A Checklist for Revising AI-Assisted Drafts
Use this checklist with the original draft, your sources, and the assignment or publication requirements open beside you. Work through meaning and evidence first. Polishing unsupported claims only makes them harder to notice.
Pass 1: Check the task and the argument
- Write the question you are answering in your own words.
- Summarize your answer in one sentence without looking at the draft.
- Label each paragraph with the one job it does: claim, evidence, explanation, or limitation.
- Remove repeated points and move background information before the claims that need it.
- Check which uses of AI assistance are allowed and whether disclosure is required.
If you cannot explain a paragraph, pause the rewrite. Return to the source or your notes until you understand the point well enough to defend it.
Pass 2: Verify facts, sources, and qualifications
Open every cited source. Find the passage that supports the claim, not just a title that looks relevant. Verify authors, dates, quotations, links, and page numbers. Remove a claim if you cannot establish its basis; do not ask a rewriting tool to invent a citation.
A claim worth checking
“Remote work improves productivity” is broader than “Respondents in this survey reported fewer interruptions while working remotely.” If the source measured interruptions, the rewrite must not present that as a measured productivity gain.
This is a hypothetical source-checking example. Apply the same comparison to your actual evidence: population, measurement, time period, and uncertainty should all survive the edit.
Pass 3: Restore your voice and the reader's context
- Replace vague nouns such as “factors” with the specific thing you mean.
- Explain unfamiliar terms when your intended reader needs the background.
- Keep technical vocabulary when an everyday synonym would be inaccurate.
- Remove transitions that repeat a relationship the reader already understands.
- Read one paragraph aloud and revise any wording you would struggle to explain.
Our worked editing example shows how to simplify a passage without making its claim stronger.
Pass 4: Save a final review record
Keep the original, the revised version, your notes, and the sources used. Record any assistance you must disclose under the applicable rules. Version history is useful evidence of your actual process; do not fabricate drafts after the fact.
Read the introduction and conclusion together. They should address the same question, with the conclusion supported by the body. Then check citations, formatting, length, and submission instructions.
An AI detector can return an indicative result, but it cannot certify accuracy or authorship. If your own writing is flagged, preserve it and follow the evidence and review steps instead of changing it only to lower a percentage.