POLK LIBRARY
Tools, frameworks, and guidance for AI-integrated scholarship
Polk Library helps students and faculty navigate how artificial intelligence can support research while preserving scholarly judgment, source evaluation, transparency, and responsibility.
START WITH THE RESEARCH TASK
AI-enabled and digital research tools can support different parts of scholarly work. Begin with what you are trying to accomplish, then consider which tool fits the task, the information involved, and the expectations governing your work.
Tools may support more than one research task. Inclusion on this page does not indicate institutional approval, licensing, endorsement, or security review.
RESEARCH TASK
Representative tools
Consensus , Semantic Scholar , ResearchRabbit , Connected Papers , Litmaps , OpenAlex , and Library Databases
RESEARCH TASK
Representative tools
Consensus , Elicit , Semantic Scholar , OpenAlex , and Library Databases
RESEARCH TASK
Representative tools
NotebookLM , Elicit , Microsoft Copilot , and ChatGPT
RESEARCH TASK
Representative tools
Microsoft Copilot , ChatGPT , and Gemini
RESEARCH TASK
Representative tools
ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot
RESEARCH TASK
Representative tools
Zotero and NotebookLM
RESEARCH WORKFLOWS IN CHATGPT
Connect the Consensus scholarly search service to ChatGPT, then use one of these ready-made workflows to complete a focused research task.
1
Find Consensus in ChatGPT and connect your account.
2
Select Consensus with the + button or mention @Consensus in your prompt.
3
Upload the workflow, describe your project, and follow the guided steps.
THREE WORKFLOWS TO TRY
TEACHING
Upload a syllabus and identify recent peer-reviewed readings aligned with course topics and learning outcomes.
You provide: A syllabus or course outline
You receive: Readings, summaries, and discussion questions
RESEARCH
Explore a research topic, identify major themes and papers, and build a strategic plan for further searching and reading.
You provide: A research topic or question
You receive: A literature map, priority readings, and search strategies
FUNDING
Position a research idea within the evidence and investigate NIH institutes, mechanisms, funded projects, and potential opportunities.
You provide: A research idea and career stage
You receive: Positioning guidance and potential NIH pathways
Consensus can help identify scholarly papers. Polk Library can help you access full text, expand the search into disciplinary databases, locate books and other source types, and evaluate whether the evidence base is sufficient for your project.
These workflows are starting points. Researchers remain responsible for checking sources, protecting sensitive information, and meeting the methodological and disciplinary expectations of their work.
CHOOSING AI TOOLS WISELY
AI tools differ in their capabilities, sources, data practices, privacy protections, and institutional support. The right choice depends on both the research task and the type of information you plan to share.
Is the tool designed for the scholarly task you need to complete?
Is the information public, low risk, sensitive, protected, or unpublished?
Does the university license, manage, or provide guidance for the tool?
What do instructors, departments, publishers, funders, or research protocols require?
Public generative AI tools may be appropriate for public or low-risk information when no protected institutional data is shared. Work involving sensitive, restricted, confidential, student, personnel, research, or unpublished institutional information requires greater care and may require an institutionally supported service.
Universities of Wisconsin guidance and UW System data-classification policies should inform tool selection when institutional information is involved.
This Hub introduces representative tools used in scholarly research. Inclusion does not indicate institutional approval, endorsement, licensing, or security review.
Campus AI Guidance and Supported Tools Universities of Wisconsin AI Guidance SYS 1031 Data Classification
SCHOLARLY JUDGMENT THROUGHOUT
AI can assist research at every stage, but it cannot replace the judgments researchers make. Throughout discovery, verification, and synthesis, scholars decide how questions are framed, evidence is evaluated, and knowledge is constructed.
DISCOVERY
Decide whether to use AI, define the research problem, and determine which sources and perspectives belong in the inquiry.
VERIFICATION
Evaluate the accuracy, credibility, and provenance of information before incorporating it into scholarly work.
SYNTHESIS
Integrate evidence, develop original interpretations, and ensure AI supports rather than replaces scholarly thinking.
PRACTICAL FRAMEWORK
Drawing on emerging scholarship on AI literacy, information literacy, and AI-integrated research, this framework identifies eight recurring decision points that support responsible scholarly practice.
WHITE PAPER
This white paper synthesizes findings from a 53-study analytic corpus on AI-assisted academic writing. It positions AI literacy as an extension of information literacy and identifies recurring themes—including critical evaluation, reflective decision-making, student agency, and responsible AI use—that later informed the Scholarly Decision Points framework.
WORK WITH THE LIBRARY
Polk Library can help students and faculty develop research strategies, evaluate sources and tools, manage citations, design learning activities, and use AI while preserving scholarly judgment.
LIBRARY SERVICES
Literature searching, evidence review, research design, and source evaluation.
AI literacy, source verification, research strategy, and responsible use.
Assignment design, AI-integrated instruction, Canvas modules, disciplinary guidance, and classroom collaboration.
Zotero, source management, research notes, and transparent research documentation.
ADDITIONAL RESEARCH RESOURCES
Explore AI-integrated research guidance tailored to disciplinary databases, evidence practices, source types, and assignment expectations.
Learn about responsible AI use, citation, transparency, disclosure, and research expectations throughout the research process.
AI is changing scholarly research, but strong research still depends on informed human judgment. Polk Library partners with students and faculty to help AI strengthen—not replace—critical inquiry, evidence evaluation, and scholarly contribution.
Contact Polk Library