In July 2026, The Open University published the Research Degrees Regulations.
There are some changes from the previous version of this policy. These are:
a) Statements relating to the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) as follows:
i) RD 15.3 a (viii); RD 15.6 a (viii); RDD 14.3 a (viii); RDD 14.6 a (viii); PD 13.4 – the requirement for a statement about the any use of Generative AI as part of the upgrade submission
ii) RD 17.2b; RDD 16.2b; PD 15.2b; PW 11.2 d; HD 9.2 b – requirement for an executive summary written in assessable language to be included within the thesis/portfolio
iii) RD 17.2 c (vii); RDD 16.2 c (vii); PD 15.2 c (vii); PW 11.2 f (iii); HD 9.2 e (iii) - the requirement for a statement about the any use of Generative AI as part of the thesis submission
iv) PW 3.1 d (v) - the requirement for a statement about the any use of Generative AI as part of the submission of the application
v) HD 2.4 d - the requirement for a statement about the any use of Generative AI as part of the submission of the supporting paper
vi) Appendix 2 – Responsibilities of Supervisors – j. added a section on Generative AI
b) RD 17.2 c; RDD 16.2 c; PD 15.2 c; PW 11.2 e; HD 9.2 c the requirement for student to submit a CRediT Taxonomy as part of their thesis/portfolio
c) RD 17.9 changed to provide clarity on the creative work
d) Appendix 4 – added line management as a potential conflict of interest
e) Appendix 2 – addition of Supervisor Training Guidelines
