Consensus
Consensus is an AI-powered academic search engine that can help identify the most relevant and high-quality research for your topic or research question. It searches over 200 million science and social science documents (primarily peer-reviewed journal articles) and uses various generative AI tools to summarize, organize, and understand your results.
Learn more: How Consensus works & explore FAQ’s
Get Started - Sign Up for Consensus
PennWest provides unlimited access to Consensus features for current students, which includes unlimited "Pro Searches" and 50 "Deep Searches" per user per month. Consensus also links to full text sources available through the PennWest (look for the PennWest logo in the results list).
To get started with Consensus, simply sign up for an account using your PennWest email address.
How to Search Consensus
Consensus can work with basic keyword searches (e.g., strength training AND injury prevention), but it is designed to uncover meaning and intention with natural language searches (e.g., Is strength training effective at preventing injury for long distance runners?).
Filters help refine results by limiting to research methodologies, fields of study, countries, publication date, and more.
Learn more: How to Search Consensus & Best Practices
Quick v. Pro v. Deep Searches
PennWest students can do an unlimited number of Quick and Pro searches and 50 "Deep Searches" per month. The type of search you select will change the number of results you receive as well as the depth of analysis provided by Gen AI features.
- Quick Search - A Quick Search is ideal for fast lookups and general understanding of a topic. This search option provides a summary based on the top 10 most relevant papers.
- Pro Search - Pro Search uses Pro Analysis to provide helpful summaries, topic overviews, a Consensus Meter, a claims & evidence table, and identified gaps in research. A Pro Search will include results and analysis of 20 papers. Learn more about Pro Analysis: How to Use Pro Analysis
- Deep Search - Doing a Deep Search breaks down your question into multiple sub-questions and runs up to 20 unique targeted searches related to your topic. Consensus reviews over 1,000 papers to select the most relevant ones and synthesizes a structured literature review based on the top 50 papers. Learn more about Deep Search: How to Use Deep Search
Consensus Tools
Like most library databases, Consensus includes convenient tools for citing, saving, and sharing results, as well as generative AI tools such as study snapshots and the ability to chat with articles. Explore a full list of Consensus tools here.