Nov 26, 2021 · This reading app for research papers covers all major disciplines in the arts and sciences. R Discovery offers customized research reading, that is, once you set up your areas of interest, the app for research papers finds the top 3 reads and presents them in the form of a daily feed for you. ... Search: Find the best papers. Purpose-built academic & vector search functionality. Consensus utilizes important factors like study design, sample size, population details, and more to rank the best research higher. ... R Discovery is the best AI academic research reading app and AI literature search tool with the largest scholarly content repository. Access 250M+ research papers, 40 M+ open access free research papers, 8M+ research summaries and highlights, 3M+ pre-prints, 32K+ journals, and 9.5M research topics. ... Find papers they couldn’t find elsewhere; Automate systematic reviews and meta-analyses; Learn about a new domain; Elicit tends to work best for empirical domains that involve experiments and concrete results. This type of research is common in biomedicine and machine learning. ... Feb 1, 2024 · R Discovery: Academic Research. R Discovery is a free app that empowers researchers to save time wading through a sea of academic research papers by finding the articles that are most relevant to your work and delivering them to you each day. It curates over 96 million research articles which includes over 24 million open access articles. ... Apr 24, 2024 · It’s academic search engine dedicated to open access research papers. Pros: Focused on open access research papers. Links to full text PDF or complete text web page are supplied for each search result. Export formats include BibTeX, Endnote, RefWorks, Zotero. Cons: Coverage is limited to open access research papers. ... Ask for Papers is the largest database of essays, term papers, research papers and theses. With this app you will have unlimited access to them. It includes over 100 different subjects and lets you save your favorites papers to read them later. ... Jun 6, 2024 · Its user-friendly interface makes navigating millions of research papers simple for both beginners and experienced researchers. Scispace Key Features. Massive Academic Database: Search over 300 million scholarly articles. Advanced Search & Filters: Find relevant papers by author, citation count, and more. ... Mar 1, 2023 · An AI-powered app for researchers, R Discovery boasts of an expanding library of research content that includes over 100 million research papers across 9.5 million topics and more than 32,000 journals worldwide. ... ">

AI Search Engine for Research

Find & understand the best science, faster.

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See how it works

Used by researchers at the world’s top institutes

Why Consensus?

Consensus responsibly uses AI to help you conduct research faster.

Extensive research coverage

Search through over 200M research papers across every domain of science & academia.

apps to find research papers

Time-saving AI insights

Gain insight faster with our Pro Analysis and Consensus Meter. We leverage both OpenAI & custom LLMs.

apps to find research papers

Find the most relevant papers

Our proprietary academic search tools & filters help you find the most relevant and reliable research papers, faster.

apps to find research papers

Results connected to science

Everything we show in our product is cited. You're always only one click away from the underlying research paper.

apps to find research papers

Who Consensus helps most...

Whether you’re conducting a systematic review or just fact-checking a friend, if you need insights from the literature, Consensus is for you.

Students & researchers

Streamline your literature review process. Quickly see the direction of current findings, and surface the best papers.

Science organizations

Quickly check ingredients, chemicals, or molecules. Understand mechanisms of action, and stay up to date with new research.

Clinicians & doctors

Get answers to patients’ questions that you can trust, share information they can digest, and easily cite your references.

Universities & schools

Students & researchers at over 5,000 universities worldwide search with Consensus. We partner with libraries, higher learning institutes, and universities.

Writers & journalists

Source evidence-based insights on your topic, understand connected fields, and see related suggested searches.

Health & fitness experts

Easily check out the science regarding supplement safety, diet types, and exercise science outcomes.

2,000,000 +

Researchers, students, doctors, professionals, and evidence-based humans choose Consensus.

apps to find research papers

"It's not every day I find a tool that truly helps with my work. Consensus blew me away when I started using it, I was learning things I had never encountered before. This is an AI product that isn't hype."

apps to find research papers

"I can make sense of what’s out there a lot faster with Consensus. I jump into different topics with the summary & Pro before diving deeper. The interface makes it so easy to review individual papers and see what they’re about."

apps to find research papers

"No more endless scrolling and scanning research papers. Simply ask a question and Consensus gives you AI-powered summaries of the top 5-10 articles"

apps to find research papers

Consensus has been featured in

Consensus vs ChatGPT

ChatGPT predicts the most likely language that should follow. Consensus helps you find & understand the best science, faster.

Results directly connected to scientific papers

apps to find research papers

Fully machine-generated, prone to hallucinations

apps to find research papers

Our time-saving features

apps to find research papers

Consensus Meter

Quickly see the scientific consensus & gain topic context and direction. See exactly which papers were included.

apps to find research papers

Pro Analysis

Simply include in your search - use Pro Analysis to adopt a style, draft content, format, create lists, and more. Read a referenced topic synthesis.

apps to find research papers

Paper-level Insights

We extract key insights and answers. Locate the most helpful papers and digest their insights faster.

apps to find research papers

Search Filters

Filter by sample size, study design, methodology, if the paper is open access, a human or animal study (and many more filters).

apps to find research papers

Quality Indicators

Focus on the best papers - intuitive labels for citations, journal quality, and study type.

apps to find research papers

Study Snapshot

Our Study Snapshot quickly shows key information like Population, Sample size, Methods, etc. - all within the results page.

How we created the ultimate search engine for science

apps to find research papers

Search: Find the best papers

Purpose-built academic & vector search functionality. Consensus utilizes important factors like study design, sample size, population details, and more to rank the best research higher.

apps to find research papers

Dedicated research LLMs

Our proprietary LLMs read research like an expert - we also leverage the best-in-class models from OpenAI. Consensus generates AI insights at both the search and paper level.

What’s new at Consensus

apps to find research papers

New feature: Ask Paper is now in beta!

Get detailed answers from individual research papers. Chat directly with our full-text PDF papers, ask clarifying questions about the methodology, and more.

apps to find research papers

The Consensus Ambassador Program!

Make a short video about Consensus and post it to your social media: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, or LinkedIn. Don’t forget to tag Consensus!

One platform for all researcher needs

AI-powered academic writing assistant

R Discovery

Your #1 AI companion for literature search

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AI tool for graphics, illustrations, and artwork

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Content Type

R discovery prime, audio papers, ask r discovery.

Translation

Collaboration

#1 AI tool for literature search

Sample searches:.

Cancer Research , Artificial Intelligence , Nature , The Cell , What are the effects of climate change?

More than 5000 papers added everyday

If a paper is published, it’s here!

Journal Articles

Open Access Papers

Conference Docs

Universities & Institutions

  • 7.5M+ Patents
  • 8M+ Summaries & Highlights

25+ Partners

The best of the best in publishing and technology, save 70% of your wasted search time with r discovery, personalized feed.

Get access to a feed of top research papers tailored to your specific interests and stay updated with the most relevant and new papers.

Personalize mobile

  • Read & Listen to research papers text & audio simultaneously
  • Listen to full text papers and audio summaries in your native language
  • Listen to audio playlist of most cited papers

Audio feature image

Understand complex research faster! Ask anything and get answers backed by citations from over 250 Million research papers.

Ask R Discovery

Paper Translations

Don’t let language be a barrier in your research! Choose from 30+ languages to read research papers on R Discovery

Paper Translations

93% positive feedback on R Discovery’s Recommended Papers

Researchers r discovery.

It helps the individual to save time searching for literature and also have ample time to read and make your notes.

Josephine Sarfo

It's a great for scholars who are enthusiastic in research and this app keeps me updated everytime based on the domain I choose which is very easy to continue my exploring in research. This app is soo helpful for me. It's a great app

Priyanka Gundu

It keeps me updated with the latest trends in the desired fields of research. Nothing better than this. Incredible APP for researchers!

