Academic writing in German is governed by the department, not by a national rule: each institute publishes its own guide (Leitfaden) for the Hausarbeit, the seminar term paper, and for the Bachelorarbeit and Masterarbeit. The guides agree on the parts and the signed declaration of own work, and disagree on length, on "ich" and on AI. EdCitation publishes this guide; every rule was read in German at source on 26 September 2026, and the translations are ours.
We read twelve documents from nine universities: Freiburg, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Würzburg, Mainz and Mannheim in Germany, Vienna in Austria, and ETH Zürich and the Universität Zürich in Switzerland. Citation is covered in German citation styles. EdCitation's free Check your paper reads a brief into a checklist, in English only so far, and Verify references checks a German reference list against the records; the last section quotes both.
What is a Hausarbeit, and how does it differ from a thesis?
A Hausarbeit is a written paper for one seminar; a Bachelorarbeit or Masterarbeit is the final thesis of a degree, longer, supervised and often registered before work starts. Both are built from the same parts.
Proseminar and Hauptseminar papers
The Proseminar is the introductory seminar and the Hauptseminar the advanced one. Universität Hamburg (2022), which calls them Seminar Ib and II, says the first paper shows you can research and cite, and may cover the literature "nur exemplarisch", by example only; the second goes deeper into method and theory.
The Bachelorarbeit and the Masterarbeit
In Vienna's philosophy programme a Bachelorarbeit is a seminar paper with extra demands, written inside a seminar. The Masterarbeit must be workable "innerhalb von sechs Monaten", within six months, and is registered before work starts with a topic form and an Exposé (Universität Wien, n.d.-b). The thesis chapters themselves are covered in how to write a dissertation.
How long is a Hausarbeit, and how is it formatted?
Between 10 and 20 pages of text for most seminar papers, counted without cover, contents and appendix; a Masterarbeit runs to 70 or 80. Each guide's own figures:
| University (subject) | First seminar | Advanced seminar | Bachelorarbeit | Masterarbeit | Type and spacing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freiburg (early modern history) | 10 to 15 pages | 15 to 20 (BA); master's seminar 20 to 25 | not stated | not stated | Department template |
| Frankfurt (art history) | 12 pages | 15 pages | not stated | not stated | 12 pt Times New Roman or Calibri (11 pt Arial), 1.5 spacing |
| Hamburg (German studies) | 10 to 15 | about 20 | about 25 to 30 | about 80 | 12 pt, 1.5 spacing, right margin 3.5 cm |
| Würzburg (older German literature) | 12 to 15 | 18 to 20 | 40 to 50 | 70 | Times New Roman 12 pt, 1.5 spacing |
| Vienna (philosophy) | not stated | not stated | 40,000 to 50,000 characters | about 80 pages | 12 pt, 1.5 spacing, printed double-sided |
| Reading your own brief | Check your paper turns an English brief into a checklist, free |
Pages are really characters
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main (2024) tells students to reckon on about 3,000 characters a page, spaces included, and Vienna sets its Bachelorarbeit in characters outright. Freiburg counts the text "ohne Deckblatt, Inhaltsverzeichnis, Anhang und Eigenständigkeitserklärung", without cover, contents, appendix and declaration, and moves long source extracts to the appendix (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, n.d.-b); Frankfurt also leaves out the bibliography. Word counts elsewhere are in dissertation word count: what counts.
What parts does a Hausarbeit have?
Eight, in this order; the ending may be called Fazit, Schluss or Schlussbemerkungen, and Frankfurt's art historians add a picture section.
| Part | What it is | What the guides ask |
|---|---|---|
| Deckblatt | Cover page | Title, institute, seminar and module, semester, lecturer, your name, matriculation number, contact details, subjects (Frankfurt); Würzburg adds the submission date. Vienna's Masterarbeit cover is generated on upload. |
| Inhaltsverzeichnis | Contents | Every chapter and subchapter with page numbers, built with the word processor's automatic contents (Frankfurt, Hamburg). |
| Einleitung | Introduction | The question, written as an open question, the aim and an overview of the structure (Hamburg); subject, focus, method and place in the research, and "keine Nacherzählung des Inhaltsverzeichnisses", not a retelling of the contents (Frankfurt). |
| Hauptteil | Main part | Subdivided, with headings that say what the section holds, never "Hauptteil" or "Unterkapitel 1"; no detached biography or background chapter (Frankfurt). |
| Fazit or Schluss | Conclusion | Summarise, answer the question, name limits and further research (Hamburg); think the results further rather than repeat them (Frankfurt). |
| Literaturverzeichnis | Bibliography | Every work cited, alphabetically; Frankfurt adds a "Hilfsmittel" list after it for databases and translation programs. Check it with EdCitation's Verify references, free. |
| Anhang | Appendix | Optional: large figures, transcripts, data (Hamburg). Vienna's Masterarbeit needs an abstract in the appendix. |
| Eigenständigkeitserklärung | Declaration of own work | A signed page at the end (Hamburg, Würzburg, Frankfurt); see below. |
Frankfurt calls contents, introduction and conclusion the "neuralgische" points, read first; the English counterparts are in dissertation introduction chapter and dissertation conclusion chapter.
