The Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Academic Research: A Review of the Consensus App

Abstract

Consensus App is an academic search engine designed to change how researchers access and synthesize information. It helps researchers quickly browse the growing body of academic literature by offering insights at both the topic and paper levels. We evaluate the Consensus App's potential to transform academic research, its ethical implications, and the reasons behind its underrepresentation in academic literature. We seek to provide a balanced perspective on the app's current and future influence in academic research. This paper is based on a rapid review of the literature to see how the Consensus App is used and reported in the literature. Our review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. We focused on identifying applications, benefits, and ethical concerns related to the Consensus App. The search was conducted on December 23, 2024, across 210 academic databases. The databases from which articles were retrieved include Web of Science (N=6), MEDLINE (N=2), Academic Search Ultimate (N=1), and Fuente Académica Plus (N=1). In addition to the database searches, five additional editorials were identified through targeted manual searches of high-impact journals. In total, 10 papers were included in the final review. ChatGPT-4.5 was used to assist in synthesizing key themes across the articles, focusing on application, benefits, and ethical concerns related to the Consensus App and the broader use of artificial intelligence (AI) in scholarly work. The reviewed articles revealed that the use of the Consensus App is surprisingly low, which may suggest underreporting by its users. Researchers may also not be aware of it. These studies showed how the app has been limitedly used in the literature. Despite its advantages, we identified ethical concerns in the reviewed studies. Despite its potential, the Consensus App remains underutilized and significantly underreported in academic literature. Therefore, it is important for academic institutions, journal editors, and researchers to collaboratively develop standardized reporting guidelines when AI is involved in the process of manuscript development. The eventual goal is to lead to a more transparent reporting of AI usage in research.

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