I'm glad I stumbled upon this product. It has been really easy sailing through the tiring part of searching and filtering through an overwhelming number of publications with R Discovery. Simply Love it!

Gayatri Prasanth

Incredibly well thought out app. Makes scanning through multiple research articles a breeze. The concept search feature takes a lot of the guesswork out of the equation.Highly recommend i t!

Rads Sharma

Amazing app for independent research, whether casual or in depth! Plenty of tags to keep to what's relevant or even explore other topics. I also appreciate getting papers from around the world in different languages

Richard Solace

I receive subject notifications daily of the most up to date research in my field. I can save my own library of research papers to refer to later.

Sandy Comber

The choice of researchers across subject areas, research collections.

Curated by our properitary discoveryCurate™ AI algorithm

Discovery for Publishers

Climate Justice

Discovery for Publishers

Covid-19 Research

Discovery for Publishers

Sustainable Development Goals

Discovery for Publishers

Medical Specialties

Save time & elevate your productivity with r discovery prime.

Listen to audio papers, ask questions using our AI tool, translate papers in your native language and more starting $5/month

Frequently Asked Questions About R Discovery

Who can use and benefit from r discovery.

R Discovery is the best app for researchers and students to simplify AI literature search and academic research reading, but it can be used by anyone interested in scholarly pursuits. Say goodbye to information overload and hello to seamless academic research reading with R Discovery, which instantly creates personalized reading feeds based on your interests, so you’re always updated on the latest, most relevant academic research for you!

What content will I find on R Discovery?

R Discovery hosts content from top aggregators like PubMed, PubMed Central, CrossRef, Unpaywall, Open Alex and top academic research publications, including Wiley, Springer Nature, IOP, SAGE, Taylor & Francis, NEJM, Emerald Publishing, BMJ, Karger, Underline.io and more. Elevate your academic research reading experience with access to 250M+ research papers, including 40M+ open access articles, across 32,000 journals as well as 2M+ preprints and 7.5M+ patents.

How can R Discovery help me find relevant academic research papers?

Once you enter your reading preferences, R Discovery’s robust AI algorithm scans its academic research database to identify and prioritize the top reads for you based on your topics of interest. Users can also search by paper title and abstract or find academic research papers on specific topics or from a specific journal. Simply filter by publication type or date, access type, journals, authors, or relevance to fine-tune the academic research results. The best part, R Discovery’s AI learns from past searches and the kind of academic research papers you like on the app to refine its suggestions, ensuring you have the very best academic research reading experience.

What are R Discovery’s best features to support researchers?

R Discovery’s unique features are designed to help you save time and improve your AI literature search and academic research reading! Read free research papers from the most trustworthy global academic research database, cleaned to remove duplication, eliminate ambiguities in journal, publisher, author names, and exclude predatory content. Benefit from our daily research reading recommendations, curated feeds, institutional access to paywalled journal articles, smart summaries, and new research alerts. Redefine your academic research reading with R Discovery Prime, which lets you listen to research on the go, read research in your language, collaborate on shared reading lists, and automatically sync your library with reference managers. It’s all you need and more to take your academic research to the next level.

How can I access R Discovery for my academic research projects?

R Discovery allows you to effortlessly switch between mobile and web depending on your academic research reading habits. Simply register for free and enter your topics of interest to set up your feed and start getting relevant academic research reading recommendations for your research project. Browse online at https://discovery.researcher.life/ or download the free R Discovery app (recommended), which comes with additional app-only Prime features, from Google Play or the App Store.

Is R Discovery free or a paid app/product?

R Discovery is free to install and use for anyone who wants to stay updated and create an impact with their research. Once you download the app for free on your Android or iOS operating system, it only takes a few minutes to register and setup your academic research library. Explore for free or get an R Discovery Prime subscription to unlock unlimited Prime benefits at just undefined/month or undefined/quarter or undefined/year.

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Analyze research papers at superhuman speed

Search for research papers, get one sentence abstract summaries, select relevant papers and search for more like them, extract details from papers into an organized table.

apps to find research papers

Find themes and concepts across many papers

Don't just take our word for it.

apps to find research papers

Tons of features to speed up your research

Upload your own pdfs, orient with a quick summary, view sources for every answer, ask questions to papers, research for the machine intelligence age, pick a plan that's right for you, get in touch, enterprise and institutions, common questions. great answers., how do researchers use elicit.

Over 2 million researchers have used Elicit. Researchers commonly use Elicit to:

  • Speed up literature review
  • Find papers they couldn’t find elsewhere
  • Automate systematic reviews and meta-analyses
  • Learn about a new domain

Elicit tends to work best for empirical domains that involve experiments and concrete results. This type of research is common in biomedicine and machine learning.

What is Elicit not a good fit for?

Elicit does not currently answer questions or surface information that is not written about in an academic paper. It tends to work less well for identifying facts (e.g. "How many cars were sold in Malaysia last year?") and in theoretical or non-empirical domains.

What types of data can Elicit search over?

Elicit searches across 125 million academic papers from the Semantic Scholar corpus, which covers all academic disciplines. When you extract data from papers in Elicit, Elicit will use the full text if available or the abstract if not.

How accurate are the answers in Elicit?

A good rule of thumb is to assume that around 90% of the information you see in Elicit is accurate. While we do our best to increase accuracy without skyrocketing costs, it’s very important for you to check the work in Elicit closely. We try to make this easier for you by identifying all of the sources for information generated with language models.

How can you get in contact with the team?

You can email us at [email protected] or post in our Slack community ! We log and incorporate all user comments, and will do our best to reply to every inquiry as soon as possible.

What happens to papers uploaded to Elicit?

When you upload papers to analyze in Elicit, those papers will remain private to you and will not be shared with anyone else.

How accurate is Elicit?

Training our models on specific tasks, searching over academic papers, making it easy to double-check answers, save time, think more. try elicit for free..

Fourwaves

  • Event Website Publish a modern and mobile friendly event website.
  • Registration & Payments Collect registrations & online payments for your event.
  • Abstract Management Collect and manage all your abstract submissions.
  • Peer Reviews Easily distribute and manage your peer reviews.
  • Conference Program Effortlessly build & publish your event program.
  • Virtual Poster Sessions Host engaging virtual poster sessions.
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Top 11 Apps for Researchers in 2024

Matthieu Chartier, PhD.

Published on 01 Feb 2024

The evolution of new technologies has caused a digital transformation in almost every industry and field of interest, including academia. Technology has changed the way that academics conduct research, document findings, and collaborate with peers. 

Academics can now rely on new avenues of collaboration that didn’t even exist when they launched their careers. Networks like SSRN and Mendeley provide opportunities for researchers to share their work for increased collaboration, and abstract management tools streamline the peer review process required by legitimate academic conferences and journals. 

As this digital transformation accelerates, researchers can now access a vast array of apps aimed at simplifying their workflows and facilitating information sharing. While these apps have the potential to improve the way scientists conduct and share their research, the selection can be overwhelming. 

Based on our experience and extensive research, here are the 11 best apps available for researchers in 2024.

1. Fourwaves 

Fourwaves is a conference management software for researchers. Their free web application allows you to create a complete event website, manage abstract submissions, peer reviews, host virtual poster sessions , manage registrations and more. 

It’s the easiest way to organize scientific events as the tool was crafted with researchers in mind every step of the way. 

Fourwaves can be used not only for in-person events but also for hybrid and virtual conferences . They offer a complete virtual venue to access live streams, chat or call other participants and attend virtual poster sessions.

You can go as far as mass email your attendees, automatically generate your event schedule or even print out your name tags; everything you need for your event is in one place.