What goes in the Eigenständigkeitserklärung, and how do you declare AI?
It is a signed statement that you wrote the paper yourself, used only the sources and aids you name, and marked every quotation and paraphrase. At ETH Zürich (2014) it is compulsory for every semester paper, Bachelorarbeit and Masterarbeit, and a paper handed in without it "wird nicht angenommen", is not accepted. Freiburg's historians use an "Eidesstattliche Erklärung", a declaration in lieu of an oath, signed by hand.
Four answers to AI
Most of the guides read here now mention AI, and they answer it in four ways.
- Banned outright. Freiburg's early modern historians have students declare they wrote the paper "ohne die Verwendung von Schreibprogrammen der KI (ChatGPT etc.)", without AI writing programs (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, n.d.-a).
- Two versions of the form. Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz (n.d.) offers one text for papers where AI is not allowed and one where it is. The second requires an annex, "Nutzung KI-Tools", listing each tool, what it was used for, why and when, and another with every relevant AI output.
- A box to tick, agreed with the supervisor. ETH Zürich's form offers no generative AI, or AI as an allowed aid "mit der Betreuungsperson abgesprochen", agreed with the supervisor. Universität Zürich (2025) uses A and B boxes in education; under B, AI content is labelled with the program and prompts, while AI spelling and style corrections need no notice unless the lecturer says so.
- A matter of how it is used. Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (2023) counts ChatGPT text as plagiarism when taken over "unverändert und unreflektiert", unchanged and unconsidered.
How to word a declaration in English is in how to declare AI use in an assignment.
Where the declaration is left out
Vienna's philosophy Masterarbeit must not contain one: a signed form on good scientific practice and the upload confirmation replace it (Universität Wien, n.d.-a). Hamburg's theses have their own rules, sent with admission. Use your department's current form.
Can you write "ich" in a German academic paper?
Yes, for your method and your theses, in every guide here that addresses it; not for opinion offered as argument. German academic prose, Wissenschaftssprache, is often described as deliberately impersonal. Wu (2024) credits the label "Ich-Verbot", the ban on "I", to Harald Weinrich's 1989 essay "Formen der Wissenschaftssprache", and notes that recent studies stress the writer's presence in the text.
The guides are milder than the legend
Universität Mannheim (2015) says no official Ich-Verbot exists in its economics department "ebenso wenig wie in der Wissenschaft im Allgemeinen", any more than in scholarship in general, but that some lecturers have declared war on it ("den Kampf angesagt"): follow the supervisor who asks. Its advice: "ich" sparingly, above all in the introduction and conclusion. Hamburg limits "ich" to statements about procedure and methodological decisions and rules out "ich finde …" (I think …) offered as an argument. Würzburg asks you to avoid the first person largely, yet welcomes "ich vertrete die Ansicht, dass" (I hold that) to mark your own thesis. Frankfurt goes furthest: you need not "aus dem Text verschwinden", vanish from the text.
Three kinds of "ich"
Mannheim's guide summarises Torsten Steinhoff's three kinds: the writer's "ich" that explains aims, method and structure (in our example, "In Kapitel 3 untersuche ich …"), the researcher's "ich" that argues, weighs and concludes, both accepted, and the narrator's "ich" of personal experience and opinion, judged unscholarly. Its ways around "ich" include the passive ("es wird der Frage nachgegangen") and making the text the subject ("Die vorliegende Bachelorarbeit zeigt, dass …"). In English, see academic tone: first person and passive voice; writing in a language not your own, academic writing in a second language.
What is an Exposé, and what goes in it?
An Exposé is a short plan for a thesis, handed in to register the topic or to win a supervisor. At Vienna's philosophy SSC it runs to 2 to 4 pages and must contain at least an abstract, an outline of contents and a list of the literature used (Universität Wien, n.d.-a). A Bachelorarbeit there needs a shorter concept of 1 to 2 pages for the seminar leader first.
We found no common standard beyond that; the nearest English relative is in how to write a research proposal. From topic to submission, the guides give this order:
- Agree the topic. Würzburg makes a preliminary meeting with the lecturer a condition of the paper; Hamburg asks you to contact the lecturer as soon as your ideas take shape.
- Find the literature. Hamburg sends students to subject bibliographies and the snowball method; EdCitation's Find sources searches about 300 million published works, German titles included.
- Write the Exposé or concept, where one is required.
- Read the guide into a checklist. Check your paper does this free for an English brief; for a German one, see the test below.
