Write the paper yourself. Use AI honestly.

How each kind of paper is built, a worked example of it, and a straight answer on where AI help stops and someone else's paper starts.

Pick your paper

Criteria first, then the guide.

Six paper types, what each has to prove and the usual reason it is sent back
PaperHas to proveUsually sent back forGuide
Research proposalThe question matters and you can answer it.A topic, not a question.Structure and template
DissertationYou can hold one argument across every chapter.Chapters that answer different questions.Chapter by chapter
Literature reviewYou know the debate and where the gap is.Summaries in a row, no argument.Worked example
Book reviewYou can judge a book's argument, not just retell it.Summary where a verdict should be.How to judge a book
Case study analysisYou can apply theory to a real case and judge it.Retelling the case instead of judging it.Apply, then judge
Essay structureEvery paragraph moves one argument forward.Paragraphs that could go in any order.Build the argument

What AI tools do to each kind of paper

Read the one for your paper, not all four.

A printed reading list beside a laptop, two invented references crossed out in red pen Literature reviews with AI: what it finds, what it invents Where a chat tool helps you map a field, and how to catch the sources it makes up before your marker does.

Where help ends

Start with the first one.

Is using AI plagiarism? It depends on the paper The same use of a chat tool can be fine on a reflective log and misconduct on a dissertation. Here is how to tell which paper you are writing.
Your paperSomeone else's paper
  1. Spellcheck
  2. Feedback on your draft
  3. Proofreading
  4. Light editing
  5. The line usually falls here. Your course decides exactly where.
  6. Rewriting your argument
  7. Someone else writes it

One thesis statement, marked twice

A tool can write the first version in a second. Only you can write the second one, because it depends on how you read the book.

Before

The Road is a novel about a father and son and it has many important themes.

Says nothing yet.

After

In The Road, McCarthy uses the father's failing body to argue that care, not survival, is what keeps a person human.

Arguable. Specific. Yours.

How to write a thesis statement

Newest and recently reviewed

Newest

  1. How to write a research proposal (with a template)GuidesUpdated
  2. Literature reviews with AI: what it finds, what it inventsAI and writingUpdated
  3. Is using AI plagiarism? It depends on the paperIntegrityUpdated
  4. From essay mills to chatbots: what changed in paid essay helpIntegrityUpdated
  5. AI essay checkers: what the score on your draft does and does not meanAI and writingUpdated
  6. How to write a case study analysis: format, steps and an exampleGuidesUpdated

Recently reviewed

  1. Thesis statements: how to write one that is not genericAI and writingUpdated
  2. Before you submit: originality, citations and AI useIntegrityUpdated
  3. How to write a literature review (worked example)GuidesUpdated
  4. Proofreading, editing or ghostwriting: where help becomes misconductIntegrityUpdated
  5. How to write an annotated bibliography, and check every AI-suggested sourceAI and writingUpdated
  6. How to write a dissertation, chapter by chapterGuidesUpdated

What this site was, and what it is now

This address once belonged to an essay writing service. Essay Guardian is a new publication: it sells no papers and writes nothing for you.

About Essay Guardian