Most interesting features:

  • Ready-to-go event website ; all you have to do is enter your event’s content and you’re ready to publish. 
  • Abstract management & Peer review tool ; you can easily collect submissions, review them according to your criterias, email authors and publish your material and the full conference schedule online.
  • Registration and payment management ; attendees can easily register to your event and pay online on your Fourwaves event website. 

All-in-one platform for scientific events

2. R Discovery: Academic Research

R Discovery is a free app that empowers researchers to save time wading through a sea of academic research papers by finding the articles that are most relevant to your work and delivering them to you each day. It curates over 96 million research articles which includes over 24 million open access articles. 

The app is mobile-only, available for download on the Google Play App Store and the Apple App store for mobile use on your Android device, iPhone or iPad. The app scans papers from all major disciplines in the arts and sciences. 

  • As soon as you sign up and submit your areas of interest, R Discovery will serve you the top three related articles in a news feed each day.
  • R Discovery uses AI to learn your reading interests over time and populate your news feed with content increasingly tailored to your specific interests.
  • The app provides export functions for easy integration with reference managers to organize your citations.

R Discovery app features

3. LabArchives  

LabArchives is a web-based application that acts as a digital lab notebook, helping researchers keep their work and notes organized to improve productivity in their labs. Users can access LabArchives to make notes, store images and data, and use the search feature for simple access to all of their material. 

There are also Android and iOS versions of this app available in the Apple App Store and Google Play App Store that allow users to access their digital notebooks from their Android devices, iPhones and iPads and have instant access to all of their data, from anywhere. While there are Premium and Enterprise versions of the platform for more advanced use and collaboration, individuals and small teams can access a free version that still includes unlimited notebooks and 1GB of storage. 

Most interesting features: 

  • Makes it easy to store and share data between your team members, with user-friendly search functions. You can even share DNA sequence files in over 30 formats! 
  • Access information from your desktop or your phone, thanks to the free iOS app for your iPhone or iPad. There is also an Android app available in the Google Play store, but based on reviews it appears that functionality is limited. 
  • Data security that lets you determine file access and sharing limitations, so you know exactly who is viewing your files and when.

Text editor example on LabArchives

Typeset is a web-based application that was created to help researchers write, collaborate, format and submit research papers for publication. Typeset allows you to upload your work to their platform, and use their AI to reformat your research and submissions to meet the publication requirements of various journal and conference organizers. 

Typeset works seamlessly with reference management software like Mendeley, Zotero, Paperpile and more. It allows users to choose from over 45,000 verified journal formats and export your work to Word, LaTex and PDF formats. 

Typeset does not offer mobile apps for Apple or Android devices. There are a variety of subscription levels available with pricing ranging from free to $20 per month. 

  • Editing features that increase the chances of being published.
  • Integrations that enable you to submit research for publication directly from the app.
  • Plagiarism and grammar checker for increased quality and peace of mind.

Typeset app dashboard

5. BenchSci

The BenchSci platform was built to use advanced biomedical AI to help source the materials that scientific researchers need to move forward with their work. 

Once the app user enters their protein target into the BenchSci platform, the app will sift through thousands of reliable information sources like websites and scientific publications, delivering options that will help determine the antibody or reagent needed. BenchSci is a web-based application that is not available for Android or iOS. It is used by more than 48,000 individual scientists and over 4,000 institutions. BenchSci boasts that their tools can accelerate projects through their AI-powered reagent and antibody selection process, cutting the selection time from 12 weeks to 30 seconds. By empowering researchers to find the antibodies and reagents they need easier and faster, BenchSci reduces the number of materials they need to purchase and experiment with, therefore reducing costs. 

  • AI-Assisted Reagent Selection, which uses AI and automation to reduce the errors and inefficiencies in the reagent and model system selection for scientists. 
  • AI-Assisted Antibody Selection, which follows the same principle as the reagent selection but focuses on antibodies. This feature is free for you to use if you are a student or researcher at an academic, government, or nonprofit institution. 
  • Things change quickly, so the platform is constantly updated to add new antibody and reagent products to ensure that users can access everything available.

BenchSci platform search results

6. eLabJournal

There are many Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELNs) available on the market, but the eLabJournal takes the concept of ELNs to the next step. eLabJournal was designed to increase productivity and efficiency in your research lab and simplify the process of organizing and locating data, collaborating with peers, and exporting files into a variety of formats. 

This is a web-based application with mobile versions available on the Google Play and Apple App Stores. Academics can purchase a subscription to the eLabJournal for $15.55 per month, while Industry users are charged $41.95 per month. 

  • This ELN uses a simple, intuitive interface that was specifically designed to meet the needs of those in the life science research and development field. 
  • Facilitates the ability to link data with functionality to upload images (via the Android and iPhone apps) and a wide range of file types. 
  • Seamlessly integrates with eLab’s other products through their SDK and APIs, providing extensive customization opportunities to meet the specific needs of your lab.

eLabJournal experiement browser screenshot

7. Connected Papers

Connected Papers is a web-based application that provides a uniquely visual representation of the published research available in a certain field. This helps researchers and scientists browse the information available related to their field of study and ensure that nothing is being missed as they prepare their work for submission. 

The app works when a scientist enters their research topic into the search bar. Within seconds, Connected Papers reviews tens of thousands of papers related to that topic, and creates a visual map showcasing all of the work available for the scientist to review and consider in their research. Connected Papers is currently not available on the Apple App Store or Google Play App Store. It is completely free to use. 

  • The visual maps create an easy-to-follow pathway that showcases how closely related particular sources are to the work you’re conducting.
  • The app creates clusters that groups papers based on their level of similarities, and pushes less relevant papers away.
  • Connected works scans the citations used by various sources and classified papers to be closely related based on how many citations overlap. 

Connected Papers mapping example

8. Papership

The Papership app allows you to store, annotate, manage and share research papers from anywhere. Available on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad, Papership syncs with popular web-based platforms Zotero and Mendeley to allow app users to access their curated research libraries stored in their Zotero and Mendeley accounts conveniently and remotely. 

  • You can choose a free version of the app which can integrate with annotation apps like Evernote, or purchase the annotation function of Papership for $9.99 per month.
  • Documents annotated through Papership can be shared via email, SMS, iMessage, Facebook and Twitter. 
  • Papership provides quantitative measurements of the significance of a publication to alert the reader as to the legitimacy of the research. It measures both peer-reviewed and non-peer reviewed sources. 

Papership app screenshots

9. GanttPRO

Ganttpro is a web-based project management application that helps research teams plan and organize projects through the use of collaborative Gantt charts. By providing the ability to create interactive Gantt charts online, GanttPRO makes it possible to plan and control many projects at the same time. It empowers researchers to organize and schedule tasks, set deadlines, identify dependencies and manage resources, all while making this information readily available to all collaborators. GanttPRO is available in a mobile version that can be downloaded for your Android and Apple mobile devices. The company offers a free trial and once that is complete different app packages are available that range from $7.99 to $19.99 per month. 

  • Drag and drop capabilities to make it simple to organize and reorganize as inputs, outputs and priorities change
  • Allows for the creation of multiple workspaces to separate personal tasks from overall team projects
  • Collaborative functions make it easy to track the progress of each team member and step in to help whenever needed. 

Ganttpro project example

Trello is an app that can be used by academics, researchers, marketers, computer scientists and basically any other student, professor or business person interested in seamlessly collaborating and managing projects on-the-go. Trello is organized in boards, lists and cards that are customizable and expandable as the project and team grows. Trello easily integrates with other popular apps like Dropbox, Slack, Chrome, Teams and more. It is available for Android and Apple mobile devices on the App Store and Google Play App Store. 

