Abstract
As academic publishing accelerates, the ability to conduct rigorous literature reviews has become a cornerstone of digital literacy in higher education. This study explores how AI-powered research assistants, specifically Elicit, Perplexity.AI, Keenious, Consensus, and RDiscovery, are reshaping the processes of sourcing, screening, and synthesizing scholarly literature. The investigation unfolds along several directions: examining how these tools facilitate key stages of the review process such as summarization, source retrieval, and topic generation; identifying their effectiveness and limitations across academic disciplines; considering how their performance compares with traditional manual review practices in terms of accuracy, efficiency, and comprehensiveness; and reflecting on researchers’ perceptions of their usefulness, trustworthiness, and overall integration into academic workflows. A comparative design was employed using standardized prompts from Applied Linguistics and Communication. Outputs from each tool were evaluated through a structured rubric assessing usability, source credibility, citation accuracy, and academic integration. Data logs and auto-generated reports were analyzed alongside an established body of literature to ensure methodological rigor. By situating AI-supported tools within the broader theme of Digital Literacy for Future Readiness, this study highlights how emerging technologies can be positioned as collaborators in research rather than replacements for human judgment. It emphasizes the importance of equipping learners and educators with both technical competence and reflective digital literacy, skills essential for navigating academic and professional landscapes in a rapidly evolving knowledge society.
Presenters
Irum NazAssistant Professor, College of General Education, Communications, University of Doha for Science and Technology, Ad Dawhah, Qatar
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2026 Special Focus—Digital Literacy for Future Readiness
KEYWORDS
Digital Literacy, AI-Powered Research Assistants, Literature Review Automation, Higher Education