- Write Einleitung, Hauptteil and Fazit, then the contents.
- Check the Literaturverzeichnis against the records with Verify references.
- Sign the current declaration, in the version your lecturer's AI rule requires.
What counts as plagiarism at German-speaking universities?
Any wording or idea taken without a reference, including essay-portal text and, at several universities, unmarked AI output. The declarations spell out what follows:
- Freiburg (history): graded "ungenügend (5,0)", reported to the examinations office as "Täuschung" (deception), and the right to repeat the paper in that class lapses.
- Frankfurt (art history): 5.0, "nicht bestanden", and in serious cases exclusion from the examination.
- Hamburg (German studies): the seminar is not passed and the module must be repeated.
- Mainz: "nicht bestanden"; two or more attempts to deceive can cost enrolment for up to two years.
- Vienna (philosophy): every case leads to the whole course going ungraded and is reported to the programme director.
- Zürich (education): treated as a deliberate attempt at deception, with legal and disciplinary consequences.
Freiburg's form has you consent to a check by plagiarism software, and ETH's has you acknowledge that the paper may be screened electronically. EdCitation's Check plagiarism (Pro, $8 a month, on credits) marks passages that match published or web text, with each source, shown only to you; it proves nothing on its own. Freiburg, Mainz and Zürich also make you declare the paper was not submitted before: see self-plagiarism.
Which EdCitation tools help with a paper in German?
Verify references and Find sources work on German literature; Check your paper reads English briefs only so far, and Cite a source builds six English-language styles. EdCitation is the best tool for checking a German Literaturverzeichnis because it looks each entry up in the publishers' records and never writes one, which no chatbot can do; the test shows what that caught and missed. EdCitation never writes any part of your paper.
Check your paper reads English instructions only
We pasted section II.1 of Frankfurt's guide, 172 words on length and format, into Check your paper. In German it returned no rules: it set the font sentence aside twice, as a choice of font and a choice of font size, and missed the pages, spacing and margins. Our English translation returned three rules, line spacing 1.5, margins 0.98 in (from "2.5 cm margins on the right and left") and a page count of 12, the Hauptseminar's 15 dropped. It set five sentences aside as not checked: the font sentence, again as a choice of font and of size, the 4 cm correction margin, 3,000 characters a page and handing in as a PDF. Translate a German brief first, and read the checklist against the original. Checking the paper against its brief is Theoretics QA, in Max at $24 a month.
Verify references on a German list
We pasted five works named in the guides above, set out in German form, into Verify references. Steinhoff's Wissenschaftliche Textkompetenz (2007) verified by its DOI; Wu's article, entered without one, verified ("Title, year and first author match a published record"), and the tool supplied the DOI. Kruse's Keine Angst vor dem leeren Blatt (Campus, 2007) came back "check this": "no edition from 2007 is recorded"; with its ISBN it verified, and the German National Library (DNB) lists a 2007 Campus printing under that ISBN. Esselborn-Krumbiegel's Richtig wissenschaftlich schreiben (Schöningh, 2014) was not found, even with the ISBN the DNB gives it, 978-3-8252-4157-5. Weinrich's 1989 yearbook chapter was not found; given the yearbook's DOI, it said "The DOI is real, but it belongs to a different work", fair for a volume's DOI. Search the DNB before trusting "not found" on a German book.
Find sources in German
Find sources takes German keywords. "wissenschaftliches Schreiben Studierende Hausarbeit" reported 24,299 records; first came Manfred Kaluza's "Wissenschaftliches Schreiben: Die Hausarbeit. Eine Bestandsaufnahme" (Informationen Deutsch als Fremdsprache, 2009), then a 2017 JoSch study of how students experience academic writing. The eighth, "Buck, Isabella: Wissenschaftliches Schreiben mit KI.", reads like a review yet is filed as an article, dated 2026 though its DOI carries 2025: check what a source is before citing it.
Cite a source: the six English styles
Cite a source offers six styles, all from English-language publishers (APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 18 author-date, Harvard, IEEE, Vancouver); there is no German house style. Check its entries for German titles by hand: from our verified records, MLA and Chicago capitalised every word ("Eine Vergleichende Korpusanalyse Am Beispiel Der Selbstdarstellung"), though the MLA says titles in other languages keep their own capitals, and in German only nouns take one (Modern Language Association, 2018). APA gave the publisher as "DE GRUYTER".
Quick questions
How many pages is a Hausarbeit?
Usually 10 to 15 pages for a Proseminar and 15 to 20 for a Hauptseminar, without cover, contents and appendix; the department decides, and Frankfurt asks for 12 and 15.
Do I need an Eigenständigkeitserklärung in every paper?
Almost always: Hamburg, Würzburg and Frankfurt require it on the last page, and ETH Zürich refuses a paper without one. Vienna's philosophy Masterarbeit is an exception, replaced by a separate form.
