ResearchRabbit is approved for academic use. 

It is freely available at https://researchrabbitapp.com/ (free personal account creation required).

What is ResearchRabbit?

ResearchRabbit is a tool that helps researchers (i.e., faculty, students, and staff) find relevant papers and stay updated with the latest research. It allows users to create collections of papers, similar to playlists in Spotify, and learns from their preferences to provide personalized recommendations. Its key feature is a citation-based literature mapping tool to visualize the connections between papers and discover author networks. ResearchRabbit uses AI to learn your preferences and provide recommendations.

For more information on what GenAI is and how it can be used to support teaching and learning, see the GenAI overview.

What is the purpose of ResearchRabbit?

ResearchRabbit is a tool that helps faculty, students, and staff find and organize relevant journal articles and research papers for their projects and studies. It has the following purposes:

  • To save time and effort in searching for papers across different sources and databases.
  • To discover new and related papers based on user preferences and citation networks.
  • To visualize the connections and patterns between papers and authors using a literature mapping tool.
  • To share and collaborate with others on collections of papers, similar to playlists in Spotify.
  • To stay updated with the latest research in their fields of interest.

Not what you’re looking for?

Why use ResearchRabbit?

  • To find relevant papers for your research topics and interests.
  • To discover new and related papers based on your preferences and citations.
  • To visualize the connections and patterns between papers and authors.
  • To share and collaborate with others on collections of papers.
  • To stay updated with the latest research in your fields of interest.
  • It is free to use (requires you to create a free personal account).
  • It has been reviewed and approved by the University of Saskatchewan's ICT and the Privacy Office.

Learning Technology Ecosystem (LTE) Principles

ResearchRabbit most directly address these LTE goals:

Efficient and easy to use - Learners need to work in a system that is fluid and requires a minimum number of steps in systems that are intuitive and integrated. 

Designed to enable connection - Learners exist in accessible networks, and connect to the experiences, concepts, people, and ideas that they need.

Best Practices

DO

DON'T

Start by creating relevant Collection titles that reflect your topics of interest. 

Don't keep papers in your Collection that you identify as irrelevant as this impacts the suggestions you receive.

Collaborate with friends and colleagues by sharing your Collection.

  Don’t put all papers in one Collection. Identify relevant topics that you can curate as various Collections within separate Categories.

Read the papers in your Collection and add your own comments that outline why the paper is relevant for you.

  Don’t rely on ResearchRabbit to find quotes or to write papers for you.

Choose a paper in your Collection, then click on Similar Work to find more papers that may be of interest.

  Don’t forget to download and save the article .pdf files to your computer.

Explore papers networked in Similar Work to find and curate related papers that can add to your learning and grow your Collection.

 Create new Categories to group together similar or connected Collections. For example, a GenAI category may have the following Collections: GenAI in Higher Ed, GenAI in the Workplace, and GenAI Tools.  

 Refer back to your Collection regularly to see if there are any new papers added that have been added to Similar Work.

Support for ResearchRabbit

Technical Support

(Why isn't this working?)

Vendor Supported 

Training Support

(How do I learn to use this tool?)

Vendor Supported 

Teaching Support

(How do I teach with this tool?)

Not Supported

Tool Evaluation

Technologies are evaluated based on their alignment with the Learning Technologies Ecosystem Principles.  Click to see explanations of each principle and a justification of the rating. You can also view a complete blank rubric to see more details or read about the assessment process.

Learning must be found easily at any time, and all learners and teachers have equitable access, regardless of culture, language, ability etc. 
More Information

Rating: Moderate concerns

  • Accessibility standards:
    • Insufficient information is available on the accessibility features of ResearchRabbit.

  • Cost of use for USask students:
    • All aspects of the tool can be used free of charge.
    • Requires typical equipment that students and instructors are likely to have access to.

  • Platform/device:
    • Users can effectively utilize the tool with any standard, up-to-date device and/or browser. 

  • Offline Access:
    • Cannot be used offline.

Learning is a process of meaning-making, constructed through learning with others, and as a part of an intentional, deliberate system within a course and across experiences.
More Information

Rating: Works well

  • Collaboration:
    • ResearchRabbit is designed to support both asynchronous and synchronous opportunities for communication, interactivity, and transfer of meaning between users.

  • Sharing:
    • Users are able to share learning, including publicly, to limited viewers. Users can also keep their collections private. 

Learning is refined and extended through prompted and supported opportunities to focus on understanding and next steps.
More Information

Rating: Works well

  • Reflection and revision:
    • ResearchRabbit is designed to allow annotations and commenting as part of its core functionality. 
    • ResearchRabbit has the capacity for versioning and/or changes over time by duplicating the users’ collection.

Learning is most effective when systems are designed to help learners find, create, and/or repurpose significant content for the value of themselves and others.
More Information

Rating: Moderate concerns

  • Creating:
    • ResearchRabbit is designed for easy curation of consumable content. 

  • File format:
    • Exports in common file formats allow for content to be easily shared.

Learners create and control spaces for learning, understanding and retaining ownership, and purposefully choosing how and when they share.
More Information

Rating: Moderate concerns

  • Archiving, saving, and exporting data:
    • Users can archive, save, or import and export content in a variety of formats. 
    • The import is limited to 50 papers. Adding a few papers at a time is encouraged. 

  • Data privacy and ownership:
    • Users maintain ownership and copyright of their intellectual property/data. 
    • ResearchRabbit respects the intellectual property rights of others and will follow up on any notifications on infringement of a users’s copyright. 

  • Sign Up/Sign In:
    • Users are required to provide personal information to set up an account. 

  • Customization:
    • ResearchRabbit is mostly the same regardless of context and offers few options. 

Learners need to work in a system that is fluid and requires a minimum number of steps in systems that are intuitive and integrated.
More Information

Rating: Works well

  • Interface:
    • ResearchRabbit has a user-friendly interface, and it is easy for instructors and students to become skillful and personalize the tool. 

  • Additional Downloads:
    • Students do not need to download additional software or browser extensions.  

  • Functionality:
    • ResearchRabbit is designed to offer all the key functions associated with its purpose effectively. No mobile app is available. 

Learners exist in accessible networks, and connect to the experiences, concepts, people, and ideas that they need.
More Information

Rating: Moderate concerns

  • Scale:
    • ResearchRabbit can be scaled to accommodate any size class with the flexibility to create smaller sub-groups or communities of practice.

  • Flexibility of Media:
    • n/a

  • Engagement:
    • n/a

Learning and feedback are iterative, and assessment comes from multiple sources, including self, peers, teachers, and outside experts.
More Information

Rating: Moderate concerns

  • Feedback:
    • Feedback is possible but very limited to general locations or overall comments. 

  • Engagement:
    • ResearchRabbit offers some ways to support active learning, or instructor monitoring learning.