and explicit communication goes a long way. ChatGPT has been a lifesaver, allowing me to provide empathetic and constructive comments that utilize human editorial judgment.

For instance, rather than typing out the response myself, I often put my notes into ChatGPT and ask it to draft a reply for me after reviewing a paper’s pros and cons.

“Draft a letter to the author based on these notes. The primary reasons why the manuscript cannot be published need to be illustrated clearly. Despite the topic being intriguing, the issues with the manuscript preclude it from offering a substantial enough contribution to warrant publication. Be direct, outline the most important parts, and use professional and respectful language.”

Although it might require some changes to make the wording more precise, this technique improves the quality of my feedback while ensuring it remains helpful. In the long run, this achieves a better editorial process.

Although generative AI has its downsides, it certainly improves our ability to write, review, and edit documents for content and even accuracy. The tools aid in the communication for research while still valuing the key components of science, such as an inquisitive mind, analytical view, and creativity.

Conclusion:

The use of generative AI, for example, ChatGPT, have fundamentally changed how I undertake research writing, feedback from peers, and even editorial reviews. It does not eliminate the need for a human touch, yet it can dramatically improve efficiency, accuracy, and communication. ChatGPT is highly effective in assisting me with creating the outline for an academic paper, editing the peer reviews, and giving the final editorial comments on the paper.

But, proper control of AI use is essential. AI ought to be treated as a useful collaborator rather than a tool for escaping responsibilities. The more complex we make our prompts, combined with participation in the entire workflow, the better the results.

To summarize, the necessity for humans – our thought processes, imagination, and decision-making capabilities – will always be present. The smart use of AI can allow us to advance in the area of academic writing without compromising on the quality and depth that must be provided by thorough research.