ChatGPT Prompts to Enhance Research Proposal Writing

Before deep diving into the specific prompts that can be used to enhance research proposal writing,  let me start this post by repeatingly remind each other as acdemicians and professionals, to use ChatGPT responsibly and ethically. Whilst ChatGPT can be very useful in many aspects of research proposal writing, the onus still falls on the researchers to evaluate and verify the accuracy of the information generated by ChatGPT. ChatGPT does not absolve us of the accountability of being a thinking researcher and academician.

Q1. Should ChatGPT be included as a co-author of your paper?

I do not believe that ChatGPT can be a co-author under any circumstances because authorship is not merely about putting your name in the paper. Authorship also means taking personal accountability of the contents of the paper.  In this regard, ChatGPT is not a personal entity that can take personal accountability. 

Even in the guidelines by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) on who qualifies to be an author, an author is someone who fulfills the following:

• Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
• Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
• Final approval of the version to be published; AND
• Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

ChatGPT cannot fulfill the fourth criteria. 

Hypothetically, if ChatGPT can be a co-author for every academic paper produced with the aid of this AI model, then ChatGPT would become the most global author, and soon to be the most cited author, in every academic discipline and in every country of the planet as long as there is internet connection.

Q2. Is ChatGPT a friend or a foe in the academic circle?

This is the question I saw circulating in many websites. But to me, this is a wrong question to ask. ChatGPT, just like any other technology, is morally neutral. A knife can be a friend or a foe depending on who is using it. Or as Joseph C. Pitt famously said, "Guns don't kill people. People kill people". (Pitt, J.C. (2014). “Guns Don’t Kill, People Kill”; Values in and/or Around Technologies. In: Kroes, P., Verbeek, PP. (eds) The Moral Status of Technical Artefacts. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 17. Springer, Dordrecht).  This is known as the Value Neutrality Thesis.

The question, therefore, is not whether is ChatGPT a friend or a foe. Rather the question is, Do YOU want ChatGPT to be a friend or a foe?

Now, the specific suggested prompts that can be used to enhance research proposal writing:

If you already have your proposal ready

To evaluate the quality of the proposal

Pretend you are a reviewer. Evaluate the quality of this part of the proposal/write-up, highlighting both the good and bad points.

Pretend you are a reviewer. Evaluate the quality of this part of the write-up on [SECTION]. Be strict and be as critical as possible.

To evaluate the grammatical aspect of the proposal

Pretend you are a language editor. Evaluate the grammatical aspects of this write-up.

To edit the proposal

Pretend you are a language editor. Edit this write-up and send back to me. Do not remove the in-text citations in your response:

[TEXT]

 

But if you do not yet have a full proposal,

Brainstorming for Research Ideas 

I want to conduct a study in the field of [EXPERTISE/INTEREST]. Generate for me fundamental research ideas to work on. Highlight the novelty of each idea with the sentence "Novelty:..." 

I want to conduct a multi-disciplinary study in the field of [EXPERTISE/INTEREST]. Generate for me fundamental research ideas to work on. Highlight the novelty of each idea with the sentence "Novelty:..." 

Brainstorming for Research Titles 

I want to conduct a study on [RESEARCH TOPIC/IDEA]. Generate some titles for my research. 

Outlining Research Proposal 

I am interested to conduct a study on [RESEARCH TITLE]. Outline my research proposal. 

Brainstorming Research Questions 

I am interested to conduct a study on [RESEARCH TITLE]. Suggest some research questions for me. 

Generating Hypothesis 

Generate the corresponding hypotheses based on the following research questions: 

[RESEARCH QUESTION(S)]

Generating research objectives

Generate the corresponding research objectives based on the following research questions:

[RESEARCH QUESTION(S)]

Generating (or comparing) problem statement

Based on this literature review, generate for me the problem statement of this research: 

[LITERATURE REVIEW] 

Generating suggested conceptual framework| 

Based on these research questions, generate for me a conceptual framework for my research: 

Literature Review

Screening for relevance of search results 

I want to clean the dataset to only select the topic that is only relevant to “[RESEARCH TITLE]”. Read the titles and abstracts given and evaluate it weather it is about “[RESEARCH TITLE]” or not.   Based on the following data, list the feedback to include AUTHOR, TITLE, YEAR, Relevant (Yes/No) and Reason (please provide a simple reason if the info given related to the “[RESEARCH TITLE]” or not).  List your response in TABLE FORMAT.  [AUTHOR, TITLE, YEAR, Relevant (Yes/No), Reason]

Tabulate past studies 

Summarize these abstracts in columns. 

Write paragraphs based on past studies 

Paraphrase these abstracts in paragraphs. Do not remove in-text citations in your response. 

Generating suggestions for probable statistical methods based on research design 

I am conducting a research using [THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK, e.g. UTAUT-2 model] with [RESEARCH DESIGNS, e.g., 6 independent variables and one dependent variable]. Suggest the possible statistical analysis that I can use. 

Identifying for relevant research instruments 

Based on these research questions and title, list the appropriate instruments that can be used to measure these research questions: 

Generating new research instruments based on existing theoretical models/frameworks 

I want to conduct a study on [RESEARCH TITLE] using the [THEORETICAL MODELS, e.g. UTAUT-2 model/TAM model]. Generate a survey instrument for me. 

Generating feedback/comments on relevance of research to governmental policies 

Based on this title and the research objectives, generate for me the paragraph on the relevance of this research to governmental policy:

[TITLE]

[RESEARCH OBJECTIVES]

Identifying the United Nations Sustainability Developmental Goals (SDG) addressed in the research 

Based on this title and the research objectives, state which UN SDG addressed in this research?

[TITLE]

[RESEARCH OBJECTIVES] 

Generating feedback on how the research title can meet the Quintuple Helix of Innovation

Describe how the research title [RESEARCH TITLE] can meet the quintuple helix of innovation