Where do we start?
As you embark on your research journey, whether for a class paper, a senior thesis, or an independent project, navigating the vast sea of scholarly publications can feel overwhelming. Identifying the most relevant and impactful research often involves tedious citation chaining and sifting through mountains of potentially irrelevant articles. My name is Dennis Donathan and as a STEM Librarian, I recognize the challenges of research. I am excited to introduce you to a valuable tool that can make your research process more efficient: ResearchRabbit.
ResearchRabbit is a free online platform that utilizes citation analysis powered by artificial intelligence (AI). ResearchRabbit offers two options for getting started with your research.
- You can choose to search for articles to add to a collection – articles known to be relevant to your research topic. This is a good option if you already have a strong starting point for your research.
- Alternatively, if you’ve already compiled a collection of potentially relevant articles using the reference manager Zotero, you can directly import your entire collection into ResearchRabbit.
Example Network Graph showcasing visualization of citation networks for papers within a collection.
Once your research is imported, ResearchRabbit analyzes the citations within each article, generating a network graph that displays earlier works, like papers or studies, that informed the research, subsequent publications that built upon it, and even thematically similar articles from different avenues. This comprehensive overview allows you to efficiently identify the core body of scholarship surrounding your topic.
Strengths
The strength of ResearchRabbit lies in its ability to reveal both established and emerging research. You’ll find foundational texts that provide a strong grounding in your field alongside recent publications that explore the latest advancements. This ensures your research stays current and incorporates the newest perspectives on your chosen subject.
One of the most exciting parts of this tool is that it facilitates a more holistic approach to scholarly exploration. By analyzing connections between seemingly unrelated articles, it can reveal unexpected intersections and interdisciplinary bridges. This can be particularly valuable for researchers working in fields that draw upon multiple disciplines.
Remember
While ResearchRabbit is a powerful tool, it’s important to remember it serves as a supplement, not a replacement for traditional library database searches. ResearchRabbit can significantly enhance your exploration by providing a focused and curated selection of articles, but you still have some research to do. This tool allows you to spend less time wading through potentially irrelevant material and more time critically analyzing the most pertinent research.
At Coates Library, we are committed to providing our students with the resources they need to succeed in their research endeavors. If you’re looking to streamline your research workflow and ensure you’re working with the most up-to-date and impactful scholarship, ResearchRabbit is a valuable tool worth exploring.
Play around!
If you’d like to just hop in and start playing with the features, you can use this link to use a demonstration collection that I’ve made. No account needed to do a little exploring!
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