LibGuides: Artificial Intelligence: AI Tools for Research and Education

Models for Using AI in Courses

Model for Using Generative AI in Courses

CSUN's Department of Elementary Education created a template for a recommended Generative AI policy.
Academic Technology created this document to compile syllabi policies for generative AI tools: Syllabi Policies for AI Generative Tools - Google Docs

updated 2/25/25

Tutorials for AI Research Tools

Research Rabbit

Rochester Institute of Technology’s Engineering Librarian explains how to use Research Rabbit https://youtu.be/fzajhdkJE6k

Academic Search and Summary Tools

NOTE: Always defer to your instructor's policies on the use of AI, before using it to assist you with coursework.

The selected list of tools below provides search and summary of research articles and data. Resources identified by the tools may or may not be available through the University Library catalog. Many of them may be Open Access (available for free without an institutional subscription). Each platform requires you to create a log in. Not these are not supported or protected by your CSUN log in, so be sure to check the privacy agreements and settings. Also be cautious about inputting any of your own intellectual property or personal information.

Consensus (free/paid)
Modeled on the Semantic Scholar Open Research Corpus of over 200 million academic papers covering all academic disciplines. Best with specific questions, and yes/no questions. Has FAQ.
Elicit (free/paid)
Modeled on the Semantic Scholar Open Research Corpus. Works best for empirical domains with concrete results, less so for specific data questions. Has FAQ.
LitMaps
This is NOT primarily an AI tool, but does have one algorithmic option that is AI powered. LitMaps allows you to search for articles on a topic using citation networks and creates visuals of the network of papers around a topic. LitMaps' corpus draws from Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, and Crossref.
Research Rabbit (free)
Modeled on multiple databases but does not currently specify them. In addition to providing a scholarly search service, it utilizes data visualizations to demonstrate relationships between scholarly papers and researchers. Has FAQ.
Scite (paid)
Indexes publishers content and preprint servers for millions of research articles. Offers Chrome browser extension and Assistant. Has FAQ.
Semantic Scholar (free)
Modeled on the Semantic Scholar Open Research Corpus of over 200 million academic papers covering all academic disciplines. Has FAQ.

NOTE: AI content can be inaccurate, misleading, or biased. Please review all sources and data referenced by AI tools before using them in your work.

Updated 2/25/25

Source Analysis and Organization Tools

Elicit
In paid versions, Elicit offers advanced source analysis tools.
ExplainPaper
Uses generative AI to summarize all or parts of papers for the user. Upload a document or a link to get a summary of the paper.
Notebook LM (Google)
Upload PDFs, websites, YouTube videos, audio files, Google Docs, or Google Slides, and NotebookLM will summarize them and make interesting connections between topics, all powered by Gemini 2.0’s multimodal understanding capabilities.

Educational AI Tools

These tools are designed to help educators manage their curriculum, calendars, grading, and communication as well as to help support students learning through AI that prompts students as a tutor would rather than providing answers.

Packback
Instructive AI product. "A writing assistant for every student and a grading assistant for every instructor…made possible by AI.
Packback is the pioneer of Instructional AI. Packback’s mission is to empower every student to be fearlessly curious, develop strong writing skills, and find their unique voice. The Packback “Digital TA” AI powers our award-winning discussion platform, Packback Questions, and our AI writing feedback platform, Deep Dives."
Curipod
Plan and deliver interactive lessons on any topic - with help from AI
MagicSchool AI
Educators use MagicSchool to help lesson plan, differentiate, write assessments, write IEPs, communicate clearly, and more. (Description from MiagicSchool)
Quizlet
AI study tools for students by Andrew Sutherland.
Khan Academy
Free online courses, lessons, and practice.
Pear Practice
Pear Practice offers collaborative game experiences for classrooms, plus personalized learning tracks for solo practice, giving every student a chance to succeed. (Description from Pear Practice)

updated 2/25/25

Locating Full Text of AI Search Results

Below is an example using Semantic Scholar as the academic search engine for gathering scholarly information. Other academic search platforms may have similar services, but operate slightly differently.

Query: "Common nutrient deficiencies in the U.S."

The results will show a list of scholarly sources that address the search query. Highlighted are locations of interest.

A quotation mark followed by a number indicates the number of citations of the source at the time of your search.
"PDF" provides a link to access a full text PDF if available.
A quotation mark followed by "Cite" provides a link to citation examples in multiple formats and styles (MLA, APA, etc.)
Names of authors are listed below each title to assist in locating the full text of the source.

To search full text articles in OneSearch from the University Library webpage, copy and paste the title and an author's name into the search box to see if we have access to that article. If the digital object identifier (DOI) is offered, you may paste that into the search box instead. If we do not have the article available here or at any CSU campus ("All CSU LIbraries" radio button), please request the article through our Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service. To confirm if an article is peer reviewed, locate the article in OneSearch, or search the journal title in Ulrichsweb.