  • Timelines that allow all team members to stay on track and be held accountable to deadlines
  • Table views that connect work across a variety of related Trello boards
  • A handy Dashboard that highlights usage and engagement stats for all of your boards.

Trello board

11. Researcher

The Researcher app was built to make it easier for researchers to find academic articles relevant to their work. By aggregating over 19,000 sources that include peer-reviewed academic journals, blogs, podcasts and recordings from live events, Researcher helps scientists stay up-to-date on emerging trends and information related to any given field of study or interest. The creators of Researcher claim that their app is “like social media, but better.” The Researcher app is free to use and is available for download on the Apple App Store, the Google Play App Store and the AppInChina App Store. 

  • Filter options that allow you to sift through tens of thousands of sources in seconds
  • Notification options to ensure that any time a new source is published that relates to your stated interests, you’ll find out about it right away.
  • Bookmarks that make it easy for you to come back to an interesting piece when the time is right, without having to search.

Researcher app on a mobile phone

Conclusion 

The apps listed above can help you be more efficient, collaborate better with your colleagues, and get more organized. If you’re organizing a conference, don’t miss our guide on How to Plan Your Scientific Conference . Let us know if we missed any! 

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SCI Journal

28 Best Academic Search Engines That make your research easier

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Academic Search Engines

If you’re a researcher or scholar, you know that conducting effective online research is a critical part of your job. And if you’re like most people, you’re always on the lookout for new and better ways to do it. 

I’m sure you are familiar with some research databases. But, top researchers keep an open mind and are always looking for inspiration in unexpected places. 

This article aims to give you an edge over researchers that rely mainly on Google for their entire research process.

Our list of 28 academic search engines will start with the more familiar to less.

Table of Contents

#1. Google Scholar

Academic Search Engines

Google Scholar is an academic search engine that indexes the full text or metadata of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines.

Great for academic research, you can use Google Scholar to find articles from academic journals, conference proceedings, theses, and dissertations. The results returned by Google Scholar are typically more relevant and reliable than those from regular search engines like Google.

Tip: You can restrict your results to peer-reviewed articles only by clicking on the “Scholarly”

  • Scholarly results are typically more relevant and reliable than those from regular search engines like Google.
  • You can restrict your results to peer-reviewed articles only by clicking on the “Scholarly” tab.
  • Google Scholar database Coverage is extensive, with approx. 200 million articles indexed.
  • Abstracts are available for most articles.
  • Related articles are shown, as well as the number of times an article has been cited.
  • Links to full text are available for many articles.
  • Abstracts are only a snippet of the full article, so you might need to do additional searching to get the full information you need.
  • Not all articles are available in full text.

Google Scholar is completely free.

#2. ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) 

apps to find research papers

ERIC (short for educational resources information center) is a great academic search engine that focuses on education-related literature. It is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education and produced by the Institute of Education Sciences. 

ERIC indexes over a million articles, reports, conference papers, and other resources on all aspects of education from early childhood to higher education. So, search results are more relevant to Education on ERIC. 

  • Extensive coverage: ERIC indexes over a million articles, reports, and other resources on all aspects of education from early childhood to higher education.
  • You can limit your results to peer-reviewed journals by clicking on the “Peer-Reviewed” tab.
  • Great search engine for educators, as abstracts are available for most articles.

ERIC is a free online database of education-related literature. 

You might also like:

  • SCI Journal: Science Journal Impact Factor
  • 15 Best Websites to Download Research Papers for Free
  • 11 Best Academic Writing Tools For Researchers 2024
  • 10 Best Reference Management Software for Research 2024
  • Academic Tools

#3. Wolfram Alpha

apps to find research papers

Wolfram Alpha is a “computational knowledge engine” that can answer factual questions posed in natural language. It can be a useful search tool. 

Type in a question like “What is the square root of 64?” or “What is the boiling point of water?” and Wolfram Alpha will give you an answer.

Wolfram Alpha can also be used to find academic articles. Just type in your keywords and Wolfram Alpha will generate a list of academic articles that match your query.

Tip: You can restrict your results to peer-reviewed journals by clicking on the “Scholarly” tab.

  • Can answer factual questions posed in natural language.
  • Can be used to find academic articles.
  • Results are ranked by relevance.
  • Results can be overwhelming, so it’s important to narrow down your search criteria as much as possible.
  • The experience feels a bit more structured but it could also be a bit restrictive

Wolfram Alpha offers a few pricing options, including a “Pro” subscription that gives you access to additional features, such as the ability to create custom reports. You can also purchase individual articles or download them for offline use.

Pro costs $5.49 and Pro Premium costs $9.99

#4. iSEEK Education 

  • 15 Best Websites To Download Research Papers For Free
  • 30+ Essential Software For Researchers
  • 15 Best Academic Research Trend Prediction Platforms
  • 15 Best Academic Networking And Collaboration Platforms

iSEEK is a search engine targeting students, teachers, administrators, and caregiver. It’s designed to be safe with editor-reviewed content.

iSEEK Education also includes a “Cited by” feature which shows you how often an article has been cited by other researchers.

  • Editor-reviewed content.
  • “Cited by” feature shows how often an article has been cited by other researchers.
  • Limited to academic content.
  • Doesn’t have the breadth of coverage that some of the other academic search engines have.

iSEEK Education is free to use.

#5. BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine)

apps to find research papers

BASE is hosted at Bielefeld University in Germany and that’s where it name stems from (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine). 

Known as “one of the most comprehensive academic web search engines,” it contains over 100 million documents from 4,000 different sources. 

Users can narrow their search using the advanced search option, so regardless of whether you need a book, a review, a lecture, a video or a thesis, BASE has what you need.

BASE indexes academic articles from a variety of disciplines, including the arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.

  • One of the world’s most voluminous search engines, 
  • Indexes academic articles from a variety of disciplines, especially for academic web resources
  • Includes an “Advanced Search” feature that lets you restrict your results to peer-reviewed journals.
  • Doesn’t include abstracts for most articles.
  • Doesn’t have related articles, references, cited by

BASE is free to use.

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apps to find research papers

CORE is an academic search engine that focuses on open access research papers. A link to the full text PDF or complete text web page is supplied for each search result. It’s academic search engine dedicated to open access research papers.

  • Focused on open access research papers.
  • Links to full text PDF or complete text web page are supplied for each search result.
  • Export formats include BibTeX, Endnote, RefWorks, Zotero.
  • Coverage is limited to open access research papers.
  • No abstracts are available for most articles.
  • No related articles, references, or cited by features.

CORE is free to use.

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#7. Science.gov

apps to find research papers

Science.gov is a search engine developed and managed by the United States government. It includes results from a variety of scientific databases, including NASA, EPA, USGS, and NIST. 

US students are more likely to have early exposure to this tool for scholarly research. 

  • Coverage from a variety of scientific databases (200 million articles and reports).
  • Links to full text are available for some articles.

Science.gov is free to use.

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#8. Semantic Scholar

apps to find research papers

Semantic Scholar is a recent entrant to the field. Its goal is to provide more relevant and effective search results via artificial intelligence-powered methods that detect hidden relationships and connections between research topics.

  • Powered by artificial intelligence, which enhances search results.
  • Covers a large number of academic articles (approx. 40 million).
  • Related articles, references, and cited by features are all included.
  • Links to full text are available for most articles.

Semantic Scholar is free to use.

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#9. RefSeek

apps to find research papers

RefSeek searches more than five billion documents, including web pages, books, encyclopedias, journals, and newspapers.

