Rethinking the Search: A Review of AI Tools for Graduate Students’ Literature Reviews

Start Date

3-17-2026 2:00 PM

End Date

3-17-2026 2:30 PM

Author(s) Bio

Elise Georgulis is the Graduate Instruction & Research Librarian at Delaware Valley University in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. She holds an MLIS from Drexel University, an MS in Teaching and Learning, and an EdD from Delaware Valley University. Elise is passionate about supporting graduate students in their academic endeavors through teaching information literacy, research skills, and citation development.

Keywords

AI tools, Literature review, Graduate students

Description of Proposal

Literature reviews are notoriously one of the most challenging and complex components of academic work. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools offer many options that aid in literature review development, such as identifying relevant sources, offering connections between studies, summarizing key findings, and highlighting gaps in the existing research. AI tools can aid students in locating and critically evaluating scholarly literature more efficiently.

Given the growing adoption of AI in academia, it is crucial that educators, librarians, and graduate students understand how to harness these tools responsibly and ethically. The proposed presentation will provide a comprehensive review of current AI tools that assist graduate students in developing literature reviews, with a particular focus on doctoral-level research. It will also explore the benefits and potential limitations of AI, such as over-reliance on automated suggestions or challenges in verifying source credibility. Attendees will gain insight into practical applications, emerging trends, and strategies for integrating AI into research instruction, while also addressing ethical considerations, academic integrity, and best practices for guiding students in the responsible use of AI.

The proposed presentation will include demonstrations of selected AI tools, illustrating how they can help make the literature review process easier and more efficient, without losing academic quality. Participants will see examples of how AI can find relevant sources and summarize key findings, along with tips on checking that AI suggestions are accurate and reliable. The presentation will help attendees learn how to use AI in research in a way that supports critical thinking and careful scholarship.

The session is designed to benefit educators, librarians, and graduate students who are interested in incorporating AI resources to expand research processes, improve literature review development, and enhance teaching and learning practices. Participants will leave equipped with actionable strategies for supporting graduate research with AI tools, whether in their own work or when guiding students, and will have a clearer understanding of how AI can complement – but not replace – critical thinking and scholarly judgment.

What takeaways will attendees learn from your session?

Learning objectives of the proposed presentation:

  1. Identify and evaluate AI tools that support literature review development for graduate and doctoral students.
  2. Apply AI tools to efficiently locate, synthesize, and analyze scholarly literature.
  3. Understand ethical considerations and maintain academic integrity when using AI in research.
  4. Integrate AI tools into teaching or library instruction to support graduate research skills.

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Mar 17th, 2:00 PM Mar 17th, 2:30 PM

Rethinking the Search: A Review of AI Tools for Graduate Students’ Literature Reviews

Literature reviews are notoriously one of the most challenging and complex components of academic work. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools offer many options that aid in literature review development, such as identifying relevant sources, offering connections between studies, summarizing key findings, and highlighting gaps in the existing research. AI tools can aid students in locating and critically evaluating scholarly literature more efficiently.

Given the growing adoption of AI in academia, it is crucial that educators, librarians, and graduate students understand how to harness these tools responsibly and ethically. The proposed presentation will provide a comprehensive review of current AI tools that assist graduate students in developing literature reviews, with a particular focus on doctoral-level research. It will also explore the benefits and potential limitations of AI, such as over-reliance on automated suggestions or challenges in verifying source credibility. Attendees will gain insight into practical applications, emerging trends, and strategies for integrating AI into research instruction, while also addressing ethical considerations, academic integrity, and best practices for guiding students in the responsible use of AI.

The proposed presentation will include demonstrations of selected AI tools, illustrating how they can help make the literature review process easier and more efficient, without losing academic quality. Participants will see examples of how AI can find relevant sources and summarize key findings, along with tips on checking that AI suggestions are accurate and reliable. The presentation will help attendees learn how to use AI in research in a way that supports critical thinking and careful scholarship.

The session is designed to benefit educators, librarians, and graduate students who are interested in incorporating AI resources to expand research processes, improve literature review development, and enhance teaching and learning practices. Participants will leave equipped with actionable strategies for supporting graduate research with AI tools, whether in their own work or when guiding students, and will have a clearer understanding of how AI can complement – but not replace – critical thinking and scholarly judgment.