Thesis and Independent Study Instructions for
Blue Marble University and All Divisions
Effective February 8, 2026
Use of AI Required
Introduction
These are very exciting times!!! Blue Marble University, instead of running away from AI, is wholeheartedly adopting AI in all facets of our operations. This includes our students learning how to use AI to become more productive as well as more professional with their report and paper writing and presentation. And this is effective immediately!
Why we are requiring our students to embrace AI and learn how to make AI work for them in their exams, independent study papers, and dissertations has been made clear in our published consideration: https://bluemarbleuniversity.com/ai-required-for-dissertations-at-blue-marble-university/
As you probably already know, and regardless of which of our programs you may be in, we look for dissertations and independent study papers to be no more than 20 pages long because that’s what journal outlets look for. No journal is going to publish the old fashioned, rambling, 200 page thesis. Which is why these are all collecting dust in the basement of some university library, or recorded onto digital media whose equipment and formatting have already or will soon become obsolete.
All papers should have a goal of no more than 20 pages including references. Try to shoot for this and do not worry of your go over. But long winded, rambling, poorly focused papers will not be permitted.
Keep your topic and title very tight and small. Do not make this a big project that cannot be accomplished. Your Instructor/Mentor will give you further guidance on this.
By the time you reach this point in your program, you are already experienced in writing various papers for exams and assignments. And so, a dissertation is just a more involved and more detailed work-up of the kind you should already be used to.
Now, of course, you don’t tell AI to “write a dissertation”. What you will do, is use the same basic principles outlined below, to work up this longer paper in parts, using the same A-I-M prompts (described below in the PROMPTS section concentrating on the Input/Context part for appropriate Prompts. For example, let’s say you are doing a Pharmaceutical Science dissertation about “Biosimilars”. You might ask AI to generate information on the most recently developed biosimilar, and its pharmaceutical mode. Or maybe, you are working on a paper in Naturopathic Medicine, and you want to explore actual case studies and research reports generated over the past 3 years about this or that supplement. What we do is break the overall work-up into small pieces. One terrific approach is to turn AI in on itself, and ask for example: With respect to this or that, what questions should I be asking? Ask AI to tell you how to ask it to generate the info you need.
Some have stated that Claude is best for dissertations, so it may be worth a look. For me, my personal preference is ChatGPT, but I am willing to always consider any of the AI’s, and routinely use 2 or more to compare answers.
Be curious… be brave… and don’t worry. We are here to help…and we are learning right alongside of you!!!
These Instructions are in two parts:
(A) How to Use and Implement AI To Create Superior Works
(B) Our Usual Dissertation Instructions as to Form
Part A: How to Use and Implement AI To Create Superior Works
The way to go about this, is to use Chatgpt, Gemini, and/or Grok, (or other AI that may come into play in the future) to do the following: (i.e. AI does the following based on your prompts, not you. All you do is tell it AI what to do)
1. Suggest a title for a relevant and recent advance within the field of _________.
2. Now, please prepare a research report including a list of references that discusses the implication of and usefulness of _______ (Here, you insert one of the title topics obtained from above)
3. Please now restructure this research material in the usual format for submission for publication, that is, in the usual format: (Again, you do not do this, you require AI to do this)
Title
Author
Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results and Discussion Conclusion
List of References numbered in order of appearance in text.
Using AI is not at all about being lazy and letting AI do the heavy lifting…it is about using AI applications and tools to deliver better, deeper, better written, more useful information and written reports in a shorter time.
Here is a video that talks about how to use AI. It is excellent. And will give you guidance about writing “prompts” which tell AI what to do, following the A-I-M approach.
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Prompts
Using AI is not about asking a question. That’s what you do when you are “Googling” for answers. Using AI effectively is NOT Googling for answers. It is creating a detailed “prompt” so that the AI you are using understands what you need.
When we speak about AI today, we are referring to chatgpt.com, gemini.google.com , grok.com , and maybe claude.com Over time, these will change, popularity and usefulness will rotate as advances occur. You will access the best offerings at the time. Some require nominal registration fees for best output and image handling. We consider these to be nominal required “lab fees”.
Which AI to use? This is a personal choice as to which one you find easiest to work with and which you feel yields the most accurate results, because AI is NOT always accurate. To give you an example I once inquired of AI about affordable virtual offices in Gainesville FL, and of the 4 places mentioned, none were applicable, two were ordinary lawyer offices, 2 were unrelated businesses.
How to Create Great Prompts: This is something new you must learn and practice. We very much like how the MIT Monk, Sandeep Swadia, presented the A-I-M prompt guide in the above video. Tell the AI three things:
1. ACTOR-What is the AI’s identity, such as “experienced dermatologist”, “top biomedical engineer in the field of wearable health devices”, “stem cell scientist”, and so forth.
2. INPUT- Next is Input, where you tell AI the context of the exercise. Give as much background information as you can, attach other papers, websites, and all manner of supporting items which will help the AI generate what you want.
