AI and documentary research

AI and documentary research

With the right instructions, AIs can be helpful when doing documentary research.

AI and bibliographic research

AI and keywords

AI to find a search equation

AI for information monitoring

FUT_Mars_2025

AI and keywords

Once you've identified your research topic, it's time to find the right search words. AI can help you find synonyms, more general or more specific terms, whether or not from a dictionary of controlled vocabulary (=thesaurus).

An example of prompt: education (and STAPS)

A example of prompt: medicine

An example of prompt : chemistry

The art of the prompting was a strong skill in the early days of AI. Today, it's not as popular: many users converse with AI, as their reasoning unfolds.The key is to have a strategy and clear ideas about the end result you want, so as not to settle for what the AI first offers.

FUT_Mars_2025

AI and bibliographic research

RAG AIs (Retrieval Augmented Generation, i.e. academic generative AIs) are to be preferred, as they are based on a corpus of scientific resources with peer review. For examples, see Part 1 “The several types of AIs”.

General generative AIs can be used, but the risk of getting hallucinations (inventing bibliographic references that don't exist) or resources of low scientific quality (blogs, marketing content, news sites), cannot be ruled out.

You're a master's student in oncology. You need to conduct a literature search on tumour suppressor genes for a literature review. Create a mind map with 5 branches. Each branch answers the question:

• Who? (Which patient is concerned?)
• What? (Which topic is concerned?)
• When? (Which period is concerned?)
• Where? (Which area is concerned?)
• Why? (Why is the study being carried out?)

For each branch, find the following key words in English:

• 2 words that are generic terms
• 2 words that are specific terms
• 2 words that are synonyms
• 2 words that are taken from the MeSH thesaurus

Put the nature of these terms in brackets behind each key word (whether they are generic terms, specific terms, synonyms or terms taken from the MeSH thesaurus).

AI to find a search equation

Once you've determined your keywords, with or without the help of AI, you have to combine them into a search equation. For example, you could use a prompt like:

“Build a search equation with Boolean operators using the keywords you found.”

Be careful, search equations may differ depending on the databases (and therefore thesauri) you are using. Make sure that the equation is compatible with the database(s) you are interested in.

You're a student in the Synthesis, Catalysis and Sustainable Chemistry Master 2 program. You have to carry out a documentary search on the use of catalysts in the degradation of plastics, particularly in the context of sustainable chemistry. The aim is to analyse how catalysts can be used to transform plastics into useful products, reduce plastic pollution and make recycling more efficient. Create a mind map with 5 branches. Each branch answers the following question:

• Who? (Who plays a role in the use of these catalysts?)
• What? (What types of catalysts are used in the degradation of plastics?)
• When? (When did this research into catalysts for the degradation of plastics begin?)
• Where? (In which regions or laboratories is this research most active?)
• Why? (Why is the use of catalysts for the degradation of plastics essential in the context of sustainable chemistry?)

For each branch, find keywords in English:

• 2 words that are generic terms
• 2 words that are specific terms
• 2 words that are synonyms
• 2 words from a thesaurus specialized in chemistry, such as Reaxys, PubChem or ScienceDirect.

Put in brackets, behind each keyword, the nature of these terms (generic terms, specific terms, synonyms, or terms from a thesaurus specialized in sustainable chemistry).

You're an master’s student specializing in teaching in primary schools. You have to conduct documentary research on inequalities in access to primary education in France and the United States, taking into account the socio-political, economic and cultural factors that influence the education systems in these two countries. Create a table answering the questions “Who?”, “What?”, “When?”, “Where?”, “Why?”, and giving keywords to answer each question. These keywords will be organized in columns corresponding to four categories: generic terms, specific terms, synonyms and terms taken from a thesaurus relevant to education (for example, ERIC or a thesaurus taking into account the French and American contexts).

• For each question, look for keywords in English that can be used to find articles or studies on the subject of inequalities in access to primary education in France and the USA.
• In each category (generic terms, specific terms, synonyms and thesaurus), list 2 keywords that correspond to each type of term.
• Put in brackets the nature of these terms (generic terms, specific terms, synonyms, or terms from the thesaurus specialized in education).

AI and information monitoring

AIs are not made to monitor information, as they are late compared to Web data and often give incorrect answers about current events.However, these tools can be useful for identifying sources and keywords to use in search engines.Christophe Deschamps, from the blog Outils Froids, suggests some use cases: “Give me the semantic field of a topic ‘’, ”Give me the keywords most used when talking about this topic“, “Then do a new prompt to ask for synonyms of these same keywords. Give me the most frequently used keywords when talking about this subject“.Then do a new prompt to ask for synonyms of these same keywords. ”Give me thesauri or controlled vocabularies on the subject.“ ” Give me names of important people to follow in the field“ and ”Tell me their websites".You can also ask the AI for RSS feeds of sites to follow.

Le blog de Christian Deschamps, Outils froids