How to Write a Literature Review with AI

Dr. Jessica Parker, a renowned expert in the field of academic writing, recently gave a talk on the potential uses of AI to write a literature review effectively. In her presentation, she outlined a strategy called the "AI sandwich" method, which involves incorporating AI in the initial and final stages of the writing process, with human input in the middle. The idea is to use AI as a support tool to enhance the efficiency and quality of academic writing rather than replace the critical analytical work done by researchers.

According to Dr. Parker, the AI sandwich method involves three key stages. Firstly, in the initial stage, AI helps with ideation, brainstorming, and exploring literature. This stage consists of generating initial outlines and structuring the review based on research questions. The tools used in this stage include the Literature Review Outline Assistant, which generates an outline for the review based on the research problem statement, and Elicit. This AI research assistant helps explore literature, return summaries of relevant papers, and create a literature matrix for easier analysis.

Secondly, in the middle stage, the individual writes the draft of the literature review using the structure and information gathered from the initial AI stage. This stage is where human input comes into play, as the writer uses their critical thinking and analytical skills to create a coherent and insightful literature review.

Finally, in the final stage, AI is employed again to review the draft, providing feedback similar to a peer review. The AI tools used in this stage include the Research Article Summarizer, which summarizes research articles, providing key information broken down by article sections, and the Literature Synthesis Mentor, which evaluates the draft and assesses various aspects such as the quality of sources, depth of engagement with evidence, and overall coherence.

Dr. Parker emphasizes that the goal of using AI in academic writing is to aid in the more laborious or structured parts of the process, allowing the researcher to focus on critical thinking and nuanced analysis. However, she also notes that AI should be different from the critical analytical work done by researchers. Instead, AI should be used as a support tool to enhance the efficiency and quality of academic writing.