Research Rabbit

Litmaps is a Literature Discovery Tool that helps researchers find vital scientific papers they didn't know about and tell a better research story. Visualize, expand, and communicate your research expertise. A Litmap is a picture that shows the relationship between a collection of scientific papers based on their citations, popularity and currency. Science is the answer to many of humanity’s challenges. As a species, we must do anything and everything we can to accelerate the process of scientific discovery. Litmaps has a role to play connecting the dots between scientists and discoveries in order to help advance humanity.

Autonomous Research Agents

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Founded

2016

Location

Wellington, WGN

Employees

Funding

Community-led

Research Rabbit — AI Literature Discovery and Citation Mapping Tool

Overview

**Research Rabbit** is an AI-assisted discovery platform that helps researchers perform faster, deeper literature reviews through citation and author-network mapping. Starting from seed papers, you can explore related work via citations, co-citations, co-authorships, and time-based views, with interactive visual graphs and column-based navigation to maintain context. The tool is positioned to help users:

**Save hours** on literature reviews

**Surface related papers fast**

**Stay current** with collection-based alerts and recommendations

Research Rabbit is available at [researchrabbit.ai](https://www.researchrabbit.ai) (product and resources) and [researchrabbitapp.com](https://researchrabbitapp.com) (app access). It is frequently referenced by university libraries and trainings, indicating broad adoption in academia.

What Research Rabbit Does

**AI-assisted literature discovery:** Find related papers from a few seed articles using citation and co-citation networks.

**Visual citation maps:** Explore fields through interactive graphs and column views for quick contextual jumps.

**Author and collaboration insights:** Uncover prolific authors, co-author networks, and clusters.

**Collections and alerts:** Maintain reading lists and receive ongoing recommendations as new work appears.

**Time-evolution views:** Trace earlier and later work to map topic development.

See value propositions and product details on the [homepage](https://www.researchrabbit.ai).

How It Works (High Level)

Leverages scholarly citation graphs and indices to power fast discovery and recommendations. Background references point to roots in Microsoft Academic Graph–era data and related scholarly graphs (see context in this [NIH/PMC overview](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10403115/)).

Designed for speed and breadth across journal articles, with visual-first exploration and collection-driven personalization.

Who It’s For

Graduate students and PhD researchers conducting literature reviews

Faculty/PIs mapping a field and identifying key authors or clusters

Librarians teaching discovery workflows and research methods

Industry R&D analysts scanning academic literature

Common Use Cases

Start from 1–3 seed papers to build a map of related work and co-citations

Identify earlier/later publications to understand the evolution of a topic

Find prolific authors and co-author networks for collaboration or committee building

Maintain collections and receive recommendations as new papers appear

Teach literature mapping techniques in workshops and courses

Integrations and Workflows

**Zotero-compatible workflows:** Libraries commonly describe creating collections, exporting metadata, and managing citations in Zotero alongside Research Rabbit. See examples from [Ripon College](https://ripon.edu/guide/aicitation-managers-and-ai-citation-managers-and-researchrabbit-ai/) and [James Cook University (JCU) overview](https://www.jcu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/1958831/Research-Rabbit-Overview.pdf).

**Import/export:** Export to citation managers is described in library guides; detailed format specifics are not listed in public product docs.

No verified public details on an API, ORCID integration, or a browser extension.

Pricing and Availability

**Free for researchers** with no paywall or paid tiers listed. The app site promotes “Free for Researchers Forever.” Access via [researchrabbitapp.com](https://researchrabbitapp.com).

Strengths (User and Independent Sentiment)

**Exceptional for visual exploration** and discovering related work through networks of papers and authors. See feedback in this [r/PhD thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/PhD/comments/10p5plh/just_discovered_researchrabbit_great_for/).

**“Spotify for research” feel** when staying informed via collections and recommendations: [r/PhD favorites](https://www.reddit.com/r/PhD/comments/1fad9ry/what_are_the_best_ai_tools_for_research/) and [r/ChatGPTPromptGenius](https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPTPromptGenius/comments/1dsmkpy/what_are_your_favorite_tools_for_research/).

**Helpful for focus and planning**, especially for managing reading queues and visualizing “rabbit holes” .

**Fast recommendations and broad recall** versus similar tools, per independent comparisons like [Effortless Academic](https://effortlessacademic.com/litmaps-vs-researchrabbit-vs-connected-papers-the-best-literature-review-tool-in-2025/).

**Low barrier to entry** due to its free model .

Limitations and Considerations

**Concept-level topic linking is limited:** Focuses on paper-to-paper relationships (citations/authors/keywords) rather than semantic topic graphs .

**Learning curve/UI density:** Visual columns and complex graphs can feel overwhelming initially .

**Coverage/freshness depend on underlying scholarly graphs:** Gaps may appear for the newest work or non-article sources (context via [NIH/PMC](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10403115/)).

**Enterprise details not public:** Limited public information on security, compliance, or admin controls; no verified API pages.

**Summarization and full note-taking:** No verified built-in LLM summaries or comprehensive note system in public materials.

Competitive Context

Research Rabbit operates in the same general category as Litmaps, Connected Papers, and Elicit, but differentiates with:

A stronger emphasis on **interactive visual mapping**

**Collections-driven, ongoing recommendations**

A clear **free-for-researchers** model

Proof of Adoption

Universities and libraries reference Research Rabbit in guides and trainings, indicating widespread grassroots academic adoption (e.g., Trinity University, University at Buffalo, Princeton, JCU). See an example overview from [JCU](https://www.jcu.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/1958831/Research-Rabbit-Overview.pdf).

Quick Facts

**Name:** Research Rabbit

**Websites:** [researchrabbit.ai](https://www.researchrabbit.ai), [researchrabbitapp.com](https://researchrabbitapp.com)

**What it does:** AI-assisted literature discovery; citation/author network mapping; recommendations

**Tagline:** “On a mission to empower researchers with powerful technology”

**Founded:** 2021; team began in Seattle (source: [NIH/PMC article](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10403115/))

**Business model:** Free for researchers (see [homepage](https://www.researchrabbit.ai) and [app site](https://researchrabbitapp.com))

**Team size/presence:** Small team; LinkedIn shows 2–10 employees and 3,122 followers

**Core users:** Grad students, PhD candidates, faculty, librarians, research teams

**Key features:** Visual citation maps; earlier/later work; co-authorship networks; collections; alerts; personalized recommendations

**Support:** Contact via [support@researchrabbit.ai](https://researchrabbitapp.com/)

**Reviews/testimonials:** Curated quotes on the [Reviews page](https://www.researchrabbit.ai/reviews)

Helpful Resources

Product and value props: [Research Rabbit homepage](https://www.researchrabbit.ai)

Articles and guides:

[Best AI tools for literature review](https://www.researchrabbit.ai/articles/best-ai-tools-for-literature-review)

[Guide to using Research Rabbit](https://www.researchrabbit.ai/articles/guide-to-using-researchrabbit)

[Using Research Rabbit to speed up literature review](https://www.researchrabbit.ai/articles/using-researchrabbit-to-speed-up-literature-review)

Support and access: [Research Rabbit app site](https://researchrabbitapp.com)

Background context on scholarly graphs: [NIH/PMC overview](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10403115/)

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SEO keywords: AI literature review tool, citation mapping software, research discovery platform, co-citation analysis, author network visualization, academic literature recommendations, scholarly discovery tool, literature review workflow, Zotero integration for research.

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