Sign up for a free ResearchRabbit account at<https://researchrabbitapp.com/home>

ResearchRabbit homepage with a left hand menu. Menu options  are: New Collection, New Category, Import Zotero Collection. Beneath these menu options are a list of all previously created ResearchRabbit collections.

Alert! This tutorial demonstrates how to interact with a collection of PDFs previously uploaded from the free open source citation management software Zotero. Learn how to use Zotero using[ our library guide](https://towson.libguides.com/zotero). Alternatively, you can choose to create a "New Collection" instead of "Import Zotero Collection."

Popup window over ResearchRabbit homepage. Choose a Zotero collection to sync with ResearchRabbit. All Zotero folders listed, titles on left and a button to "Start Sync" on the right.

Choose the Zotero collection you want to sync and select "Start Sync"

This name can be the same as the Zotero name or something completely different.

Enter a name for your new collection and select "OK"

A new column appears to the right of the menu. Directly above the PDF titles is a button to "Select all."

Let's use all our starter sources to find new sources; just click "Select All"

The new column to the right shows how many papers have been selected. There are two main actions available: Explore papers or explore people. Within the Explore Papers action are options to see similar work, earlier work, or later work.

Let's explore "Similar Work" since ResearchRabbit suggests there are 347 items!

The new column that appears defaults to showing "Comments." Select the blank checkbox beneath the Filter search bar to display "Abstracts" instead.

Select the check box to display "Abstracts" to learn more about these similar items

Use the controls at the bottom of this new column to zoom out, zoom in, or fit all of this new "Connections between your collection and 50 papers" network graph.

The large green dots are authors of our starter sources; here we see Zhang, an author of a 2023 piece we plan to cite, is considered part of a scholarly network with three other authors represented by smaller blue dots

This four author-pairing is one of two clearly connected author networks within the visualization.

Let's select the blue dot directly beneath Zhang, representing a 2021 article by Bourtoule

This column displays all authors of the paper, the publication date, the citation count, and the abstract.

That specific Bourtoule 2021 article appears as a new column to the right of our "Similar Work" visualization

The No PDF button is grayed out directly above the abstract. If ResearchRabbit does have a link to the PDF, this button is functional.

Alert! Although ResearchRabbit is aware of this paper, it is unable to provide a PDF copy for us to read; that's ok—we can always find it via Cook Library!

The "Explore Papers" action of this column include options to explore: Similar work, All references, and All citations. Similar Work shows 950 new options; All References show 65 new options; All Citatios show 85 new options.

We can continue our examination of this source by adding more columns; let's select "All Citations" to see what papers went on to cite Bourtoule's 2021 piece

The "Abstracts" checkbox is directly beneath the Filter search bar.

Remember to select the check box to show "Abstracts"

The Filter search bar is the first interactive element in this column.

By default, ResearchRabbit organizes results by relevance, but...

Other Filter options are: Citations, First Author, and Last Author.

Number of Citations is the second option.

This column provides an option to Explore people, specifically option 1) These authors or option 2) Suggested authors. At the bottom of this column are all export options.

You can export data from any column; for columns with text data, such as this list of "Suggested Authors," you can choose between BibTex, RIS, or CSV.

Revist the "Connections between your collection and 50 papers" network graph column. Select the downward facing arrow to download this visualization to your own device.

For columns with visual data, such as this network graph of "Similar Work" column, you can only export as a PNG format.

Collections of papers can be shared. The links to these collections allow collaborators to explore whatever connections they choose.

You can even share your online interactions by enabling the "SHAREABLE LINK" function

Brittni is a white woman in her 30s with shoulder length, wavy brown hair and glasses. The slide reads, "Let's talk! Weekend and evening meetings available."

Have more questions? Contact Brittni Ballard[ via email](mailto:bballard@towson.edu) or schedule a tech consult via her [personal YouCanBookMe page](https://bballard.youcanbook.me/).

Towson

Researchrabbitapp

Zotero

This guide provides step-by-step directions on using ResearchRabbit to discover potential references for comprehensive literature reviews. By integrating Zotero for PDF management and exploring similar work plus suggested authors, users can explore graphic visualizations of author networks and visualize related papers in timeline form. Finally, this guide demonstrates how to export data and share the collection for collaborative feedback and contributions.

ResearchRabbit for Literature Reviews