This is one of the free search engines that feels like Yahoo with a massive directory. It could be good when you are just looking for research ideas from unexpected angles. It could lead you to some other database that you might not know such as the CIA The World Factbook, which is a great reference tool.

  • Searches more than five billion documents.
  • The Documents tab is very focused on research papers and easy to use.
  • Results can be filtered by date, type of document, and language.
  • Good source for free academic articles, open access journals, and technical reports.
  • The navigation and user experience is very dated even to millenials…
  • It requires more than 3 clicks to dig up interesting references (which is how it could lead to you something beyond the 1st page of Google)
  • The top part of the results are ALL ads (well… it’s free to use)

RefSeek is free to use.

#10. ResearchGate 

apps to find research papers

A mixture of social networking site + forum + content databases where researchers can build their profile, share research papers, and interact with one another.

Although it is not an academic search engine that goes outside of its site, ResearchGate ‘s library of works offers an excellent choice for any curious scholar.

There are more than 100 million publications available on the site from over 11 million researchers. It is possible to search by publication, data, and author, as well as to ask the researchers questions. 

  • A great place to find research papers and researchers.
  • Can follow other researchers and get updates when they share new papers or make changes to their profile.
  • The network effect can be helpful in finding people who have expertise in a particular topic.
  • Interface is not as user friendly
  • Can be overwhelming when trying to find relevant papers.
  • Some papers are behind a paywall.

ResearchGate is free to use.

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#11. DataONE Search (formerly CiteULike) 

apps to find research papers

A social networking site for academics who want to share and discover academic articles and papers.

  • A great place to find academic papers that have been shared by other academics.
  • Some papers are behind a paywall

CiteULike is free to use.

#12. DataElixir 

apps to find research papers

DataElixir is deigned to help you find, understand and use data. It includes a curated list of the best open datasets, tools and resources for data science.

  • Dedicated resource for finding open data sets, tools, and resources for data science.
  • The website is easy to navigate.
  • The content is updated regularly
  • The resources are grouped by category.
  • Not all of the resources are applicable to academic research.
  • Some of the content is outdated.

DataElixir is free to use.

#13. LazyScholar – browser extension

apps to find research papers

LazyScholar is a free browser plugin that helps you discover free academic full texts, metrics, and instant citation and sharing links. Lazy Scholar is created Colby Vorland, a postdoctoral fellow at Indiana University.

  • It can integrate with your library to find full texts even when you’re off-campus.
  • Saves your history and provides an interface to find it.
  • A pre-formed citation is availlable in over 900 citation styles.
  • Can recommend you topics and scans new PubMed listings to suggest new papers
  • Results can be a bit hit or miss

LazyScholar is free to use.

#14. CiteseerX – digital library from PenState

apps to find research papers

CiteseerX is a digital library stores and indexes research articles in Computer Science and related fields. The site has a robust search engine that allows you to filter results by date, author.

  • Searches a large number of academic papers.
  • Results can be filtered by date, author, and topic.
  • The website is easy to use.
  • You can create an account and save your searches for future reference.

CiteseerX is free to use.

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#15. The Lens – patents search 

The Lens or the Patent Lens is an online patent and scholarly literature search facility, provided by Cambia, an Australia-based non-profit organization.

apps to find research papers

  • Searches for a large number of academic papers.

The price range can be free for non-profit use to $5,000 for commercial enterprise.

#16. Fatcat – wiki for bibliographic catalog 

apps to find research papers

Fatcat is an open bibliographic catalog of written works. The scope of works is somewhat flexible, with a focus on published research outputs like journal articles, pre-prints, and conference proceedings. Records are collaboratively editable, versioned, available in bulk form, and include URL-agnostic file-level metadata.

  • Open source and collaborative
  • You can be part of the community that is very focused on its mission
  • The archival file-level metadata (verified digests and long-term copies) is a great feature.
  • Could prove to be another rabbit hole
  • People either love or hate the text-only interface

#17. Lexis Web – Legal database

apps to find research papers

Are you researching legal topics? You can turn to Lexis Web for any law-related questions you may have. The results are drawn from legal sites and can be filtered based on criteria such as news, blogs, government, and commercial. Additionally, users can filter results by jurisdiction, practice area, source and file format.

  • Results are drawn from legal sites.
  • Filters are available based on criteria such as news, blogs, government, and commercial.
  • Users can filter results by jurisdiction, practice area, source and file format.
  • Not all law-related questions will be answered by this search engine.
  • Coverage is limited to legal sites only.

Lexis Web is free for up to three searches per day. After that, a subscription is required.

#18. Infotopia – part of the VLRC family

apps to find research papers

Infotopia touts itself as an “alternative to Google safe search.” Scholarly book results are curated by librarians, teachers, and other educational workers. Users can select from a range of topics such as art, health, and science and technology, and then see a list of resources pertaining to the topic. 

Consequently, if you aren’t able to find what you are looking for within Infotopia’s pages, you will probably find it on one of its many suggested websites.

#19. Virtual Learning Resources Center

apps to find research papers

Virtual Learning Resources Center (VLRC) is an academic search engine that features thousands of academic sites chosen by educators and librarians worldwide. Using an index generated from a research portal, university, and library internet subject guides, students and instructors can find current, authoritative information for school.

  • Thousands of academic information websites indexed by it. You will also be able to get more refined results with custom Google search, which will speed up your research. 
  • Many people consider VLRC as one of the best free search engines to start looking for research material. 
  • TeachThought rated the Virtual LRC #3 in it’s list of 100 Search Engines For Academic Research
  • More relevant to education 
  • More relevant to students

apps to find research papers

Powered by Google Custom Search Engine (CSE), Jurn is a free online search engine for accessing and downloading free full-text scholarly papers. It was created by David Haden in a public open beta version in February 2009, initially for locating open access electronic journal articles in the arts and humanities.

After the indexing process was completed, a website containing additional public directories of web links to indexed publications was introduced in mid-2009. The Jurn search service and directory has been regularly modified and cleaned since then.

  • A great resource for finding academic papers that are behind paywalls.
  • The content is updated regularly.uren

Jurn is free to use.

#21. WorldWideScience

apps to find research papers

The Office of Scientific and Technical Information—a branch of the Office of Science within the U.S. Department of Energy—hosts the portal WorldWideScience , which has dubbed itself “The Global Science Gateway.”

Over 70 countries’ databases are used on the website. When a user enters a query, it contacts databases from all across the world and shows results in both English and translated journals and academic resources.

  • Results can be filtered by language and type of resource
  • Interface is easy to use
  • Contains both academic journal articles and translated academic resources 
  • The website can be difficult to navigate.

WorldWideScience is free to use.

#22. Google Books

apps to find research papers

A user can browse thousands of books on Google Books, from popular titles to old titles, to find pages that include their search terms. You can look through pages, read online reviews, and find out where to buy a hard copy once you find the book you are interested in.

#23. DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals)

apps to find research papers

DOAJ is a free search engine for scientific and scholarly materials. It is a searchable database with over 8,000 peer-reviewed research papers organized by subject. It’s one of the most comprehensive libraries of scientific and scholarly resources, with over 8,000 journals available on a variety of themes.

#24. Baidu Scholar

apps to find research papers

Baidu Xueshu (Academic) is the Chinese version for Google Scholar. IDU Scholar indexes academic papers from a variety of disciplines in both Chinese and English.

  • Articles are available in full text PDF.
  • Covers a variety of academic disciplines.
  • No abstracts are available for most articles, but summaries are provided for some.
  • A great portal that takes you to different specialized research platform
  • You need to be able to read Chinese to use the site
  • Since 2021 there is a rise of focus on China and the Chinese Communist Party

Baidu Scholar is free to use.

