Questions and searches
Develop bounded research questions and validated search strategies without treating generated terminology or references as authoritative.
Unit overview
Unit 13 examines responsible uses of generative AI in research and scholarly work. AI may help generate candidate questions, terminology, search concepts, organizational structures, comparison dimensions, or provisional summaries. These outputs are starting points rather than scholarly evidence. Researchers remain responsible for ethics, information governance, research design, methods, source selection, interpretation, reproducibility, authorship, citation, disclosure, and conclusions. The author-approved RIGOUR framework organizes this responsibility across the complete research workflow.
Evidence and synthesis
Locate, inspect, compare, and cite original scholarly or authoritative sources before drawing conclusions.
Methods and reproducibility
Document procedures, decisions, prompts, sources, revisions, limitations, authorship, and disclosure so the work can be examined.
Central idea: AI can support parts of a research workflow, but AI output is not a scholarly source, research method, ethical approval, verified finding, or accountable author.
Unit learning outcomes
By the end of Unit 13, you should be able to:
- Distinguish research-question development, search planning, source discovery, literature mapping, synthesis, analysis, interpretation, and authorship.
- Use AI cautiously to generate candidate research questions, concepts, keywords, synonyms, and search strings.
- Validate generated terminology and search strategies using disciplinary databases, controlled vocabularies, or authoritative sources.
- Distinguish an AI-generated reference or summary from a verified scholarly source.
- Evaluate source authority, relevance, currency, scope, method, independence, and evidential fit.
- Create a literature map that preserves source-level differences, methods, findings, limitations, and uncertainty.
- Recognize fabricated references, citation laundering, false consensus, methodological mismatch, and unsupported synthesis.
- Protect participant information, unpublished research, confidential data, intellectual property, and culturally governed knowledge.
- Document AI assistance, search decisions, inclusion and exclusion criteria, verification, corrections, and human interpretation.
- Preserve reproducibility, accountable authorship, citation accuracy, and proportionate disclosure.
- Apply the author-approved RIGOUR framework to a bounded scholarly workflow.
- Complete Assignment 5 and extend Assignment 1 with evidence from Unit 13.
Unit 13 lessons
Complete the five lessons in order. The filenames are local to the dedicated Unit 13 folder.
13.1 Research Questions, Scope, and Human Purpose
Develop bounded, feasible questions and distinguish exploratory AI assistance from accountable scholarly problem definition.
13.2 Search Terms, Databases, and Source Discovery
Generate candidate terminology and search strings, then validate them through disciplinary databases and authoritative vocabularies.
13.3 Literature Mapping and Source Validation
Verify references, inspect original sources, map methods and findings, and preserve disagreement, limitations, and uncertainty.
13.4 Synthesis, Methods, and Reproducibility
Distinguish source-supported synthesis from generated generalization and document procedures, decisions, corrections, and limitations.
13.5 RIGOUR Research Workflow
Apply RIGOUR to ethics, information, methods, evidence, validation, interpretation, reproducibility, authorship, disclosure, and stopping.
Folder convention: Keep
unit-13.html and t-01.html through t-05.html in the same dedicated Unit 13 Moodle folder.Embedded Unit 13 study guide
- Frame
Define the research purpose, question, scope, ethics, and authority. - Search
Develop and validate terminology, databases, and search strategies. - Map and synthesize
Inspect sources and preserve methods, differences, and uncertainty. - Document and review
Apply RIGOUR, verify the record, and complete Assignment 5.
Suggested study sessions
- Retrieval and research baseline.
Review CLAIM and LEARN, read Chapter 14, and identify one bounded scholarly workflow. - Lesson 1.
Refine a research question and identify ethics, scope, evidence, and human-only decisions. - Lesson 2.
Develop candidate search terms and validate them through appropriate scholarly tools. - Lesson 3.
Verify sources and build a literature map that preserves source differences. - Lesson 4.
Create a source-supported synthesis and a reproducibility record. - Lesson 5 and assessment completion.
Apply RIGOUR, complete Assignment 5 review, and update Assignment 1.
