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AI Tools for Academic Literature Research

This guide includes examples of available AI-powered tools to assist with scholarly literature searches and reference management plus ethical considerations and warnings.

AI Chatbots & Research

Popular AI Chatbots, Searching for Information, & References: Basic Considerations

  • Generative AI tools are affected by the information and data they have access to and the purpose(s) they have been optimized for.
    • When using a multipurpose tool like ChatGPT 4-o, because it has been trained on many types of data from the Internet, not just scholarly information sources, you may need to prompt it very specifically to get useful results.
    • In contrast, using an AI tool that has been designed to search for and retrieve information from open access research databases means you will avoid having to potentially sift through non-scholarly results (e.g. news web pages).
  • Perplexity, and Google Gemini automatically offer links to sources that are relevant to the generated output. Meta AI does not include source information without specific prompting and then direct links to the sources may be absent. When sources are provided, they may or may not be research-based, so you need to double check.

Try These GenAI Tools for Background Research

Note: In addition to responses to user prompts, these tools provide notes and/or links to source materials. You can ask for specific types of sources, and sometimes the results will align with those source types, but not always.

Deep Research Options

  • Perplexity, OpenAI's ChatGPT, Claude.ai, Gemini, and others offer deep research, Search, or extended "thinking" options. 
  • Generally, employing the deep research or extended thinking options can allow the model to review more sources before providing responses. 
  • Remember, that unless they have brokered some type of publisher agreement, the AI chatbots do not pull from information sources that are behind paywalls, like many academic journals are. This is less of an issue with openly published research in the sciences, health, and other areas of federally funded grants.

GenAI for Other Research Tasks

Identifying a Topic for Research (Preliminary)

Similar to doing a broad web search for background information about a topic, you can use a GenAI chatbot to ask a question about what is known about a topic in your field of interest. You can then ask what is still not fully understood about the same topic.

Example using Gemini 1.5 flash:

  • Prompt 1: What is known based on research related to neurodivergent students and academic success?
  • View Prompt 1 Response.
  • Prompt 2: What is still not fully understood about neurodivergent students and how to support their academic success?
  • View Prompt 2 Response.

 

Brainstorming Focused Research Topics & Questions

After identifying a potential research gap, you can continue working with a multipurpose genAI chatbot to brainstorm possible narrowed topics or specific research questions. This example explores the topic idea of supporting the academic success of neurodivergent students further.

Example using Gemini 1.5 flash:

  • Prompt 3: Please suggest four different, focused research topic ideas related to the use of technology to support neurodivergent students' social cues understanding.
  • View Prompt 3 Response
  • Prompt 4:

    Using the following topic suggestion, please generate three specific, relevant research questions for which information and data could be collected:

    [Copied from Response to Prompt 3]
    Evaluating the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Powered Apps to Provide Real-Time Feedback on Social Interactions for Students with Social Communication Challenges

    This research could examine the feasibility and effectiveness of using AI-powered apps that analyze social interactions (e.g., through video or audio input) and provide real-time feedback on social cues such as body language, tone of voice, and proxemics. It could explore the types of feedback that are most helpful and how these apps can be personalized to meet individual needs.

  • View Prompt 4 Response

Database Suggestions

When you have a research question that you believe is sufficiently narrowed you can ask a genAI chatbot about recommended databases to search for relevant academic resources to support your literature review.

Example using Gemini 1.5 flash:

  • Prompt 5: [Adapted from Response 4]
    I plan to do empirical research on the following topic: What types of real-time feedback provided by an AI-powered app (e.g., visual cues, auditory prompts, text-based explanations) are perceived as most helpful and least disruptive by students with autism spectrum disorder during naturalistic social interactions (e.g., classroom discussions, lunch breaks)?
    Please recommend 4-6 academic, scholarly research databases I should search for relevant research literature and prioritize the list beginning with the most recommended database for my search.
  • View Prompt 5 Response

Building Keyword & Phrase Searches for Use in Database Searches

In the ongoing Gemini 1.5 example about supporting neurodivergent students, Gemini added information about possible keywords and phrases to use when it recommended databases to search. The result to Prompt 5 can be built upon as shown here.

Example using Gemini 1.5 flash:

  • Prompt 6:

To do my searches for relevant academic resources to include in my literature review, I plan to use the following databases: APA PsycINFO, ERIC, PubMed, Web of Science, and IEEE. For the following topic, please generate 4-6 keyword or phrase searches that I could input into the databases to potentially retrieve useful results:

What types of real-time feedback provided by an AI-powered app (e.g., visual cues, auditory prompts, text-based explanations) are perceived as most helpful and least disruptive by students with autism spectrum disorder during naturalistic social interactions (e.g., classroom discussions, lunch breaks)?