#25. PubMed Central

apps to find research papers

PubMed is a free search engine that provides references and abstracts for medical, life sciences, and biomedical topics.

If you’re studying anything related to healthcare or science, this site is perfect. PublicMed Central is operated by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, a division of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. It contains more than 3 million full-text journal articles. 

It’s similar to PubMed Health, which focuses on health-related research and includes abstracts and citations to over 26 million articles.

#26. MEDLINE®

apps to find research papers

MEDLINE® is a paid subscription database for life sciences and biomedicine that includes more than 28 million citations to journal articles. For finding reliable, carefully chosen health information, Medline Plus provides a powerful search tool and even a dictionary.

  • A great database for life sciences and biomedicine.
  • Contains more than 28 million references to journal articles.
  • References can be filtered by date, type of document, and language.
  • The database is expensive to access.
  • Some people find it difficult to navigate and find what they are looking for.

MEDLINE is not free to use ( pricing information ).

Defunct Academic Search Engines 

#27. microsoft academic  .

Microsoft Academic

Microsoft Academic Search seemed to be a failure from the beginning. It ended in 2012, then re-launched in 2016 as Microsoft Academic. It provides the researcher with the opportunity to search academic publications,

Microsoft Academic used to be the second-largest academic search engine after Google Scholar. Microsoft Academic provides a wealth of data for free, but Microsoft has announced that it will shut Microsoft Academic down in by 2022. 

#28. Scizzle

apps to find research papers

Designed to help researchers stay on top of the literature by setting up email alerts, based on key terms, for newspapers.

Unfortunately, academic search engines come and go. These are two that are no longer available.

Final Thoughts

There are many academic search engines that can help researchers and scholars find the information they need. This list provides a variety of options, starting with more familiar engines and moving on to less well-known ones. 

Keeping an open mind and exploring different sources is essential for conducting effective online research. With so much information at our fingertips, it’s important to make sure we’re using the best tools available to us.

Tell us in the comment below which academic search engine have you not heard of? Which database do you think we should add? What database do your professional societies use? What are the most useful academic websites for research in your opinion?

There is more.

Check out our other articles on the Best Academic Tools Series for Research below.

  • Learn how to get more done with these Academic Writing Tools  
  • Learn how to proofread your work with these Proofreading Tools
  • Learn how to broaden your research landscape with these Academic Search Engines
  • Learn how to manage multiple research projects with these Project Management Tools
  • Learn how to run effective survey research with these Survey Tools for Research
  • Learn how get more insights from important conversations and interviews with Transcription Tools
  • Learn how to manage the ever-growing list of references with these Reference Management Software
  • Learn how to double your productivity with literature reviews with these AI-Based Summary Generators
  • Learn how to build and develop your audience with these Academic Social Network Sites
  • Learn how to make sure your content is original and trustworthy with these Plagiarism Checkers
  • Learn how to talk about your work effectively with these Science Communication Tools

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10 thoughts on “28 Best Academic Search Engines That make your research easier”

Thank you so much Joannah..I have found this information useful to me as librarian in an academic library

You are welcome! We are happy to hear that!

Thank You Team, for providing a comprehensive list of academic search engines that can help make research easier for students and scholars. The variety of search engines included offers a range of options for finding scholarly articles, journals, and other academic resources. The article also provides a brief summary of each search engine’s features, which helps in determining which one is the best fit for a specific research topic. Overall, this article is a valuable resource for anyone looking for a quick and easy way to access a wealth of academic information.

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us. We are delighted to hear that you found our list of academic search engines helpful in making research easier for students and scholars. We understand the importance of having a variety of options when it comes to finding scholarly articles, journals, and other academic resources, and we strive to provide a comprehensive list of resources to meet those needs.

We are glad that you found the brief summary of each search engine’s features helpful in determining which one is the best fit for a specific research topic. Our goal is to make it easy for our readers to access valuable academic information and we’re glad that we were able to achieve that for you.

We appreciate your support and thank you for your kind words. We will continue to provide valuable resources for students and researchers in the future. Please let us know if you have any further questions or suggestions.

No more questions Thank You

I cannot thank you enough!!! thanks alot 🙂

Typography animation is a technique that combines text and motion to create visually engaging and dynamic animations. It involves animating individual letters, words, or phrases in various ways to convey a message, evoke emotions, or enhance the visual impact of a design or video. – Typography Animation Techniques Tools and Online Software {43}

Hi Joannah! Here’s another one you may want to add! Expontum ( https://www.expontum.com/ ) – Helps researchers quickly find knowledge gaps and identify what research projects have been completed before. Thanks!

Expontum – Helps researchers quickly find knowledge gaps and identify what research projects have been completed before. Expontum is free, open access, and available to all globally with no paid versions of the site. Automated processes scan research article information 24/7 so this website is constantly updating. By looking at over 35 million research publications (240 million by the end of 2023), the site has 146 million tagged research subjects and 122 million tagged research attributes. Learn more about methodology and sources on the Expontum About Page ( https://www.expontum.com/about.php )

Hey Ryan, I clicked and checked your site and thought it was very relevant to our reader. Thank you for sharing. And, we will be reviewing your site soon.

Sounds good! Thanks, Joannah!

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apps to find research papers

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Top 10 Best Academic Search Engines for Scholarly Articles in 2025

Jc Chaithanya

14 min read

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Best Search Engines to Search for Scientific Papers at a Glance 

Top 10 best search engines to search for scientific papers, google scholar key features , google scholar reviews , base key features , base reviews , scispace key features, scispace reviews , core key features , core reviews , scopus key features , scopus reviews, pubmed key features , pubmed reviews , jstor key features , jstor reviews , science.gov key features , science.gov reviews , semantic scholar key features , semantic scholar reviews , baidu scholar key features , baidu scholar reviews , our selection criteria to pick search engines for search for scientific papers, how to choose the best search engine to search for scientific papers, elephas: the research assistant that halves your research time, conclusion , 1. where can i search for scientific papers, 2. how do you search for scientific papers effectively, 3. how to find research papers on google.

Research is the cornerstone of scientific discovery. However, sifting through the vast amount of scholarly literature can feel overwhelming. Fear not, intrepid researchers! Today, we will equip you with the top 10 search engines designed specifically to streamline your search for scientific papers.

We'll delve into the strengths of each platform, helping you identify the perfect tool for your specific research needs. Whether you're seeking a broad overview or a deep dive into a niche topic, our analysis will ensure you learn about the most relevant and reliable search engines to propel your research forward.

To further maximize your research efficiency, we'll also introduce you to Elephas, a powerful AI writing assistant that can revolutionize your research paper writing process. However, we'll save that discussion for later in our article. For now, let's delve into the best search engines to search for scientific papers.

Google Scholar: General search for scholarly literature across various disciplines.

BASE: Free search engine for scholarly articles with summaries and full-text links.

SciSpace: Powerful search engine with AI-powered recommendations for related research.

CORE: User-friendly search engine for open-access scholarly publications.

Scopus: Search engine for high-quality, peer-reviewed scientific publications.

PubMed: Free search engine for biomedical and life sciences literature.

JSTOR: Comprehensive digital library for scholarly articles, ebooks, and primary sources across disciplines.

Science.gov: Free search engine for scientific research from US government agencies.

Semantic Scholar: Uses AI to find relevant research papers and uncover hidden connections.

Baidu Scholar: Search engine for academic literature in Chinese 

1. Google Scholar 

Google Scholar

Google Scholar simplifies searching for scholarly literature. It crawls millions of academic publications across various disciplines, including articles, theses, books, and conference papers. Researchers can set up alerts to stay updated on new publications in their field. Google Scholar is like Google Search but specifically designed for academic research.

