Integrating Artificial Intelligence Tools for Research and Scholarly Communication in Academic Libraries: A Systematic Review

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping research practices and scholarly communication within higher education institutions and academic libraries. This systematic review examines the integration of AI tools in research and scholarly communication, focusing on their benefits, challenges, and the evolving role of librarians in this digital transformation. Guided by the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) framework, the study retrieved literature from EBSCOhost (Library and Information Science Source and Library and Information Science & Technology Abstracts), ProQuest, and Google Scholar, covering publications from 2020 to 2025. Of the 226 articles initially identified, 24 met the inclusion criteria and were subjected to thematic analysis. The findings reveal that AI technologies significantly enhance research efficiency, improve information retrieval, support data analysis, and streamline scholarly communication workflows. At the same time, the review identifies critical challenges, including ethical concerns, data privacy risks, algorithmic bias, and insufficient AI literacy among information professionals. Academic librarians emerge as key facilitators in the responsible adoption of AI, requiring ongoing professional development to navigate these technological shifts effectively. The study concludes with recommendations for the ethical and sustainable integration of AI tools in academic research environments and identifies gaps in the literature that require further scholarly attention to ensure equitable and responsible AI implementation in scholarly communication systems.