Discovery tools are search engines that use AI to understand context, generate summaries, and suggest relevant research unlike traditional keyword-based searches that rely on matching keywords. This makes them particularly useful for starting your research or when you are struggling to formulate an effective search.
Key shared features:
Natural Language Search: You can ask full questions instead of using complex keyword search strings.
Results: Analysed based on relevance, not just keyword matching.
Limitations
Coverage: Many work with the same limited corpus of articles, making the search not comprehensive and more appropriate for specific disciplines and not others.
Accuracy: AI-generated summaries or syntheses can occasionally misinterpret nuanced findings.
Access: Some do not necessarily provide the full paper or link to paywalled sources.