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AI in information retrieval

AI tools for information retrieval

Semantic Scholar (https://www.semanticscholar.org/)

  • A free search engine focusing on scientific publications that allows users to search and explore scientific articles in various fields. The service does not require registration, but offers more services and tools for registered users. Semantic Scholar is a useful tool for searching and exploring scientific publications and aims to facilitate academic research and knowledge discovery.
  • You can search using authors' names, article titles or subject words  
  • Search results include scientific articles, conference papers, preprints and other academic publications.
  • For more information, select a specific search result to read the abstract, view the keywords of the article and see in which journal or conference the article was published.
  • It also tells you about the citations and links to other scientific literature the article has received. This helps you to find more publications on the subject and to follow the scientific debate.
  • To read the full text of an article, you may need to search for the article in your institution's Primo (as a logged-in user).  
  • Semantic Scholar also emphasises interdisciplinarity, so you can find research from many different fields and see how they relate to each other.
  • You can also create your own research profile, making your research visible to the rest of the scientific community.
     
Keenious (https://keenious.com/
  • Keenious allows you to search for similar or related articles, either by article or by other text. The AI analyses the downloaded article, a link to the article, a selected passage from the article or a written text and recommends similar or related content. Keenious works either in a web browser or using a Microsoft Word or Google Docs plug-in.
  • Keenious works without a login, but your account allows you to save search results and export them to reference management software
  • The Keenious tool does not work by inventing search terms, but by analysing the article or the text you have written, and the search is based on this analysis by artificial intelligence. Keenious can be used to  
    • find ideas or concepts for an essay or other exercises
    • complete a bibliography on a related topic
    • identify key research and researchers in a topic or discipline 
    • making interdisciplinarity visible 
    • finding articles or books like the original source
       
Elicit (https://elicit.com/)
  • Searches and summarises scientific articles based on a given research question or article. 
  • The research question is answered by a summary of the four most relevant articles on the topic and a list of the seven most relevant articles. The search results can be sorted, for example, by most cited and filtered, for example, by entering the required keywords found in the abstract. You can also specify what additional information you need about the sources (study design, duration of the study, funding, sample size, etc.).
  • Provides full texts of articles and allows the applicant to limit his search to those for which a PDF file is available
  • The service is free of charge but requires registration.

Litmaps (https://www.litmaps.com/)
  • Search by keywords or by author name. For example, a DOI address can also be used as a search element.
  • The search results will return one article, or "seed article", at a time. "Source" provides additional information and the full text can be accessed if you have the rights.
  • An interesting additional information about the opened article is the publication cloud with the sources of the article and their sources and on the other side more recent publications referring to the article. These will help you to move forward in the topic. The image also illustrates how science is built on existing knowledge and the importance of a single article as a source for other publications.
     
Research Rabbit (https://www.researchrabbit.ai/)
  • free, but requires registration
  • Visualize papers, discover author networks, create collections   
  • Search for information based on an existing article or self-selected keywords
  • Lists sources, but does not give numbers or sorting options other than at a very coarse discipline level (Biomedical and life sciences or All subject areas)
  • For further examination, articles must be exported to a collection.
  • The selected article provides additional information on content, authors and sources. The sources form a cloud similar to Litmaps, but with referenced sources.
  • Article data can be exported to reference management systems.

 

Consensus App (https://consensus.app/)
  • requires registration, free account 5000 credits, additional credits are subject to a fee   
  • ask a research question, the app displays a summary gathered from scientific articles and it will also provide article recommendations
  • the app also provides a snapshot of the recommended articles that include: population, sample size,  methods & outcomes
  • you can also ask a yes/no question, the consensus meter will show how many articles answered yes, no, and maybe

 

Please note that access to full text articles is via your own organizations Primo -  LUT Primo or LAB Primo

The following guides have been used as a basis for this guide: 

University of Helsinki Library. 2023. Keenious search tool. Cited 10.11.2023. Available at https://libraryguides.helsinki.fi/keenious/en . 

Tampere University Library. 2023. Information Searching Guide: Information searching and AI. Cited 10.11.2023. Available at https://libguides.tuni.fi/information-searching-guide/information-searching-ai