AI Tools in Academia: Evaluating NotebookLM as a Tool for Conducting Literature Reviews.

Objective: The proliferation of access to generative AI tools has the potential to radically alter the process of writing manuscripts. This report evaluates NotebookLM as a tool for conducting a literature review in an ethical and responsible manner. Method: We uploaded 22 relevant papers from the A...

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Published in:Psychiatry: Interpersonal & Biological Processes Vol. 89; no. 1; pp. 82 - 92
Main Authors: Shor, Rachel, Greene, Elizabeth A., Sumberg, Luke, Weingrad, Aaron B.
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis Ltd Spring2026
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Spring2026
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        10.1080/00332747.2025.2541531
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        atl: AI Tools in Academia: Evaluating NotebookLM as a Tool for Conducting Literature Reviews.
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          Shor, Rachel
          Greene, Elizabeth A.
          Sumberg, Luke
          Weingrad, Aaron B.
      su:
        Decision making
        Military personnel
        Research ethics
        Generative artificial intelligence
        Data security
        Research funding
        Manuscripts
        Workflow
        Information retrieval
        Machine learning
        User interfaces
      sug:
        subj:
          Decision making
          Military personnel
          Research ethics
          Computer systems design and related services (except video game design and development)
          Other Computer Related Services
          Generative artificial intelligence
          Data security
          Research funding
          Manuscripts
          Workflow
          Information retrieval
          Machine learning
          User interfaces
      ab: Objective: The proliferation of access to generative AI tools has the potential to radically alter the process of writing manuscripts. This report evaluates NotebookLM as a tool for conducting a literature review in an ethical and responsible manner. Method: We uploaded 22 relevant papers from the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS) to NotebookLM and asked questions pertaining to a hypothetical research paper. We investigated the capabilities, limitations, ethical considerations, and privacy implications of using NotebookLM and engaged in a dialogue with the tool through a series of user-written prompts and AI responses. Results: We found that the variability and utility of responsesweres determined in large part by the ability to write meaningful prompts and the extent to which new prompts provided additional information. Investigating how NotebookLM identified key findings enhanced our prompt generation and subsequently the iterative refinement of output to produce information relevant to our mock literature review. Conclusions: The utility of NotebookLM will likely vary by the quality of source material uploaded into the program and the researcher's familiarity with prompt generation. There are a number of benefits and drawbacks to using this tool as a search engine or conversation partner. Ethical considerations and privacy implications of using NotebookLM are discussed.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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