The resources described in the table represent an incomplete list of tools specifically geared towards exploring and synthesizing research. As generative AI becomes more integrated in online search tools, even the very early stages of research and topic development could incorporate AI. If you have any questions about using these tools for your research, please contact a librarian.
AI tools for research can assist you in discovering new sources for your literature review or research assignments. These tools synthesize information from extensive databases of scholarly articles to identify the most relevant studies, helping to save researchers time. However, just like with any research database or search tool, it's essential not to rely on a single tool for all of your research, as doing so may result in missing important information related to your topic of interest.
| AI-Powered Research Tools | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAME | WHAT IT DOES | UNDERLYING DATA | IS IT FREE? | MORE INFORMATION |
| Connected Papers | Like Research Rabbit (see below), Connected Papers focuses on the relationships between research papers to find similar research. You can also use Connected Papers to get a visual overview of an academic field. | Semantic Scholar database | Free with paid subscriptions available. | Connected Papers - About |
| Consensus | Consensus uses large language models (LLMs) to help researchers find and synthesize answers to research questions, focusing on the scholarly authors' findings and claims in each paper. | Semantic Scholar database | Free with paid subscriptions available. | Consensus FAQs |
| Elicit | Elicit uses LLMs to find papers relevant to your topic by searching through papers and citations and extracting and synthesizing key information. | Semantic Scholar database | Free with paid subscriptions available. | Elicit FAQs |
| Keenious | Keenious is a recommendation tool for academic articles and topics based on papers you upload. | Open Alex | Free with paid subscriptions available. | Keenious Help File |
| Research Rabbit | Research Rabbit is a citation-based mapping tool that focuses on the relationships between research works. It uses visualizations to help researchers find similar papers and other researchers in their field. | Open Alex, Semantic Scholar, and other databases | Research Rabbit is currently free. | Research Rabbit FAQs |
| scite | scite has a suite of products that help researchers develop their topics, find papers, and search citations in context (describing whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence) | Many different sources (an incomplete list can be found on this page) | No. See pricing information. | scite FAQs; how scite works |
| Scholarcy | Scholarcy summarizes key points and claims of articles into 'summary cards' that researchers can read, share, and annotate when compiling research on a given topic. | Scholarcy only uses research papers uploaded or linked by the researcher themselves. It works as a way to help you read and summarize your research, but is not a search engine. | Free with paid subscriptions available. | Scholarcy FAQs |
| Semantic Scholar | Semantic Scholar (which supplies underlying data for many of the other tools on this list) provides brief summaries ('TLDR's) of the main objectives and results of papers. | Semantic Scholar database | Semantic Scholar is currently free. | Semantic Scholar FAQs |
| Undermind | An AI research assistant that works with you to refine your research question and find relevant papers. | Semantic Scholar database | Free with paid subscriptions available. | Undermind FAQs (scroll down for FAQs) |
| AI-Powered Large Language Models (LLMs) | ||||
| NAME | WHAT IT DOES | UNDERLYING DATA | IS IT FREE? | MORE INFORMATION |
| ChatGPT | While the AI chatbot ChatGPT is typically thought of as a writing tool, it can be used in the initial idea development phase of research. (Remember to always look up claims and sources to verify their credibility.) |
The LLM is regularly updated. Logged in users can use ChatGPT to search the web. |
There is a free version available. | OpenAI Help Center - ChatGPT |
| Claude | An AI-powered chatbot trained by Anthropic using Constitutional AI to be safe, accurate, and secure. It can be used in developmental stages of research for brainstorming and data analysis. | Publicly available information via the Internet along with licensed data sets. Data is updated regularly with each model version having a different cut-off date. | Free with paid subscriptions available. | Claude FAQ and Help Center |
| Gemini | Designed by Google, Gemini is an AI-powered chatbot that responds to natural language queries with relevant information. As with ChatGPT, researchers can use Gemini to aid in topic development and initial source discovery. | Gemini can currently connect to the Internet. | Free with paid subscriptions available. Personal Google account required to use as GU has not authorized Gemini for georgetown.edu email addresses. | Gemini FAQ |
| Perplexity | Using LLMs, Perplexity is a search engine that provides AI-generated answers, including citations which are linked above the summaries. | Internal search index | Free with paid subscriptions available. | Perplexity FAQ |