Can I use AI in a German Hausarbeit?
Only if your lecturer allows it. Freiburg's historians ban AI writing programs; Mainz, ETH and Zürich let the lecturer permit it, and then it must be declared.
Is "ich" forbidden in German academic writing?
No. Mannheim's writing advisers say no official Ich-Verbot exists, and Hamburg, Würzburg and Frankfurt accept "ich" for your method and theses. Some supervisors still dislike it: ask.
Will EdCitation read a Literaturverzeichnis in German?
Yes. EdCitation's Verify references looks German entries up in the records, free. In our test it verified two of five at once and a third with its ISBN; a real book it missed was in the German National Library.
References
- Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. (n.d.-a). Eidesstattliche Erklärung [Form, PDF]. Historisches Seminar, Professur für Geschichte der Frühen Neuzeit. https://fnz.geschichte.uni-freiburg.de/propaedeutik-tutorat/EidesstattlicheErklrungmitVerweisKIChatGPT.pdf
- Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. (n.d.-b). Hinweise zur Hausarbeit. Professur für Geschichte der Frühen Neuzeit. Retrieved September 26, 2026, from https://fnz.geschichte.uni-freiburg.de/propaedeutik-tutorat/hinweise-zur-hausarbeit
- ETH Zürich. (n.d.). Eigenständigkeitserklärung [Form, PDF]. https://ethz.ch/content/dam/ethz/main/education/rechtliches-abschluesse/leistungskontrollen/plagiat-eigenstaendigkeitserklaerung.pdf
- ETH Zürich. (2014). Weisung: Wissenschaftliches Arbeiten und Eigenständigkeitserklärung [PDF]. https://ethz.ch/content/dam/ethz/common/docs/weisungssammlung/files-de/wiss-arbeiten-eigenst%C3%A4ndigkeitserklaerung.pdf
- Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main. (2024). Hinweise zur Anfertigung einer Hausarbeit und anderer schriftlicher Prüfungsleistungen [PDF]. Kunstgeschichtliches Institut. https://lehre-virtuell.uni-frankfurt.de/files/2024/02/Hinweise-zur-Anfertigung-einer-Hausarbeit_Version-Januar-2024_pdf.pdf
- Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz. (n.d.). Muster Eigenständigkeitserklärung [PDF]. https://www.zww.uni-mainz.de/files/2024/03/Eigenstaendigkeitserklaerung_JGU_mit_ohne_KI.pdf
- Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. (2023). Leitfaden zum Verfassen von wissenschaftlichen Hausarbeiten in der älteren deutschen Literaturwissenschaft [PDF]. Lehrstuhl für deutsche Philologie. https://www.germanistik.uni-wuerzburg.de/fileadmin/04100100/2024/Leitfaden_zum_Verfassung_schriftlicher_Arbeiten-06-07-2023.pdf
- Modern Language Association. (2018, April 29). Why does the MLA capitalize certain words in titles? MLA Style Center. https://style.mla.org/capitalization-of-titles/
- Universität Hamburg. (2022). Leitfaden zur Gestaltung von Hausarbeiten [PDF]. Institut für Germanistik. https://www.slm.uni-hamburg.de/germanistik/studium/downloads/merkblatt-hausarbeiten.pdf
- Universität Mannheim. (2015). Ich, man, wir? Möglichkeiten der Selbstreferenz [PDF]. Abteilung VWL, Schreibberatung. https://www.vwl.uni-mannheim.de/media/Fakultaeten/vwl/Dokumente/Leitfaden_Selbstreferenz.pdf
- Universität Wien. (n.d.-a). Studienabschluss und Masterarbeit. StudienServiceCenter Philosophie. Retrieved September 26, 2026, from https://ssc-phil.univie.ac.at/studien/auslaufende-studien/master-wissenschaftsphilosophie-wissenschaftsgeschichte/studienabschluss-und-masterarbeit/
- Universität Wien. (n.d.-b). Wissenschaftliches Arbeiten. StudienServiceCenter Philosophie. Retrieved September 26, 2026, from https://ssc-phil.univie.ac.at/studienorganisation/wissenschaftliches-arbeiten/
- Universität Zürich. (2025). Selbstständigkeitserklärung zu schriftlichem Leistungsnachweis [Form, PDF]. Institut für Erziehungswissenschaft. https://www.ife.uzh.ch/dam/jcr:951d93d3-e2a5-4ca3-b0e6-63a58fa6407d/Selbststaendigkeitserklaerung_IfE_DE_2025.pdf
- Wu, Z. (2024). Muttersprachlicher Transfer bei Autorenrollen in L2-Texten? Eine vergleichende Korpusanalyse am Beispiel der Selbstdarstellung. Hermes: Journal of Language and Communication in Business, (64), 301–312. https://doi.org/10.7146/hjlcb.vi64.153165