The Relationship Between AI Tools Usage, Information Retrieval, and Research Output Among Moroccan Novice Researchers

Abstract

This study investigates the correlation between AI tools usage, and research output among Moroccan novice researchers, with the focus on information retrieval as a mediating variable. The study employs a quantitative approach and a cross-sectional correlational research design to examine the relationships between three variables. In this respect, five hypotheses were tested to demonstrate the relationships between the aforementioned variables. Based on data collected from 204 novice researchers across various disciplines, our findings indicate a significant positive relationship between AI tools usage and research output. Moreover, the results demonstrate a partial mediating effect of information retrieval in the nexus between AI tools usage and research output. The novelty of this study lies in addressing the mediating effect of information retrieval since no previous studies have tackled the relationship between the three variables in question. Therefore, a number of theoretical and practical implications were suggested.