Dictation for PhD students: draft ideas without losing sources

Begin each note with the source identifier, note type, and purpose. Say whether the next passage is a summary, question, interpretation, methodological concern, or idea for later testing. Do not dictate a quotation from memory.

Insert the citation key in the reference manager workflow, then verify author, title, date, page, DOI, and quoted wording against the source. A fluent transcript is not evidence.

Outline a section as claim, evidence, warrant, limitation, and transition. Dictate one unit, stop, then compare it with the cited material before continuing.

Mark uncertainty explicitly with a searchable token such as “source needed” or “analysis pending.” Resolve every marker before sharing or submitting the document; never let cleanup software convert uncertainty into confidence.

Check the approved protocol and data-management plan before audio capture. Raw audio, transcript, clipboard, history, optional formatting, backups, and the destination editor can be separate stores and processors.

The U.S. Office of Research Integrity defines fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism in the conduct and reporting of research. Dictation does not change those duties, and local processing does not certify compliance with a university or jurisdiction.

First test the argument, then verify evidence, then review disciplinary terminology and citations, and only afterward line-edit. Save versions so supervisor feedback and substantive changes remain visible.

If AI tools rewrite text, follow applicable disclosure and authorship rules, protect confidential material, preserve a diff, and verify every altered claim. Policies vary, so check the actual institution and target venue.