Semantic Scholar
Free AI-assisted academic search across 200M+ papers
Our verdict
The best free starting point for any literature search — you will still want a synthesis tool once you have the papers.
The Allen Institute's free research index layers one-line TLDR summaries, citation intent and related-paper suggestions over a clean paper search. It is not a chat assistant — it is the best no-cost layer for finding and triaging literature.
How we scored it
What we liked
- ✓Completely free
- ✓TLDR one-line summaries
- ✓Strong citation graph
What to watch
- ✕No conversational follow-up
- ✕Depth varies a lot by field
Key features
- ◆Paper search
- ◆TLDR summaries
- ◆Citation contexts
- ◆Author profiles
- ◆Free API
Best for
Appears in
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