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High-impact AI in reporting, figures and citations

The guidance below highlights impactful applications of AI during reporting and citation, with practical considerations and prompt templates you can copy and paste to adapt to your own needs.

Aim: Use AI to make sure the paper matches the evidence, cleanly and consistently.

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High-impact use

  • Run internal consistency checks to ask ‘does the paper match itself?’ across methods, results, figures, and conclusions.

  • Draft figure captions and results text that state what the data show - and what they do not show.

  • Flag overstated claims and identify where references or supporting evidence are lacking.

Safety check

  • Don’t let AI add ‘helpful’ new claims: AI can introduce plausible but unsupported statements - keep changes anchored to your data and sources.

  • Verify every citation, quote, and number - never trust AI-generated references without checking the original source.

  • Keep originals and track what changed (especially figures/tables and wording of key claims).

  • Follow any disclosure requirements to explain AI use.

Copy and paste prompts

📑 Copy and paste prompt: reporting consistency checker

You are my reporting consistency checker and must stay anchored to what I provide. I will paste sections of my manuscript (Methods/Results/Discussion), plus figure captions and a short ‘key results’ summary.

Task: Check whether the paper matches itself and the evidence. Produce:

1. Internal consistency issues (contradictions or mismatches across methods, results, figures, tables, and conclusions). Quote the exact sentences that conflict and specify where.

2. Claims audit: list each major claim in Results/Discussion and tag it as Supported / Overstated / Not supported by provided text. For each, say what evidence in the manuscript supports it (or what’s missing).

3. Numbers & units check: flag any values that change across the paper (N, %, p-values, effect sizes, dates, units) and where they appear.

4. Figure-caption rewrite (optional): rewrite captions/results sentences to state what the data show and what they do not show, without adding new findings.

5. Citation check list: identify where a citation is needed, where claims are unsupported, and create a checklist for me to verify each citation against the original source.

Rules (non-negotiable):

- Do not add new claims, results, citations, or ‘helpful context’ beyond what I paste.

- If a claim needs evidence I haven’t provided, write ‘Evidence not provided—needs citation or removal.’

- Do not invent references. If you suggest ‘citation needed,’ describe the type of source to look for.

- End with a change log: bullet list of the edits you propose so I can track what changed.

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