Massive Database: Search roughly 200 million scholarly articles.

Find Freely Available Papers: Locate research papers and often access full PDFs.

Stay Updated: Set alerts for new publications in your field.

Explore Research: Discover related articles, references, and citations.

Easy Citation Management: Export citations in various formats.

Formatting: Easily export your search results into common citation formats like APA and MLA.

We could not find any public reviews on Google Scholar, so we advise users to stay cautious when using the search engine.

2. Base 

Base

BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine) is a free search engine specializing in scholarly articles. With over 136 million publications (including duplicates), BASE allows you to search for research papers across various disciplines. It provides summaries and links to full text whenever available. While BASE doesn't offer features like finding related articles, cited references, or who cited the paper, it excels in its core function: searching for scientific publications effortlessly.

Free Search Engine: Access millions of scholarly publications without any cost.

Focus on Academic Content: Search a vast collection of research papers across various fields.

Article Summaries: Quickly grasp the research topic with summaries (abstracts) provided for each article.

Full Text Links: When available, access the full scientific paper directly through BASE.

Simple Interface: Navigate BASE's user-friendly interface to find what you need efficiently.

We could not find any public reviews on Base search engine, so we advise users to stay cautious when using the search engine.

3. Scispace

Scispace

SciSpace is a powerful search engine specifically designed for academic research. With over 300 million scholarly articles across various fields, SciSpace utilizes advanced algorithms to deliver relevant search results. Its user-friendly interface makes navigating millions of research papers simple for both beginners and experienced researchers.

Massive Academic Database: Search over 300 million scholarly articles.

Advanced Search & Filters: Find relevant papers by author, citation count, and more.

AI-powered Recommendations: Get suggestions for related research based on your search.

Integrated Research Tools: Read papers, conduct literature reviews, and generate citations.

User-friendly Interface: Easy to navigate for both novice and experienced researchers.

Scispace Reviews

CORE is a user-friendly search engine designed specifically for scholarly research papers. Unlike traditional search engines, CORE focuses on freely accessible, open-access publications. This means you can easily find millions of scientific articles without any paywalls or restrictions. Every search result on CORE conveniently links directly to the full-text PDF or webpage of the research paper, allowing you to dive deeper into your chosen topic

Vast Collection: Search through over 136 million academic publications.

Full Text Access: Every search result includes a link to the complete article, either in PDF or on the publisher's webpage.

Enhanced Discovery: Easily explore related articles to broaden your research scope.

Simple Interface: CORE's user-friendly design lets you find what you need quickly and efficiently.

Focus on Open Access: CORE prioritizes freely available research, ensuring you can access the latest scientific findings without restrictions.

We could not find any public reviews on Core Search engine, so we advise users to stay cautious when using the search engine.

Scopus

Scopus is a search engine for scientific research. It helps researchers find scholarly articles, conference papers, and patents. Unlike regular search engines, Scopus focuses on high-quality, peer-reviewed publications. This ensures you find reliable information to support your research. Scopus also offers advanced search options to help you narrow down your search and find relevant papers quickly.

Extensive Coverage: Search millions of peer-reviewed publications across various disciplines.

Accurate Search: Find relevant research with advanced search options and filters.

Verified Content: Explore high-quality, trusted publications with a focus on peer review.

Author Tracking: Monitor the impact of your research by tracking citations and authorship.

Discover Connections: Explore how different research papers are linked and build upon each other.

Scopus Reviews

PubMed , a free search engine developed by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), specializes in biomedical and life sciences literature. Offering a vast collection of scholarly articles, journals, clinical trials, and more, PubMed is a trusted resource for medical professionals, researchers, students, and anyone seeking scientific information. 

Extensive Collection: Search millions of scientific citations in medicine, health sciences, and related fields.

Accurate Results: PubMed's curated database ensures the quality and trustworthiness of your search results.

Advanced Search Options: Refine your search using keywords, MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) terms, publication dates, and more.

User-Friendly Interface: The search engine features a user-friendly interface for efficient exploration of scientific data.

We could not find any public reviews on Pubmed, so we advise users to stay cautious when using the search engine.

JSTOR

JSTOR is a comprehensive digital library for researchers across disciplines. Search for academic journals, books, and primary sources in an easy-to-use interface. Explore millions of images and historical documents alongside scholarly articles. JSTOR offers an interdisciplinary approach, allowing you to research immigration through text and imagery or delve into art history with collections from leading museums.

Search All Content: Find scholarly articles, ebooks, images, and primary sources.

Primary Sources: Explore millions of historical documents, artwork, maps, and photographs.

Image Search: Discover over 3 million images to enhance your research.

Independent Voices: Access alternative publications like underground newspapers and magazines.

Artstor Integration: Search millions of art and cultural artifacts from leading institutions.

We could not find any public reviews on the JSTOR search engine, so we advise users to stay cautious when using the search engine.

8. Science.gov 

Science.gov

Science.gov is a free search engine designed specifically for scientific research. It simplifies your search by providing access to over 200 million scientific articles and reports from more than 15 U.S. federal agencies in one central location. This eliminates the need to search through individual agency websites, saving you valuable time and effort.

Search across 15+ U.S. government science agencies: Find scientific information from a vast collection of resources.

200 million+ scientific articles and reports: Access a comprehensive database of scientific research.

Links to full text (when available): Access the complete scientific paper if offered by the database.

Export Options: Export your search results in various citation formats for convenient reference management (availability may vary depending on the database).

We could not find any public reviews on science.gov, so we advise users to stay cautious when using the search engine.

9. Semantic Scholar 

Semantic Scholar

Semantic Scholar is a powerful search engine that uses artificial intelligence to help you find relevant research papers. Its advanced algorithms go beyond keywords to uncover hidden connections and relationships between research topics, delivering more impactful search results.

Natural Language Search: Find research papers using plain language, just like you would search the web.

Comprehensive Coverage: Explore over 40 million scholarly articles across various disciplines.

Detailed Information: Access abstracts, related articles, references, citations, and links to full text (when available).

Export Options: Easily export citations in popular formats like APA, MLA, Chicago, and BibTeX.

We could not find any public reviews on Semantic Scholar, so we advise users to stay cautious when using the search engine.

10. Baidu Scholar 

Baidu Scholar

Baidu Scholar is a powerful search engine designed specifically for academic literature. Despite its Chinese interface, Baidu Scholar indexes a vast collection of scientific papers in English alongside Chinese publications. With over 100 million articles, it offers a valuable resource for researchers worldwide. While some features are limited, like the lack of "cited by" functionality and only showing snippets of abstracts.

Multilingual Search: Find research papers in both English and Chinese.

Large Database: Explore over 100 million indexed articles.

Abstract and Reference Exploration: Gain insights from snippets of abstracts and identify related and cited articles.

Free to Use: Access and search for scientific papers without any cost.

Baidu Scholar Reviews

Our selection process focuses on several key criteria to ensure you get the most relevant and reliable results for your scientific inquiry.

1. Depth and Breadth of Content: A vast library of scientific papers is crucial. We looked for search engines that indexed millions of scholarly articles, journals, and publications across various disciplines.

2. Accuracy and Credibility: Trustworthy information is paramount in science. We prioritized search engines that focused on peer-reviewed publications and curated databases to ensure the quality of your results.

3. User-Friendly Interface: A user-friendly interface makes the search process efficient. We considered search engines with clear navigation, advanced search options, and filtering capabilities to help you refine your research.

4. Open Access: Unrestricted access to scientific knowledge is vital. We included search engines that offered a significant amount of freely available, open-access content, alongside those with subscription-based resources for comprehensive searching.

