ResearchRabbit is a powerful literature search tool that helps you find the most relevant papers for your research topic quickly. Whether you’re starting from scratch or building on a library you already have, here’s how to use ResearchRabbit to dive into the literature faster.
In this guide we'll go through:
How is search in ResearchRabbit different to normal search engines?
In ResearchRabbit, searches grow!
You'll start with a small amount of "seed" articles, and select any useful results you find. ResearchRabbit uses what you've selected to learn, improving the quality of its recommendations, and creating a powerful "iterative" search process.
💡 ResearchRabbit's recommendations aren't just based on topic or keywords, but also connection.
How to start searching with ResearchRabbit
There are a few ways to start a new search in ResearchRabbit. If you're new, the easiest ways get started are using Keywords/DOIs, Searching from a Collection, or Importing from a File.
Starting a Search using Keywords
The easiest way to get started – just type into the search box like you would any other search engine!
Type keywords of articles you'd like to find and hit Enter. You'll be taken to a results page.
Select articles that are relevant. These will be used as seed articles in the search.
Click search in the bottom-right corner.
You're in a new search! Notice that the articles you selected are now "seeds": ResearchRabbit will find articles that are related to them.
Starting a Search using DOIs
A great way to get started is by entering the DOI of your favourite article. You'll use this as a starting point to grow a search from.
Type the DOI into the search box
Click search. You'll see a popup view of your article.
Click the "Similar" button to start searching for similar articles
You're in a new search! Notice that the article you started with is now a "seed" article: ResearchRabbit will find articles that are related to this seed.
Starting a Search from Collections
A fast and easy way to continue searching for literature is to search from a Collection of articles you've already saved.
Click on the Browse Library dropdown
Choose a Collection to search from
Done! You're in a new search: all of the articles in your Collection have been added as seeds.
Starting a Search by Importing a File
Importing a file is the easiest way to bring your existing research from your Reference Manager into ResearchRabbit. This approach works for all types of reference managers, such as Zotero, Mendeley, and EndNote.
Export a BibTeX file from your reference manager. You may need to look up specific instructions for your reference manager.
Drag and drop the file onto the Search Bar
Select which articles to import. By default everything is selected.
That's it! You'll be taken to a new search, with the selected articles as seeds.
The Anatomy of ResearchRabbit's Search Interface
Here's a quick overview of the different pieces of the ResearchRabbit search interface:
Growing Searches – Where the Magic Happens
Once your search is started, you can start growing your search.
To do this, you should select articles that look interesting. Use the black "tick" buttons to select articles – you'll notice them queuing up in the right-hand column as you select them.
Once you've looked through all of the results, you're ready to move to the next search step.
💡 Tip: If your search results weren't quite what you're after:
Try adding more seed articles
Try removing any seed articles that aren't related to the topic you're searching for
See if the Advanced Search Settings within ResearchRabbit+ could help narrow your search
As long as you've selected at least one article, you can click the Search button in the bottom-right corner to continue.
You'll be taken to a new search step (or "hop", as our team calls them!)
Just like before you'll see a list of results, but this time your selected articles have become seed articles. This is how ResearchRabbit's recommendations improve the deeper you dive.
You can keep growing your search this way as much as you like. If you need to go back at any point, navigate using the controls at the top of the window:
Finishing a Search
It's infamously hard to know when to stop searching. Whether you've set a time limit, reached your collection goal, or it's lunchtime, you can finish a search by clicking the X button in the navigation controls:
Before leaving your search entirely, you get a chance to reflect and what you've found, and save them into your Collections.
When you're done, click the Finish button to return to the Search page, ready to start again! (Once you've had your lunch, of course)
💡 Tip: You don't need to wait until the end of a search to save articles. Use the black "Save To" button to save articles as you go, especially if you know exactly where you want them to go.
