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Best AI Tool for Literature Review: 5 Top Picks for 2025

calendarMar 11, 2025 |clock11 Mins Read

Conducting and writing a literature review has always been the most time-consuming task of any academic research. Weeks of reading countless scientific papers (if not months), summarising key points, and identifying gaps in existing research. Fortunately, AI is making this process a lot easier, faster and more efficient. In this blog, we’ll go through the best AI tool for literature review in 2025.

Best AI Tool for Literature
zendy
zaia

Why Use AI for Literature Reviews?

Before we dig into the list of the best AI tool for literature review, let's ask ourselves, why use AI in the first place? The answer is very simple:

  • Saving Time: AI literature review tools can quickly scan thousands of research papers and extract relevant information in seconds.
  • Improving Accuracy: AI tools in research can help you identify key themes, citations, and trends, reducing the chances of missing important studies.
  • Enhancing Organisation: Many AI tools for literature review offer smart categorisation, tagging, and citation management, ensuring a well-structured literature review.

Best 5 AI Tools for Literature Review in 2025

Here are the top AI tools that can help you conduct a literature review:

1. ZAIA by Zendy

ZAIA is not just the best AI tool for literature review, it’s also one of the best personal AI research Q&A assistants that will help you effectively explore a large amount of academic research. Keyphrase highlighting, summarisation, PDF analysis, and AI insights make it a great AI tool for the literature review process. 

2. Elicit

Elicit uses AI to automate the research process, allowing you to generate structured summaries, find relevant papers, and extract key insights without manual searching.

3. Research Rabbit

This tool is known for its unique visualisation of research connections. It helps users discover related papers and track the evolution of ideas across different studies.

4. Scite

Scite provides citation analysis with AI-powered insights, allowing researchers to evaluate how a study has been cited in different contexts—supportive, contrasting, or neutral.

5. Semantic Scholar

Powered by AI, Semantic Scholar enhances literature discovery by providing smart recommendations, citation tracking, and insights into academic papers.

How to Write a Literature Review Using AI

It can be quite difficult to write a literature review, but AI can help in several ways:

  1. Summarise Key Points: Summarisation by AI condenses long written materials to easily readable insights.
  2. Rewrite and Paraphrase: AI is also useful in manuscript improvements to guarantee clarity and consistency while maintaining professionalism in academia.
  3. Ensure Proper Citations: AI citation tools help with reference management and formatting.
  4. Refine and Edit: Make your literature review more polished and professional by using writing tools to improve readability and flow.

What Is the Difference Between an Annotated Bibliography and a Literature Review?

Annotated BibliographyLiterature Review
PurposeSummarises and evaluates each source individuallySynthesises and analyses sources collectively
StructureOrganised as a list of citations with annotationsOrganised thematically or methodologically
Depth of AnalysisFocuses on each source’s contributionIdentifies patterns, gaps, and trends in research
Use in ResearchOften used as a preparatory step for literature reviewsUsed as a foundation for research projects or theses
Writing StyleConcise, source-focusedIntegrative, argument-driven

Is It Ethical to Use AI for Literature Reviews?

When using AI-powered literature review tools, keep these principles in mind in order to not compromise your research integrity:

  • Use AI responsibly and ethically to avoid plagiarism or creation of misleading content
  • Remember that AI is a tool, not a replacement for human expertise
  • Critically evaluate the information provided by AI tools
  • Exercise judgment when incorporating AI-generated insights into your research

By following these guidelines and leveraging AI tools effectively, you can conduct a more efficient and insightful literature review while maintaining the integrity of your research process.

Disclaimer: AI-generated content should always be reviewed and verified by researchers to ensure accuracy and ethical compliance in academic work.

Conclusion

AI tools for literature review are making literature reviews easier, faster, and more organised. Whether you’re a student or a researcher, the right tool can help you sort through academic papers, find key insights, and manage citations without getting overwhelmed.

Best AI Tool for Literature
Zaia

Each tool on this list has something useful to offer. ZAIA is a great choice if you’re looking for the Best AI tool for literature review that highlights key points, summarises research, and helps you navigate academic papers more efficiently. Elicit and Research Rabbit are helpful for finding related studies, while Scite and Semantic Scholar can guide you through citations and academic trends.

AI won’t do all the work for you, but it can take some of the pressure off. If you haven’t tried using AI for your literature review yet, now might be a good time to start.

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