Research can feel overwhelming. Thousands of papers, endless references, and the constant worry of missing something important. ResearchRabbit was built to help you find and organize all the literature you need for your review in a faster, smarter, and more intuitive way.
At the heart of ResearchRabbit is the citation network: the way research papers connect to one another through references and citations. Instead of just showing you isolated results, ResearchRabbit helps you see and explore how papers are linked across time, topics, and ideas.
📖 The magic behind ResearchRabbit: the citation network
Traditional search tools give you a static list of results. But research is never just a list, it’s a conversation. Each paper builds on earlier work and inspires new discoveries.
That’s where ResearchRabbit shines. By following citation trails, who a paper cites, and who cites it in turn, you can uncover the full landscape of literature in your field. This is what we call the citation network.
What's the citation network?
Imagine each dot in the image below is a paper, and lines how how each one cites the others. Paper A cites paper B, and paper B cites many other papers in turn. All published work is connected in this way, in a large interconnected citation network.
This network helps you:
Trace the origins of ideas (earlier work).
See how research has evolved over time (later work).
Spot clusters of related studies.
Quickly identify influential or emerging papers.
🚀 How to use ResearchRabbit
Let’s walk through the steps of getting started with ResearchRabbit to explore research literature.
1. Start a new search
First, login or sign up for free on the ResearchRabbit app.
Then, use the search bar on the homepage to enter your research topic or keywords.
Already know some relevant papers? Great! You can search for them or even import them directly into ResearchRabbit.
2. Review the initial results
ResearchRabbit will return a list of papers related to your topic from our database of 270 million articles. Take a moment to skim the titles, dates, and citation counts. You'll want to select 1 - 3 relevant papers to use as a seed for the next step. These seed papers are the entry point into the citation network, which you're about to jump into!
💡 Tip: Choosing at least one well-cited, recent paper is a good place to start.
3. Click "Next"
Here’s where the fun begins. Once you’ve selected your paper(s), click "Next". Now, ResearchRabbit will build a network of related papers on your topic. This isn’t just finding similar work, it's finding relevant work based on how papers are connected through citations and references.
4. Explore the visualization
Now you’ll see the citation network visualization:
Hollow dots = the paper(s) you selected.
Seed dots = recommended related papers.
Connections (lines) = citation links between papers.
X-axis = timeline (older to newer papers).
Y-axis = influence (citation count).
You can explore this visual literature map to review the relevant papers and see how they all connect. It's easy to use the visualization to spot:
Seminal papers in your area.
Recent cutting-edge research.
How clusters of studies form around subtopics.
5. Review paper recommendations
On the left-hand side, you’ll see the same papers in a list. Each entry includes:
Title
Authors
Journal
Date
Abstract
This lets you dig deeper and decide which papers to read or save for your literature review.
💡 Tip: When you find a good paper, save it into a collection to stay organized.
Next steps
With ResearchRabbit, you’re not just searching, you’re exploring a living map of research.
But, this is really just the beginning! You can use ResearchRabbit to:
Keep iterating: save a new paper, add it to your search, and expand again. This helps you get a comprehensive search on your topic!
Organize your discoveries into collections, by saving papers as you go.
Use built-in notes to track insights (located in the article details).
Export your saved papers for easy citation when you start writing.
👉 Whether you’re starting your first class assignment or continuing a multi-year research project, ResearchRabbit helps you see the bigger picture, find key papers, and manage your entire literature review with ease.