Human reviewers in an AI era

Abstract

This chapter presents a methodological reflection on a large-scale meta-review commissioned by the British Association for Applied Linguistics. Drawing on reflections from an early-career researcher perspective, we discussed the interplay between human reviewers and AI-supported tools in research synthesis in Applied Linguistics. The chapter is organised around four themes: methodological robustness, workflow design, collaboration, and researcher development, with a particular focus on the role of human reviewers and AI-assisted tools and platforms in supporting these aspects. Specifically, we reflected on how automatic tools enhanced efficiency of our work and methodological rigour of the meta-review, while human judgement remained central to meaning-making and decision-making.