3. MISSION- Finally you have to tell the AI what it is supposed to do. Such as prepare an answer to the question _________; and what the answer is for (doctoral level exam question), answer no more than 1/2 page hitting highlights, and relevant to the course syllabus attached.
Practice makes perfect! Try the different AI models with the exact same Prompt and then evaluate which one responded better in your opinion. For me personally, while I compare all three (ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok) from time to time, I feel ChatGPT gives me the best answers based on my prompts, which are always 1/2 page minimum. Just my preference, everyone’s experience will be different. Gemini may be better at listing references to medical literature which may be an advantage for dissertations. Because, Gemini blows ChatGPT away if references or information on the internet such as sources of equipment are needed, because ChatGPT does not have good access to the internet like Google’s Gemini does. So, best to try two AI’s to see which one seems best for you.
Two sample Prompts and their AI responses are HERE: SamplePrompts&Output
Part B: Our Usual Dissertation Instructions as to Form
Your finished product should look like this:
Rodriguez Medellin, Ismael (2025). Medellin Protocol for Matryoshka Therapy. figshare. Journal contribution. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.28375439.v1
It is tiresome to constantly receive Drafts from students lacking any form whatsoever, even after specific format instructions have been sent out. Our required Form follows as Item 2.
(1) Students Please Take Special Note: We are not your spell checkers nor grammar checkers. Dissertations with errors in spelling or grammar will be rejected. Please use Grammarly or some other automated spell/grammar checker, or enlist the services of a personal editor.
(2) FORM: Do not send any draft for review that does not follow this form, with page numbers at bottom middle:
Title
Author
Author’s Contact Information
Your Association with our University or the appropriate Division
Summary [Also titled Abstract]
Key Words
Introduction [ALWAYS ends with “The purpose of this study is_________”
Materials and Methods [For review papers, how you went about conducting your research]. Stating what you did for a research paper describing a new study or results will depend on what field you are in. You may consult with your advisor for guidance and review papers in your field for sample language]
Results [State the results of your investigation]
Discussion [Discuss the results and what they show]
Conclusion [Your brief 1 paragraph summary [ALWAYS ends with “This paper is important because______]
References: Numbered in order of appearance in text
[No Footnotes permitted]
Author Bio, brief with photo, some Journals require this, see samples: SampleAuthorprofiles
(3) How to Go About It
A. Subject: This of course depends on your particular program or field of endeavor.
The main thing is that whatever you choose, even if you just are doing a review, there must be some original ideas or thoughts that:
(a) clarify or extend current thinking and/or
(b) clearly demonstrate you have become and expert respecting the inquiry.(i.e. that others can build upon your work).
B. Your Beginning Thoughts-Step 1 Prepare your Outline: Before you start to do anything, you will have to construct a “roadmap” for your thesis. This evolves during discussion with your thesis advisor or mentor. Some exploratory research will be required of you to ensure that your thesis contains new material or thought. Therefore, you will need to prepare an Outline for your thesis, which should include:
(I) The current state of the art or science as you see it (based of course on a thorough literature review which should be incorporated into the introductory portion of the thesis
(II) How your study or review will further clarify or extend the thinking in this regard
(III) Is your proposal lab based in part?? If not, a literature review must be significant so as to serve as the basis of other investigators using the material as a starting point to design further experiments. Same for non-science oriented subjects.
C. File Format: Your manuscript must be delivered in PDF form, as well as text format, such as rich text format (rtf) or Word (docx).
D. References Guide: Click Here: ReferencesGuide
E. Special requirements for images: Your thesis or paper should include images to make it interesting. All images of tables, diagrams, figures, photos etc. INCLUDING THEIR LEGENDS, should be in PDF or JPEG format only. Most of your computer software should allow you to explain or describe the item in the “caption” section. This would be helpful so that you don’t have a lot of orphan items floating around. And PLEASE be sure your images are high quality!!! We do not want blurry images and diagrams etc!!!! Be sure you use large file sizes, because, for example, a 100 KB image will never likely be sufficient quality when converted to pdf. Images should have a minimum size of 500KB and 150-300 dpi resolution. You may need to experiment with your set-up to see what you can achieve.
F. Publication Plan: You should be thinking about a publication plan. Staff will assist with this and will suggest submission targets. All dissertations are required to be published. Independent Studies may be published, with further Faculty guidance.
G. Cover Pages. This is VERY important. You must have proper Heading/Cover. Papers must be publication ready.
Typically, you will need to supply two cover pages, one for your dissertation, and one for publication.
Sample Thesis Cover Page for the University, be sure to reference your particular division: SampleThesisCoverPage
Sample Heading Page for Publication Submission. Be sure again to reference your particular university/college: SampleHeadingForPublication
Sample Heading 2 for Publication: Sample2HeadingForPublication
OK, you are not going alone…we are here to help and guide you every step of the way. Your advisors and instructors will be very helpful, and our goal is for everyone to complete their paper and get published. But PLEASE, study these instructions so that you and we can have intelligent discussions about your project, which we hope will end up being an exciting part of our program for you!
As always, thank you so much for your efforts!
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