A prompt is an input to an AI tool. For research AI tools, the prompt is almost always a question, request, or topic posed by you, the human researcher.
Well-designed prompts are CLEAR – a framework developed by Leo Lo, a librarian and professor at the University of New Mexico (3).
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Concise Focus on the key words for the AI tool to analyze. Try to omit as many unnecessary words as possible. |
Explain evidence-based strategies to prevent diabetes mellitus type 2. |
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Logical Most AI tools look for relationships between words and concepts, so make sure your query presents concepts accurately and in their natural or logical order. If your question doesn’t make sense to you (or to someone else), it probably won’t make sense to the AI! |
List the steps to conduct a systematic review publication, start with forming a research question and ending with peer reviewing the final manuscript. |
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Explicit Be clear in what you want from the AI. Giving the AI tool clear output directions can help the AI produce an answer that is useful to you. |
Provide a concise overview of a Learning Health System, and two examples of successful Learning Health Systems. |
Even the best prompts may need improvement! The last two components address what to do after you’ve examined the AI’s answer to your initial prompt.
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Adaptive Try a second prompt with keywords or topics suggested by the AI in its answer. If the AI tool has seeding or guidance settings, investigate different settings - do you get better results? If the tool allows you to specify words/concepts to exclude or ignore, can you refine your prompt by excluding concepts? |
Prompt 1: "Discuss the impact of social media on mental health." If the responses from the first prompt are too general, consider a more focused, adaptive prompt as a follow up. Prompt 2: "Examine the relationship between social media usage and anxiety in adolescents." |
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Reflective Always take a moment to reflect on the AI’s answer. Does it make intuitive sense to you? Does the answer refer to current research (if important for your query), or does it seem based on older research? Has the AI “hallucinated” or returned inaccurate information? Is the answer complete, or are there perspectives or voices unrepresented in the answer? You may need to craft additional prompts that specifically target gaps in the initial answer. |
After acquiring an AI-generated list of strategies for effective time management, evaluate the relevance and applicability of each strategy. Consider the target audience's needs, and use this information to tailor future prompts to generate content that better addresses specific challenges or contexts. |
Georgetown University. Artificial Intelligence (Generative) Resources Guide. Available at: https://guides.library.georgetown.edu/ai/home. Retrieved on March 5, 2025.
Lo, L. S. (2023). The CLEAR path: A framework for enhancing information literacy through prompt engineering. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 49(4), 102720–. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2023.102720
Strunk, W. & White, E.B. (2005). The Elements of Style. Penguin. (Original work published 1979)
University of Calgary. Artificial Intelligence Guide. Available at: https://libguides.ucalgary.ca/c.php?g=733971&p=5278498. Retrieved on March 3, 2025.