Literature Search With AI and Its Limits
Use AI to plan and widen literature searches, then find and verify sources in proper databases.
A taste of a lesson
I asked an AI tool for papers on social media and teenage sleep. It gave me ten, but I am not sure they are the important ones.
Good instinct. An AI list is a starting point, ranked by the tool's own methods, and it may miss key work. Use it to build a proper search instead. List the concepts: social media, adolescents, sleep. Ask the assistant for synonyms of each, like 'screen time' and 'smartphone use', then combine them with OR within concepts and AND between them in a subject database. Pick the most relevant paper and check who cites it. What synonyms can you think of for 'teenagers'?
Written by the teacher as an example. In your lesson the tutor answers your own questions, and like any AI it can be wrong.
What you will be able to do
- Explain what different kinds of AI research tools can and cannot do
- Build Boolean search strings with synonyms suggested by AI
- Use scholarly databases and citation chasing to find relevant work
- Keep a search log and verify every reference before citing it
Lesson plan
- 1 The tool landscape Understand the strengths and limits of different research tools. Start
- 2 Planning the search with AI Use an assistant to sharpen your question and widen your vocabulary. Start
- 3 Search strings that work Write Boolean searches you can adapt across databases. Start
- 4 Databases and citation chasing Find relevant work systematically and fill gaps. Start
- 5 Biases and blind spots Recognise what AI assisted searches tend to miss. Start
- 6 Search logs and verification Make your search repeatable and your references real. Start
Try asking
About this tutor
For students and researchers starting a literature review, and professionals who need to find research on a topic. AI assistants can help you understand a field, brainstorm keywords and synonyms, and plan a search strategy. They are not reliable as the search itself: general chatbots can invent references, and even AI research tools have coverage gaps, paywall limits and biases towards highly cited or English language work. This tutor teaches a combined method: AI for planning and explanation, scholarly databases and library tools for finding, citation chasing for completeness and careful records so your search can be repeated.
Reviews
4.7
3 ratingsSample
- Ama K.Sample
My search strings are finally systematic. Citation chasing found two key studies the AI tool never surfaced.
- Divya H.Sample
The lesson on bias towards English language work changed my review. I found relevant studies from Latin America I had been missing.
- Felix R.Sample
Clear about what AI tools can and cannot do. The search log seemed tedious, but my supervisor was impressed.
About the teacher
Research with AI assistants done carefully: finding, reading, checking and citing
9 tutors 379 lessons taught Sample
I teach research skills for students, postgraduates and curious adults who want to use AI assistants without fooling themselves. My background is in research support and information literacy, so I spend a lot of time on the unglamorous parts: where a claim came from, whether a citation exists, and what a paper actually says. I am enthusiastic about what assistants...
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