5. Additional Features: Powerful search engines go beyond basic searches. We considered functionalities like AI-powered recommendations for related research, citation management tools, and the ability to export search results in various formats.

By following these selection criteria, we create the top 10 search engines to search for scientific papers. So, explore all the search engines and find the one that is best to Search for Scientific Papers

There are tons of search engines to search for scientific papers out there, and picking the best one for your scientific research can feel like a real challenge. Don't worry, we will help you find the perfect Search Engine to Search for Scientific Papers

Step 1: Identify Your Needs

Breadth vs. Depth: Are you looking for a general overview of a topic or a deep dive into specific research?

Open Access: Do you need freely available articles, or are you affiliated with an institution with access to a wider range of resources?

Focus: Is your research in a specific field like medicine, engineering, or social sciences?

Step 2: Choosing Your Weapon

Now that you know your needs, let's explore some of the top search engines to search for  scientific papers:

General Search Engines:

Google Scholar: The go-to option for a broad search across many disciplines. It crawls millions of scholarly articles and often provides links to full PDFs.

BASE (Bielefeld Academic Search Engine): A search engine with over 136 million publications, offering summaries and links to full text whenever available.

Specialized Search Engines:

SciSpace: Employs AI to deliver relevant results and suggest related research based on your search.

CORE: Focuses on open-access publications, ensuring you can find millions of scientific articles without paywalls.

Scopus: Curates high-quality, peer-reviewed publications for a focus on reliable information.

PubMed: Developed for the medical and life sciences field, PubMed offers a vast collection of articles, journals, and clinical trials.

Additional Powerhouses:

JSTOR: A comprehensive digital library with scholarly articles, ebooks, and primary sources across disciplines, including historical documents and images.

Science.gov: A one-stop shop for scientific research from US government agencies, providing access to over 200 million articles and reports.

Semantic Scholar: Uses artificial intelligence to uncover hidden connections between research topics for more impactful results.

Baidu Scholar: While the interface is in Chinese, Baidu Scholar indexes a vast collection of scientific papers in both English and Chinese.

Remember: No single search engine is perfect. Experiment with a few based on your needs and combine them for a comprehensive search. Many of these engines allow advanced search options to further refine your results.

Elephas

Now you've got the perfect search engine to find the best research papers, but what about after you've found them? Elephas is an AI writing assistant that can help you with every stage of your research paper writing, from summarizing complex sources to generating creative ideas and even helping you stay on track with your grammar and citations.

Here's how Elephas can make you a research paper writing master:

Summarizes complex research: Struggling to understand a dense academic paper? Elephas can break it down for you, highlighting the key points and saving you valuable time.

Boosts your writing: Whether you need help with brainstorming ideas, structuring your paper, or simply polishing your writing style, Elephas has a variety of features to get you there.

Check your grammar: No more typos or embarrassing mistakes! Elephas ensures your writing is clear, concise, and error-free.

Multiple writing styles: Need your paper to be formal or informal? Funny or serious? Elephas can adapt its writing style to fit your needs.

Works offline: Worried about data privacy? Elephas has an offline mode that lets you work securely without an internet connection.

These are just a few of the ways Elephas can help you write research papers faster and more efficiently. Elephas offers many more features that can significantly reduce your daily workload.

So why not give it a try and see how much time you can save?

In summary, there are many great search engines to search for scientific papers out there, each with its own strengths. The best one for you depends on what you're researching.

Need a quick overview? Try Google Scholar or BASE.

Want in-depth studies? Look at Scopus or PubMed (for medical stuff).

Need free articles? Try CORE or JSTOR (for more than just science).

If you're not sure where to start, try a few and see which one you like best. You can even use them together to find the most information!

Remember, the ideal search engine hinges on your specific requirements.

Are you seeking a broad overview of a particular field, or a deep dive into a niche topic?

Does open-access content suffice, or do you have institutional access to a wider range of resources?

What is your research area's primary discipline (medicine, engineering, social sciences)?

By considering these questions, you can ensure you select the most effective search engine to propel your research forward.

While powerful search engines are essential, there are additional tools that can significantly enhance your research efficiency. Consider Elephas, an advanced AI writing assistant designed to streamline every stage of the research paper writing process. From summarizing complex sources to generating creative ideas and maintaining flawless grammar and citations, Elephas helps you to become a research paper writing master.

You can search for scientific papers in many online search engines like Google Scholar, BASE, CORE, Scopus, PubMed, JSTOR, Science.gov, Semantic Scholar, and Baidu Scholar. Each engine has its strengths, so it depends on your specific needs. 

First, identify your needs. Are you looking for a general overview or a deep dive? Do you need free articles or have access to paid resources? Then choose a search engine that fits your needs. Finally, use the advanced search options in the research search engines to refine your results.

Google Scholar is a search engine specifically designed for scholarly articles. You can search for papers by topic, author, title, and more. It also allows you to find freely available PDFs of many papers.

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  1. Notes and Research Apps: An overview of the best and most popular

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  4. How to Get Free Research Papers

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COMMENTS

  1. Google Scholar

    Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. Search across a wide variety of disciplines and sources: articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions.

  2. 5 Best Apps for Researchers: Apps that Every Researcher ...

    Nov 26, 2021 · This reading app for research papers covers all major disciplines in the arts and sciences. R Discovery offers customized research reading, that is, once you set up your areas of interest, the app for research papers finds the top 3 reads and presents them in the form of a daily feed for you.

  3. Consensus: AI-powered Academic Search Engine

    Search: Find the best papers. Purpose-built academic & vector search functionality. Consensus utilizes important factors like study design, sample size, population details, and more to rank the best research higher.

  4. AI Academic Research Reading App: AI Literature Search Tool ...

    R Discovery is the best AI academic research reading app and AI literature search tool with the largest scholarly content repository. Access 250M+ research papers, 40 M+ open access free research papers, 8M+ research summaries and highlights, 3M+ pre-prints, 32K+ journals, and 9.5M research topics.

  5. Elicit: The AI Research Assistant

    Find papers they couldn’t find elsewhere; Automate systematic reviews and meta-analyses; Learn about a new domain; Elicit tends to work best for empirical domains that involve experiments and concrete results. This type of research is common in biomedicine and machine learning.

  6. Top 11 Apps for Researchers in 2024 - Fourwaves

    Feb 1, 2024 · R Discovery: Academic Research. R Discovery is a free app that empowers researchers to save time wading through a sea of academic research papers by finding the articles that are most relevant to your work and delivering them to you each day. It curates over 96 million research articles which includes over 24 million open access articles.

  7. 28 Best Academic Search Engines That make your research ...

    Apr 24, 2024 · It’s academic search engine dedicated to open access research papers. Pros: Focused on open access research papers. Links to full text PDF or complete text web page are supplied for each search result. Export formats include BibTeX, Endnote, RefWorks, Zotero. Cons: Coverage is limited to open access research papers.

  8. Best apps for research papers In 2024 - Softonic

    Ask for Papers is the largest database of essays, term papers, research papers and theses. With this app you will have unlimited access to them. It includes over 100 different subjects and lets you save your favorites papers to read them later.

  9. Top 10 Best Academic Search Engines for Scholarly Articles in ...

    Jun 6, 2024 · Its user-friendly interface makes navigating millions of research papers simple for both beginners and experienced researchers. Scispace Key Features. Massive Academic Database: Search over 300 million scholarly articles. Advanced Search & Filters: Find relevant papers by author, citation count, and more.

  10. Top 16 Digital Tools That Every Researcher Should Know About

    Mar 1, 2023 · An AI-powered app for researchers, R Discovery boasts of an expanding library of research content that includes over 100 million research papers across 9.5 million topics and more than 32,000 journals worldwide.