Research Guides: AI in Research: Scholarly Communication & AI

Digital Scholarship Services

DSS fosters the use of digital content and transformative technology in scholarship and academic activities. We provide consultative and technical support for a wide range of tools and platforms. We work with the campus community to publish, promote, and preserve the digital products of research through consultation, teaching, and systems administration. Our areas of expertise include data curation, research data management, computational research, digital humanities, and scholarly communication.

ZotGPT

ZotGPT
ZotGPT Chat is available to students, faculty, and staff at no cost. As part of OIT’s ongoing commitment to supporting the university’s emerging generative AI needs, ZotGPT Chat can help brainstorm ideas, develop plans, and find different ways to get things done; for any use related to classes, be sure to follow your instructor’s guidelines. Currently, Chat supports multiple models, chat history, file uploads, and a large context window. ZotGPT Chat is built using Microsoft Azure AI, Amazon AWS, and open web technologies.

Note

Use of AI is fraught with complications involving accuracy, bias, academic integrity, and intellectual property and may not be appropriate in all academic settings. This guide is meant more for academic researchers looking to utilize AI tools in their research.

Students are strongly advised to consult with their instructor before using AI-generated content in their research or coursework. For information on Generative AI take a look at the Generative AI and Information Literacy guide.

Scholarly Communication

AI's influence on academic publishing has been a topic of increasing interest and discussion within scholarly communication. Some of the key debates surrounding this topic include:

Authorship and Attribution
AI's involvement in research and writing has raised questions about how to assign authorship and attribution. In some cases, AI systems generate substantial portions of articles, leading to discussions about whether AI should be considered an author or a tool. Determining appropriate credit for human researchers and AI systems remains a challenge.

Plagiarism and Originality
With AI tools assisting in content creation, concerns have arisen about unintentional plagiarism. Researchers may unknowingly use AI-generated text without proper attribution or understanding its source. This calls for clear guidelines and education on how to incorporate AI-generated content while maintaining proper citation practices.

Intellectual Property and Ownership
The ownership of AI-generated content is complex. Publishers, institutions, and researchers may all have claims to content created by AI. Balancing these claims and establishing ownership rights is a significant challenge, as existing intellectual property laws might not adequately address AI-generated works.

Quality Control and Peer Review
The use of AI tools in generating content has sparked discussions about maintaining the quality and reliability of academic publications. Peer review processes may need to adapt to assess AI-generated content for accuracy, originality, and ethical considerations.

Ethics and Transparency
AI-generated content might introduce biases or inaccuracies that need to be addressed to maintain academic integrity. Transparency in disclosing the role of AI in research and writing is crucial to uphold ethical standards.

Publisher Policies

Before including AI-generated content in a project you intend to get published, check publisher policies regarding permissible use and attribution. Below are some examples of publisher policies regarding the use of AI.

ACM: Policy on Authorship
"Generative AI tools and technologies, such as ChatGPT, may not be listed as authors of an ACM published Work. The use of generative AI tools and technologies to create content is permitted but must be fully disclosed in the Work."
Elsevier: Publishing Ethics
“Authors are allowed to use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process before submission, but only to improve the language and readability of their paper and with the appropriate disclosure, as per our instructions in Elsevier’s Guide for Authors(opens in new tab/window)."
Emerald Publishing: Stance on AI Tools and Authorship
"Firstly, because these tools cannot take accountability for such work, AI tools/large language models cannot be credited with authorship of any Emerald publication. Secondly, any use of AI tools within the development of an Emerald publication must be flagged by the author(s) within the paper, chapter or case study."
IEEE: Submission Policies
“The use of content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) in a paper (including but not limited to text, figures, images, and code) shall be disclosed in the acknowledgments section of any paper submitted to an IEEE publication."
Oxford Academic: Instructions to Authors
"Natural language processing tools driven by artificial intelligence (AI) do not qualify as authors, and the Journal will screen for them in author lists. The use of AI (for example, to help generate content, write code, or process data) should be disclosed both in cover letters to editors and in the Methods or Acknowledgements section of manuscripts."
PLOS One: Ethical Publishing Practice
"Contributions by artificial intelligence (AI) tools and technologies to a study or to an article’s contents must be clearly reported in a dedicated section of the Methods, or in the Acknowledgements section for article types lacking a Methods section."
Sage: Using AI in peer review and publishing
"The currently available language models are not fully objective or factual. Authors using generative AI to write their research must make every effort to ensure that the output is factually correct, and the references provided reflect the claims made."
Springer Nature: Artificial Intelligence (AI)
“Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, do not currently satisfy our authorship criteria. Notably an attribution of authorship carries with it accountability for the work, which cannot be effectively applied to LLMs. Use of an LLM should be properly documented in the Methods section (and if a Methods section is not available, in a suitable alternative part) of the manuscript.”
Taylor & Francis: Defining authorship in your research paper
"Authors must be aware that using AI-based tools and technologies for article content generation, e.g. large language models (LLMs), generative AI, and chatbots (e.g. ChatGPT), is not in line with our authorship criteria. Where AI tools are used in content generation, they must be acknowledged and documented appropriately in the authored work."
Wiley: Best Practice Guidelines on Research Integrity and Publishing Ethics
"The final decision about whether use of an AIGC tool is appropriate or permissible in the circumstances of a submitted manuscript or a published article lies with the journal’s editor or other party responsible for the publication’s editorial policy."

Writing Tools

Bit.ai
Built for teams and individuals to create, collaborate, and organize all your knowledge in one place. Create and share documents, data, notes, and research projects, while integrating across the apps you work with.
Grammarly
Free tier corrects grammar, sets tone, and includes 100 AI writing prompts.
Jenni
Searches for relevant research as you write a document. Substantial free tier, allows uploads of your own sources, including PDFs.
Keenious
Searches for relevant research as you write in a Word or Google Doc. Can also search for research based on a seed article you supply.
Microsoft Copilot
AI productivity assistant that integrates with Microsoft 365 apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc.) to help you write documents, organize data, create presentations, and draft emails.
QuillBot
Mostly free tool that offers AI writing suggestions like grammar, paraphrasing, and auto-completing sentences.
Scrivener
AI document management system that allows you to organize notes, concepts, research, and whole documents for easy access and reference.
Thesify
Gives feedback on a manuscript tailored to the journal you hope to publish in. Suggests journals and conferences related to your manuscript.
Trinka
AI-powered English grammar checker and writing assistant designed for academic and technical writing. Free tier includes grammar and language checks, journal finder, and publication readiness tools.