Evidence to retain
- Initial and revised research question
- Scope, ethics, and authority record
- Search-concept and search-string development
- Database and source-selection rationale
- Verified reference record
- Literature map
- Source-supported synthesis and correction record
- Reproducibility and disclosure record
- RIGOUR workflow
- Assignment 1 reflection notes
Show the responsible research sequence
- Define the legitimate scholarly purpose and bounded question.
- Identify ethics, information, permission, and authority requirements.
- Develop candidate concepts, terms, and searches.
- Validate terminology and search choices through authoritative resources.
- Locate and inspect original scholarly or authoritative sources.
- Apply explicit inclusion, exclusion, quality, and relevance criteria.
- Map methods, populations, findings, limitations, conflicts, and uncertainty.
- Synthesize only what the verified evidence supports.
- Document prompts, searches, sources, decisions, corrections, authorship, and disclosure.
- Escalate or stop when evidence, ethics, permission, methods, or competence are inadequate.
Assessment milestones
Assignment 5: Verification and Fact-Checking
Weight: 10%
Started: Unit 10, Week 7.
Complete now: Verify sources and claims, finalize corrections and uncertainty, document methods, and complete the required disclosure.
Recommended submission: End of Module 4, Week 8.
Official Moodle due date and time: ____________________
Assignment 1: Journal continues
Reflect on research questions, search validation, source discovery, literature mapping, synthesis, reproducibility, authorship, and how RIGOUR changed scholarly boundaries.
Recommended final submission: End of Module 6, Week 11.
Official Moodle due date and time: ____________________
Final Assignment 5 rule: Every citation, quotation, bibliographic detail, and attributed finding must be checked against the actual source. A generated reference list is not evidence of verification.
Show the Assignment 5 final-review checklist
- Claim inventory and verification priorities are complete.
- Sources are authoritative, relevant, current enough, and within scope.
- Original sources were inspected where required.
- Source independence and citation chains were assessed.
- Bibliographic details, quotations, and attributed findings were verified.
- Claims are marked supported, partial, contradicted, outdated, outside scope, or unverifiable.
- Corrections and residual uncertainty are explicit.
- Methods and decisions are reproducible enough for review.
- Human reasoning and conclusions are evident.
- Material AI use is documented and disclosed as required.
Required learning activities
| Activity | Purpose | Product | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Question refinement | Develop a bounded, feasible, ethical, and evidence-ready research question. | Question record | 35–50 min |
| Search-concept generation | Develop keywords, synonyms, controlled terms, and exclusions. | Concept table | 35–50 min |
| Search validation | Test generated terminology and search strings in appropriate databases. | Search log | 40–55 min |
| Reference verification | Verify source existence, authorship, title, date, identifier, and attributed content. | Verified reference record | 40–60 min |
| Literature mapping | Compare questions, methods, evidence, findings, limitations, and uncertainty. | Literature map | 45–60 min |
| Synthesis and reproducibility | Create a source-supported synthesis and document the process. | Synthesis and method log | 45–60 min |
| RIGOUR application | Integrate ethics, information, methods, evidence, authorship, disclosure, and stopping. | Research workflow | 45–60 min |
Participation options
Option A: Approved research and AI tools
Use approved tools for bounded question or search support, then validate all sources and scholarly claims independently.
Option B: Supplied research records
Use supplied questions, search logs, references, source excerpts, literature maps, and synthesis records.
Option C: Non-AI research workflow
Complete the same question, search, validation, mapping, synthesis, documentation, and RIGOUR analysis without an AI platform.
Responsible-use boundaries and support
Boundaries
- Do not upload participant information, unpublished research, student work, confidential data, proprietary manuscripts, privileged material, or culturally governed knowledge without authority.
- Do not treat AI-generated references, summaries, quotations, methods, or findings as verified.
- Do not use AI as a substitute for research ethics review, methodological competence, source inspection, or accountable interpretation.
- Do not hide excluded evidence, conflicting findings, limitations, or uncertainty.
- Do not attribute authorship or scholarly responsibility to an AI system.
Support and accessibility
- Use supplied research records if databases or live AI tools are inaccessible.
- Contact the course coordinator for research scope, assignment, and permitted-use questions.
- Use library services for databases, search strategies, source tracing, and citation support.
- Seek research ethics, privacy, copyright, statistical, methodological, disciplinary, Indigenous, or community guidance as appropriate.