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Research Support: AI

Advice and support for scholarly communications.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

This page provides links and information about different AI tools that may be useful to support the research process. It should be noted that none of these tools are endorsed by Queen Margaret University and no help or support with the tools can be provided by QMU staff.

When using AI, it is important to consider various risks associated with AI, including

  1. Integrity:

    • Reproduction of false or inaccurate information.
    • Incorrect assessment of research analysis and results.
    • Unrepresentative summaries of others' ideas.
    • Introduction of biases or offensive content.

  2. Information Security:

    • Harm through inappropriate use or storage of personal data.
    • Non-compliance with data protection laws.
    • Exposure of data that could breach national security or disrupt university operations.
    • Breach of funder or third-party terms and conditions.

  3. Accountability:

    • Incorrect acknowledgment of AI-generated data.
    • Failure to declare AI usage in research.
    • Improper acknowledgment of ideas from others.

Further information on the use of generative AI at QMU is also available here.

AI tools

Connected Papers - a unique, visual tool to help researchers and applied scientists find and explore papers relevant to their field of work. You can get 5 graphs per month at no cost, but a subscription is required beyond that.

Elicit - tool designed to automate time-consuming research tasks like summarizing papers, extracting data, and synthesizing your findings. Free for basic access, but a subscription is required for more in-depth searching.

formulabot.com - for data analysis and visualisations. Free account includes 10 chat messages / month; 15 enrichments / month; 5MB file upload limit; Access all data sources, external data & utilities; 2 uploaded files / chat per month. A subscription is required beyond that.

Inciteful - Citation network exploration tool. Free to use.

Julius.ai - for data analysis and visualisations. This tool is free or up to 15 questions in a month, but a subscription is required after that.

Litmaps - literature review AI tool. Free basic search with a subscription required for more in-depth usage.

Rayyan - systematic review tool. Free basic account, but paid subscription is required beyond that. 

Research Rabbit - literature searching and visualisation tool. Free to use.

scite_ -  scite helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. Free 7 day trial, but then must be subscribed to after that.

Semantic Scholar - Search over 214 million papers from all fields of science, with filters such as journals and conferences, authors, publication types, and date range. Free to use.