Question 1

AI traffic light (dos & don'ts)

Accepted Answer

Question 2

Prompt for Information Searching

Accepted Answer

When you are about to begin your information search, it is a good idea to work systematically with your keywords/subject terms. This can be done through the development of a mind map (read more about this here), and in that process AI can serve as a creative tool.

Based on a prompt, AI can suggest subject terms, supplement your ideas with other relevant themes from a defined theoretical perspective, and, importantly, translate everything into English.

The latter is particularly useful, as many academic databases are in English and therefore require searches to be conducted in English.

Below are examples of prompts that can be used to generate keywords for literature searches:

The first example is contextualised both by your programme and semester, but it is also theory-based, meaning that the AI is prompted to respond from a more theoretically grounded perspective.

Example Prompt
You are a student at EK (Copenhagen Business Academy) enrolled in the programme [insert programme name]. You are currently in your [insert semester number] semester and are preparing a written examination assignment. To support your literature search, you need to develop a mind map. So far, you have identified the following keywords: [insert keywords separated by commas].

You are now required to do the following:

Find 2-3 synonyms for each keyword.
Identify 2-3 additional relevant themes.
All suggestions in points 1 and 2 must be based on [insert your theoretical perspective].
Translate all suggestions into English.

Question 3

Research based on a research question

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You can use this prompt to expand your research question and generate a range of relevant keywords that can support your literature search.

The prompt can be copied and pasted into your preferred AI tool. You simply need to insert your research question.

Example Prompt

You will help me develop a search strategy for my final bachelor's-level project at a business academy.
You should base your work on my research question:
[insert research question]

Identify the key concepts in the research question.
Then find synonyms, related terms, and alternative spellings (e.g. British vs. American English) for each concept.

Question 4

Source evaluation

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You can use this prompt to evaluate a source. Simply insert the source link after the prompt.
Always remember to apply your own critical judgement when selecting sources. If you are unsure about a source’s quality, be sure to evaluate it carefully before using it in your assignment. If you are still in doubt read more here.

Example Prompt
Help me evaluate this source.
The source will be used for an academic assignment at a business academy. You should evaluate the source based on:

Author/source
Currency (how up to date it is)
Argument
Relevance
Purpose/Motive
Credibility

[insert source/URL]

Question 5

References

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You can use AI to create references for the sources included in your assignment’s reference list. This prompt will generate references according to the Harvard referencing style. If you wish to use a different referencing style, such as APA, simply replace "Harvard" with the desired style in the prompt.

You will need to provide the author name(s), year of publication, book title, city/country of publication, publisher, and, if relevant, page numbers or chapter details.

Example Prompt
Create a correct book reference using the Harvard referencing style:
Author name(s):
Year of publication:
Book title:
Edition:
City or country of publication:
Publisher:
Page number(s) or chapter (if applicable):

Question 6

Advanced Search Techniques

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AND

Use AND between your search terms when you want results that contain both terms.

Example: Sustainability AND Clothing. This search will only return results that include both sustainability and clothing.

OR

Use OR when you want to search using multiple synonyms or related terms.

Example: Sustainability OR Ecology. This search will return results containing sustainability, ecology, or both terms.

NOT

Use NOT when you want to exclude specific search terms.

Example: Sustainability NOT Recycling. This search will return results about sustainability while excluding results related to recycling.

Phrase Searching

Use phrase searching when your search terms must appear together as an exact phrase.

Example: "Mette Frederiksen". This search will only return results for Mette Frederiksen, rather than results containing either Mette or Frederiksen separately.

Truncation

Use truncation with an asterisk (*) when you want to search for multiple variations of the same word stem.

Example: Sustain*. This search will return results containing words such as sustainable, sustainability, sustains, sustained, and other related word forms.

Question 7

What is scientific literature?

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When it comes to sources for academic assignments, scientific literature occupies the highest position in the hierarchy of information sources. Scientific literature is also referred to as research literature, as it is based on original research.

Researchers aim to generate new knowledge by finding answers to questions that have not previously been explored. Their research may be based on investigations, experiments, observations, and studies, which are evaluated in relation to existing theories and previous research.

Research must be reproducible in order to ensure validity and transparency. If researchers cannot clearly account for their results, or if there is suspicion of falsification or misconduct in their studies, they may risk losing their position, title, and professional reputation. This is known as scientific misconduct.

Once researchers have obtained results from their studies, these findings are typically published as articles in scientific journals. Before a publisher or academic journal accepts an article for publication, it is reviewed by other researchers and subject experts within the same field. This process helps ensure that the methods and conclusions presented in the article are accurate and reliable. This procedure is known as peer review.

The majority of scientific articles are written in English because most internationally recognised journals publish in English, allowing researchers to reach a much wider audience than if they published in Danish. This is why it is important to translate Danish search terms into English when conducting literature searches.

Although scientific articles are generally written by researchers for other researchers, students are often required to incorporate this type of knowledge into their academic assignments.

Question 8

Recognising a scientific article

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A scientific article has a number of distinguishing characteristics that can help you determine whether it is a genuine research publication. If you are unsure, you can conduct a source-critical review by considering the following questions:

Is the article published by a reputable publisher?
If you are uncertain, it is a good idea to research the publisher and assess its credibility and reputation within the academic community.
Is the article published in a recognised academic journal?
If you are unsure, search for the journal title online and check whether it is published by an established and reputable academic publisher.
Is the author affiliated with a university or another educational or research institution?
If you are uncertain, search for the author's name online to determine where they work and whether they have published other research within the same field or subject area. As with any source evaluation, it is important to assess the author's expertise and credibility.
Is the publication date clearly stated?
Check whether the article includes a year of publication and, where applicable, information such as volume number, issue number, and other publication details (e.g., Vol., Issue No., etc.).
Is there information about when the article was accepted for publication? Be aware that not all journals include this information directly in the article itself. However, the acceptance date can often be found on the journal’s website.

Unfortunately, not all research is high-quality research, which is why a critical approach is essential. A considerable amount of misleading or low-quality research is published that may resemble genuine scientific articles but does not adhere to academic standards of transparency, objectivity, and methodological rigour. As a result, such work would generally not be accepted for publication in a recognised academic journal published by a reputable academic publisher.

Question 9

Evaluating the relevance of a scientific article

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Reading and fully understanding a scientific article can be a major undertaking. It is not unusual to spend 3–5 hours studying a single article if you want to gain a thorough understanding of its content.
In many cases, however, you may not have the time to do this, particularly if your research and literature searches have identified a large number of potentially relevant articles.

Before reading an article from A to Z, it is therefore advisable to focus first on the abstract and the conclusion. These sections contain the most important information about the study’s findings, including: what was investigated and what was the answer.

By reviewing the abstract and conclusion, you can quickly form an overview of the article and assess whether the remainder of the paper is sufficiently relevant to justify a full reading.

If you decide to use the article as a source in your assignment, it is generally a good idea to read the entire article. Important information, limitations, methodological details, or nuanced findings may be presented in other sections of the paper and may not be fully reflected in the abstract alone.

Question 10

How to find scientific articles

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Finding relevant scientific articles for an academic assignment can take time. EK Library provides access to articles covering a wide range of topics, which can be searched through the library's collection.

You can also choose to go directly to one of the article databases, such as ACM, Business Source Complete, or Emerald Publishing, via the library's digital collection.

Remember to select “Peer-reviewed” journals when searching the library’s collection. This ensures that only

Information searching

Do you often get stuck and end up searching in circles?
Be prepared for the fact that good research takes time.

Key points

Table of contents

Systematic searching

AI and information searching

Search Engines

Databases

AND

OR

NOT