Using ChatGPT to find research articles? Read this first.


 

We librarians have noticed a trend lately: SMC researchers are coming to us with a citation and need help finding the full text. The citation has a plausible title, real authors, and a reputable journal. However, when we dig deeper, the article doesn’t exist as described. It turns out, in these cases, that the citation originated from ChatGPT.

 

This makes sense, as ChatGPT has been trained to generate language, not look up citations. The latest model can search the web, but it isn’t a search engine.
 

The picture above is an example we experienced of ChatGPT recommending a book, but then admitting the book doesn't actually exist (though the authors do!).

 

However, there are apps that harness AI to help you find relevant publications and quickly get the key points so you can choose which ones to dig into further. 
 

Instead of ChatGPT, if you’re looking for research papers on a topic, try:

  • ResearchRabbit: free; maps papers with related citations

  • SciSpace and Elicit: free for limited features; they translate natural language into search terms and then identify and summarizes relevant papers, and generate a mini literature review

See them in action (YouTube video)

 

👋 And we humans are here to help too! Need help finding the key research articles for your literature review or syllabus? Librarians can help you identify the strategies to find the best stuff and get to it—fast.