Final year project season is stressful. Choosing a topic, writing your literature review, structuring your methodology, and formatting references correctly, the workload can feel overwhelming. While ChatGPT is a popular AI tool for students, it isn’t always the best option for academic research.

Some AI tools are specifically built for research, academic writing, and citation management, and they can make your final year project easier and more structured.

Here are five AI tools that may be better than ChatGPT for writing your final year project, depending on what you need.

If your biggest struggle is finding credible sources, Perplexity AI is a strong option. Unlike ChatGPT, which may generate answers without showing clear citations unless prompted carefully, Perplexity AI automatically provides linked sources for its responses.

• You can quickly identify academic sources.

• It reduces the risk of fabricated citations.

• It helps you trace information back to original publications.

• It speeds up your literature review process.

For students writing research-heavy projects, especially in social sciences or business, having visible references saves time and improves credibility.

Elicit AI is built specifically for academic research. It helps you find relevant research papers and summarises them in a structured format. Instead of manually reading 20 PDFs, you can extract key insights faster.

• It helps you compare research papers side by side.

• It identifies research gaps.

• It summarises key findings clearly.

• It improves the quality of your literature review.

For final year students, the literature review is often the most time-consuming section. Elicit helps you organise it logically and academically.

Jenni AI is built specifically for academic writing. Unlike general AI chat tools, Jenni is designed to help students write research papers, essays, and dissertations in a structured academic tone. It continues your sentences logically while keeping your argument organised.

It also supports in-text citations as you write, making it easier to structure references properly.

Jenni AI is trusted by students and researchers from leading institutions, including Oxford, Stanford, and the University of Pennsylvania, which adds to its credibility in academic environments.

• It maintains formal academic language.

• It reduces writer’s block.

• It helps structure arguments clearly.

• It supports citation insertion while drafting.

• It aligns better with university writing standards.

If ChatGPT sometimes sounds too conversational or generic, Jenni AI may feel more aligned with what supervisors expect in a final year project.

Scite goes beyond just giving you papers, it shows how research papers are cited. It tells you whether a study has been supported or contradicted by other research.

• It helps you avoid weak or disputed sources.

• It strengthens your academic argument.

• It improves the quality of your references.

• It adds depth to your analysis.

For students aiming for high grades, using strong, well-supported research makes a difference.

One of the hardest parts of writing a final year project is finding all the relevant studies around your topic.

Research Rabbit helps you visually explore research networks. Instead of manually searching for papers one by one, it shows you connected studies, related authors, and citation relationships. Think of it as a smart research map.

• It helps you discover hidden but relevant papers.

• It expands your literature review depth.

• It shows how studies connect to each other.

• It prevents you from relying on only surface-level sources.

For students aiming for higher grades, a strong literature review isn’t just about listing studies, it’s about understanding how they relate. Research Rabbit makes that process easier and more strategic.

It’s not a yes or no answer. But That is not to say ChatGPT is not useful, it is still a powerful tool for:

• Brainstorming topics

• Explaining complex concepts

• Generating outlines

• Simplifying difficult ideas

However, for academic research, citation accuracy, and structured literature reviews, specialised AI research tools often perform better.

The smartest approach is not replacing ChatGPT, but combining it with research-focused AI tools.

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AI tools should assist your thinking, not replace it. Your final year project is assessed on:

• Original analysis

• Critical thinking

• Proper citations

• Clear methodology

Always verify sources, follow your university’s guidelines, and avoid submitting AI-generated content without proper editing.