AI for Research Support & Scholarly Communication

By Niranjan Mohapatra, World Skill Center
Series: AI Transformation in Libraries (Part 7 of 10)

 

1. Introduction

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become an essential tool for modern research ecosystems. Libraries—long established as research support hubs—are now integrating AI to enhance discovery, analysis, writing, publishing, and scholarly communication workflows.
From literature reviews to citation management, AI-driven tools are transforming how researchers produce knowledge and how librarians extend their professional support.

 

2. How AI is Transforming Research Support in Libraries

A. Accelerating Literature Discovery & Reviews

AI tools help researchers quickly:

• Identify key articles from enormous datasets
• Extract important findings
• Generate summaries of papers
• Map research trends and gaps
• Create conceptual frameworks

Tools like Elicit, ResearchRabbit, Scite, and Semantic Scholar use LLMs to refine search strategies, cluster citations, and visualize connections—dramatically reducing review time.

 

B. Enhancing Search Strategies & Retrieval

AI-powered discovery services improve search efficiency with:

• Smart query expansion
• Semantic search (finding meaning, not just keywords)
• Personalized recommendations
• Topic clustering and pattern detection

AI ensures that even novice researchers retrieve high-quality, relevant information faster.

 

C. AI-Assisted Research Writing & Editing

Generative AI supports scholarly writing through:

• Drafting introductions, abstracts, summaries, or outlines
• Improving grammar, clarity, tone
• Translating content
• Creating tables, charts, and research diagrams
• Ensuring consistency in formatting styles

While AI can assist, researchers must retain originality and intellectual control.

 

3. AI in Scholarly Communication

AI supports the entire scholarly publishing lifecycle:

A. Pre-Publication Support

• Generating metadata for repository submissions
• Drafting keywords and abstracts for authors
• Checking citation accuracy
• Detecting plagiarism and AI-generated content
• Formatting manuscripts as per journal guidelines

B. During Publication

AI tools streamline:

• Peer-review recommendation systems
• Reviewer workload analysis
• Identifying conflict-of-interest patterns
• Screening submissions for ethics or compliance issues

C. Post-Publication & Impact Tracking

AI enables:

• Automated altmetrics monitoring (social media, policy citations, news mentions)
• Predictive impact analytics
• Mapping citation networks
• Recommending suitable journals for future publications

Libraries can design dashboards to help researchers track research visibility and influence.

 

4. Real Use Cases in Academic Libraries

1. AI-powered Research Assistance Desks

Libraries deploy AI chatbots to help users refine their research topics, generate search keywords, and guide them through databases.

2. Institutional Repository Automation

AI automates metadata extraction, enhances subject tagging, and improves discoverability of research outputs.

3. Smart Referencing & Citation Tools

AI-enhanced referencing systems can:

• Automatically correct citations
• Suggest missing references
• Identify citation anomalies

4. Grant Writing & Proposal Support

AI models help researchers:

• Structure proposals
• Improve clarity and formatting
• Draft objectives and methodology frameworks

 

5. Limitations & Ethical Considerations

While AI is powerful, librarians must ensure:

• Human-in-the-loop validation
• Academic integrity (AI as support, not ghostwriting)
• Ethical use of data
• Awareness of bias in models
• Transparency (disclosing AI assistance when required)

Libraries must provide AI literacy training for researchers to avoid misuse.

 

6. The Role of Librarians in the AI-Enabled Research Ecosystem

Librarians now act as:

• AI literacy trainers
• Data stewards
• Research workflow consultants
• Repository and metadata specialists
• Ethical AI advisors

Their expertise ensures AI is used responsibly, efficiently, and equitably in research.

 

7. Conclusion

AI is reshaping the future of research and scholarly communication. With thoughtful integration, academic libraries can become AI-empowered research partners, offering intelligent support across the entire research lifecycle. As AI continues to evolve, librarians will play a crucial role in guiding researchers to use AI responsibly, creatively, and ethically