The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Advancing Academic Research in Tertiary Institutions

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming how knowledge is created, validated, and disseminated in higher education. This paper synthesizes recent empirical and policy literature (2023 – 2025) to examine how AI tools—from large-language-model (LLM) chatbots such as ChatGPT to domain-specific research assistants like Elicit—are reshaping the research lifecycle in universities. We review adoption trends, map functional use-cases, analyse reported benefits and challenges, and propose a governance framework grounded in UNESCO’s 2025 guidance on generative AI. Findings indicate that AI already augments literature discovery, data analysis, scientific writing, reproducibility checks, and research management; however, concerns over academic integrity, bias, data security, and cognitive deskilling persist. We conclude that strategic investment in human-centred AI, faculty–student capacity-building, and robust ethical oversight will determine whether tertiary institutions leverage AI as a catalyst for scholarly innovation or encounter new inequities.