Best AI tool for Literature Review 2024! All features of Consensus

Summary

This video introduces 'Consensus,' an AI-powered search engine designed to streamline the literature review process for researchers. By merging the capabilities of Google Scholar with AI, Consensus analyzes over 200 million research papers to provide accurate, research-backed answers, summaries, and citation insights. Users can filter results, view study snapshots, and even generate outlines based on their queries. The tool is praised for its ability to save time and enhance the effectiveness of literature searches. Most features are free, with premium options available for advanced functions like extensive synthesis and co-pilots.

Takeaways

• 🔍 A literature review is the essential first step for research projects, reports, or papers.
• 📚 Traditional literature searches on Google Scholar are time-consuming and do not rank the relevance or citation impact of papers.
• 🤖 Consensus is an AI-powered search engine that simplifies the literature review process by analyzing over 200 million research papers.
• 💡 Unlike Google Scholar or ChatGPT, Consensus provides research-backed answers, summaries, and highlights highly cited papers.
• 📝 The tool offers features like study snapshots, summarizing key information such as population, methods, outcomes, and results for quick review.
• 📑 Users can create paper lists, save citations, and export references to citation management software easily.
• 🎛 Consensus allows users to filter papers by year, access type, citation count, journal, and more to refine searches.
• 🔄 The synthesize feature provides a summary of opinions from various papers, including a consensus meter to measure agreement among studies.
• 💬 The co-pilot feature offers pros and cons, essay outlines, and other helpful summaries based on the research question.
• 🆓 Most features of Consensus are available for free, with additional advanced options in the premium plan.

Q & A

What is the first step in conducting research according to the script?

The first step is to conduct a literature review, which is essential for research projects, reports, research papers, or review articles.

How do traditional literature review methods typically work?

Traditionally, researchers use tools like Google Scholar to search for papers on their topic, manually going through the list to find relevant papers. This process can be time-consuming, taking from a few days to a few weeks.

What AI tool does the speaker introduce for literature reviews?

The speaker introduces 'Consensus,' an AI-powered search engine designed to streamline the literature review process by offering consolidated, research-backed answers from over 200 million research papers.

How does Consensus differ from Google Scholar?

Unlike Google Scholar, which only provides a list of papers, Consensus analyzes research papers to provide a summary and analysis relevant to the user's query, helping them quickly identify the most pertinent research.

What are some features of the Consensus AI tool?

Consensus offers several features including study snapshots, citation options, saving and sharing papers, and filters for refining search results based on publication year, citation count, access status, and more.

What does the 'synthesize' option do in Consensus?

The synthesize option provides a summary of key points from the analyzed papers, including a 'consensus meter' that indicates how many papers support, oppose, or are neutral on the query topic.

How does the 'co-pilot' feature enhance the literature review process?

The co-pilot feature allows users to ask more specific questions and receive a consolidated answer with key information such as pros and cons lists or essay outlines based on the selected research papers.

What are some advantages of using Consensus over other tools like ChatGPT?

Consensus provides research-backed information specifically tailored to academic queries, while ChatGPT may pull from less reliable sources. Consensus also references specific papers for more credible information.

Can users filter search results in Consensus? If so, how?

Yes, users can filter search results by publication date, open access status, citation count, methods used, journal, domain, and country, allowing for a more focused literature review.

Is Consensus a free tool?

Most features in Consensus, including unlimited searches and filtering options, are available for free. However, extensive use of certain features like synthesize, co-pilot, or study snapshots may require a premium plan.