{"id":10549,"date":"2026-01-22T10:30:26","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T15:30:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/?page_id=10549"},"modified":"2026-01-22T10:30:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T15:30:26","slug":"ai-based-library-research-tools","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/digital-scholarship\/ai-resource-center\/ai-based-library-research-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"AI-Based Library Research Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are many AI-based tools under constant development that can help you locate, understand, and\/or summarize research literature. A non-exhaustive list would include: Semantic Scholar<\/a>, Elicit<\/a>, Research Rabbit<\/a>, Perplexity<\/a>, Consensus<\/a>, and Scite.<\/a> They vary in the types of sources they index and the format of their search results, but they commonly attempt to summarize and distill large and complex amounts of information for you.<\/p>\n

They each have their pros and cons, but can they replace JSTOR or your favorite library database? Not yet. Here are a few tools to look at more closely \u2013 they all draw on Semantic Scholar\u2019s corpus of sources, but they present content in very different ways.<\/p>\n

Semantic Scholar<\/a>: In existence for a few years already, Semantic Scholar partners with publishers in STEM and social sciences to access scholarly content. When you type in a search, the results will look similar to Google Scholar, with the exception of the TLDR article summary. Click \u201cExpand\u201d at the end of the summary and you can read the article\u2019s abstract. If you click on the article title you can follow the citation network for the paper: its references, citations, and \u201crelated papers.\u201d The drawback appears to be its search algorithm, which does not always understand your search string or question. Nevertheless, you can potentially discover different sources than if you use Google Scholar alone.<\/p>\n

Elicit<\/a>: Elicit borrows Semantic Scholar\u2019s corpus of literature and puts an entirely different user interface and searching algorithm on top of it.\u00a0 Elicit built a strong user following on its model involving the \u201cTop 4\u201d papers and a TLDR summary.\u00a0 But as of Fall 2025 Elicit now generates a detailed, synthesized report for you, which can take several minutes.\u00a0 The report includes an abstract and detailed analyses of each of the sources used for the report.<\/p>\n

Research Rabbit<\/a>: Research Rabbit also borrows content from Semantic Scholar<\/a>. It is primarily a citation mapper, rather than a search engine, and works best if you \u201cfeed\u201d it a few papers first. For this task, it can sync with Zotero and upload collections or folders. From there, explore references, citations, and \u201csimilar work.\u201d Confirmation bias is a risk, of course, but nevertheless and it can be revealing to \u201cgo down a rabbit hole,\u201d as it were, as you uncover the scholarly communication thread.<\/p>\n

Overall, literature research stands to greatly benefit from AI-based tools, especially when you are navigating citation networks, uncovering buried sources, and exploring research topics. But don\u2019t remove your JSTOR bookmark yet.<\/p>\n

[Updated 10\/8\/2025]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are many AI-based tools under constant development that can help you locate, understand, and\/or summarize research literature. A non-exhaustive list would include: Semantic Scholar, Elicit, Research Rabbit, Perplexity, Consensus, and Scite. They vary in the types of sources they index and the format of their search results, but they commonly attempt to summarize and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161,"featured_media":0,"parent":10397,"menu_order":8,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10549","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAI-Based Library Research Tools - Library & Information Technology Services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/digital-scholarship\/ai-resource-center\/ai-based-library-research-tools\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AI-Based Library Research Tools\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"There are many AI-based tools under constant development that can help you locate, understand, and\/or summarize research literature. A non-exhaustive list would include: Semantic Scholar, Elicit, Research Rabbit, Perplexity, Consensus, and Scite. They vary in the types of sources they index and the format of their search results, but they commonly attempt to summarize and […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/digital-scholarship\/ai-resource-center\/ai-based-library-research-tools\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Library & Information Technology Services\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/digital-scholarship\/ai-resource-center\/ai-based-library-research-tools\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/digital-scholarship\/ai-resource-center\/ai-based-library-research-tools\/\",\"name\":\"AI-Based Library Research Tools - Library & Information Technology Services\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-22T15:30:26+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/digital-scholarship\/ai-resource-center\/ai-based-library-research-tools\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/digital-scholarship\/ai-resource-center\/ai-based-library-research-tools\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/digital-scholarship\/ai-resource-center\/ai-based-library-research-tools\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Digital Learning & Scholarship\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/digital-scholarship\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"AI Resource Center\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/digital-scholarship\/ai-resource-center\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"AI-Based Library Research Tools\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/\",\"name\":\"Library & Information Technology Services\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"AI-Based Library Research Tools - Library & Information Technology Services","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/digital-scholarship\/ai-resource-center\/ai-based-library-research-tools\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"AI-Based Library Research Tools","og_description":"There are many AI-based tools under constant development that can help you locate, understand, and\/or summarize research literature. A non-exhaustive list would include: Semantic Scholar, Elicit, Research Rabbit, Perplexity, Consensus, and Scite. They vary in the types of sources they index and the format of their search results, but they commonly attempt to summarize and […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/digital-scholarship\/ai-resource-center\/ai-based-library-research-tools\/","og_site_name":"Library & Information Technology Services","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/digital-scholarship\/ai-resource-center\/ai-based-library-research-tools\/","url":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/digital-scholarship\/ai-resource-center\/ai-based-library-research-tools\/","name":"AI-Based Library Research Tools - Library & Information Technology Services","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-01-22T15:30:26+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/digital-scholarship\/ai-resource-center\/ai-based-library-research-tools\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/digital-scholarship\/ai-resource-center\/ai-based-library-research-tools\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/digital-scholarship\/ai-resource-center\/ai-based-library-research-tools\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Digital Learning & Scholarship","item":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/digital-scholarship\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"AI Resource Center","item":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/digital-scholarship\/ai-resource-center\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"AI-Based Library Research Tools"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/","name":"Library & Information Technology Services","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10549\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.trincoll.edu\/lits\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}