You wrote your dissertation. You used AI—for data processing, editing, and source research. You didn’t mention it. You submitted it for review. What happens next?
In Kazakhstan, a specific policy has been in effect since January 2025: the use of AI in a dissertation without disclosure constitutes a violation of academic integrity. The consequence is denial of the academic degree, with no right to a re-defense. No warning, no opportunity to revise. It is, quite simply, a rejection.
This article presents only the facts: what regulations are in effect, how the verification system works, what penalties are provided for under the regulations of the Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Sports, and Youth Affairs of the Ministry of National Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and where the line is drawn between permitted and prohibited use of AI in dissertations in Kazakhstan.
What is this law, and how does it relate to dissertations?
On November 17, 2025, the President of Kazakhstan signed Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 230-VIII «On Artificial Intelligence»—the first law of its kind in Central Asia. It entered into force on January 18, 2026.
The law establishes a general legal framework: transparency, accountability, and mandatory labeling of AI-generated content. Article 21 stipulates that synthetic outputs generated by AI systems may be distributed only if they are labeled as such. Article 23 clarifies that works created using AI are protected by copyright only if they involve human creative input.
However, for doctoral students , the primary regulatory authority is not Law No. 230-VIII itself, but rather two orders issued by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan:
- Order No. 127 (as amended on January 6, 2025; effective January 25, 2025) — «Rules for the Awarding of Degrees.» This document sets forth specific guidelines regarding the use of AI in dissertations and penalties for violations;
- Order No. 421 of the Ministry of Higher Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan dated August 20, 2025—tightened controls and stipulated that AI checks must be conducted on par with plagiarism checks.
Together, these three documents form the system through which every doctoral dissertation in Kazakhstan must pass.
What exactly constitutes a violation—and where is the line drawn?
Paragraph 5 of the Rules for the Awarding of Degrees (Order No. 127, 2025 edition) explicitly includes the following in the definition of academic dishonesty:
«The use of artificial intelligence technology without a reference to it that specifies the name, manufacturer (copyright holder), version, and date of access and/or use»
It is specifically prohibited to use AI to reduce or eliminate the possibility of plagiarism detection —that is, to run someone else’s text through AI to «cover one’s tracks.» This is a separate violation, unrelated to the first one.
What Is Allowed and What Is Prohibited
Order No. 421 of the Ministry of National Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan established a list of permissible uses of AI—but only subject to disclosure and prior approval:
Permitted (with a required citation and approval from advisors):
- statistical processing and analysis of large datasets;
- building statistical models;
- identifying patterns in data;
- processing questionnaires and surveys;
- Working with open-access databases—Scopus, PubMed, and others.
The following is strictly prohibited:
- formulating scientific hypotheses, conclusions, and recommendations;
- writing significant sections of the dissertation—the introduction, conclusion, and research findings;
- using AI to «clean up» text by removing traces of plagiarism;
- the use of AI in classified work (classified as «DSP» or «Confidential»);
- The use of AI in empirical studies involving children under 13 years of age.
Key wording of the rule: «Scientific results, propositions, recommendations, and conclusions must be formulated by the author independently.».
Section 5-2 of the Rules adds an important condition: even when the use of AI is permitted, prior written approval is required from domestic and international scientific advisors and members of the higher education institution’s ethics committee. If such approval is not obtained, the use of AI is automatically considered unauthorized.
If you actively use AI when writing your thesis, we recommend reading this article in advance: Life Hacks for Writing a Thesis with ChatGPT: A Step-by-Step Guide and the Best Tools — it covers safe ways to work with AI that won’t pose any risks during the review process.
Real-World Consequences: What a Doctoral Student Faces
Section 12-1 of the Rules for the Awarding of Degrees establishes the hierarchy of decisions made by the Expert Council of the Committee for Higher and Non-Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan:
| The Situation | Solution | Consequence |
|---|---|---|
| Minor comments on the text | Request for Revisions | Correction Without Losing Protection |
| Partial non-compliance (excluding academic integrity) | Referral for a Second Defense | No sooner than 1 year from now |
| Violation of academic integrity (including AI without citations) | Denial of a Degree | No right to a retrial |
A violation of academic integrity is not a «chance to defend the thesis again in a year.» It is a final rejection. There is no right to retake the defense.
Can the committee revoke an academic degree?
If a violation is detected after the defense, the degree that has already been awarded will be revoked. This is not just theory: in April 2022, the KOKSNVO issued Order No. 153 «On the Denial of a PhD Degree», and in January 2023—Order No. 26 «On Denial Without the Right to Defend» in the field of «Aviation Engineering». Public cases specifically involving undeclared AI are expected in the 2025–2026 academic year—the updated regulations took effect in January 2025, and enforcement practices are still taking shape.
For academic advisors: An advisor who signed off on the use of AI that subsequently violated the rules is also held responsible. For the dissertation committee as a whole: the discovery of violations in defended theses may result in the committee being stripped of its authority and prohibited from forming a new committee for at least one year.
An appeal may be filed within 30 business days of the issuance of the denial order.
The Scale of the Problem: Key Statistics to Know
The verification system is already fully operational. According to data from the summer session of 2024, more than 95,000 papers from 67 major universities were checked through «Antiplagiat-Kazakhstan.» In 8,000 of them—about 8.4%—traces of AI-generated content were detected. The proportion of AI-generated content varied from university to university: from 1% to 71%.
All doctoral dissertations must be submitted to JSC «NCGTE»—the authorized body of the Ministry of Higher Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Dissertation Council is required to submit the dissertation for review within 10 business days after it has been approved for defense. It is not possible to bypass this stage.
Why GPTZero Is Dangerous for Non-Native Speakers
A specific risk that is rarely discussed: false positives triggered by texts written in Russian or Kazakh.
GPTZero claims an accuracy of over 99%. Independent studies paint a different picture:
- Stanford Study (2024): GPTZero incorrectly flags 12% human-written texts as AI-generated;
- Weber-Wulff et al. (Int. J. for Educational Integrity, 2023): GPTZero showed up to 50% false positives under certain conditions;
- TOEFL Essay Study: Detectors falsely flagged 61.31 TP3T essays written by non-native speakers as AI-generated.
This does not absolve you of liability, but it is a strong argument in an appeal in the event of a disputed outcome. It’s important to know this in advance—not after receiving a denial.
Conclusion
Starting in January 2025, the use of AI without disclosing it in a dissertation in Kazakhstan is not a gray area. It constitutes a violation of academic integrity with a specific consequence: denial of the academic degree without the right to a re-defense.
AI isn't prohibited. What is prohibited is concealing its use. The line is drawn by a single word: transparency. For more details on how to develop a publication strategy that meets the requirements of the KOKSNVO, read the article Publication Strategy for PhD Students.
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