Abstract

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping scholarly communication by influencing information discovery, academic writing, research support, and scholarly publishing. While these technologies offer significant opportunities to improve research productivity, knowledge synthesis, and library services, they also introduce complex challenges relating to academic integrity, authorship, plagiarism, copyright, and ethical use. As key stakeholders in the scholarly communication ecosystem, academic libraries are increasingly expected to guide researchers in the responsible adoption of generative AI while adapting their own services to support AI-enabled research workflows. This paper examines the applications of generative AI across the scholarly communication lifecycle and discusses the emerging roles and strategic responsibilities of academic libraries. Using a narrative review of literature, the study explores the application of generative AI in information literacy, digital literacy, academic writing, research support, and library productivity. It further analyses the ethical, legal, and operational challenges associated with AI-assisted scholarly communication, including issues of authorship, plagiarism, copyright, and research integrity. Based on the synthesis of the literature, the paper argues that academic libraries must expand their traditional roles by promoting AI literacy, strengthening information literacy programmes, developing institutional guidelines, supporting ethical AI use, and facilitating responsible scholarly communication. The study concludes that generative AI should be viewed as a complementary technology that supports professional expertise. By integrating technological innovation with ethical stewardship, libraries can play an important role in ensuring that generative AI contributes to trustworthy, transparent, and responsible scholarly communication.