Use research search to discover material across the web. Use a known URL when you already have the source, and a scientific database when you need structured records, accession identifiers, or a supported download format.
Choose the search surface
| Surface | Use it for |
|---|---|
| Web | General web pages and documentation. |
| Research | Academic and research websites; these results are web pages. |
| News | Recent reporting and announcements. |
| Developer | Technical and developer-oriented sources. |
| Scientific databases | Direct searches in registered scientific collections. |
Search research sources for recent comparisons of spatial-transcriptomics
normalization methods. Return the source links, dates when available,
what was compared, and whether each result is a paper, preprint, or review.
Specify scope and exclusions
Tell OpenScience the question, date range, source type, and inclusion criteria. Domain filters can either include particular hostnames or exclude them; both filter types cannot be combined in one search request.
Search only nature.com and academic.oup.com for papers published during
2025 about this method. Record the query and filters, and flag missing
full text before drawing conclusions.
Date bounds rely on reported absolute dates. Results with missing or relative dates may be omitted by a date-filtered search. Verify important publication dates at the source.
Choose how much content to retrieve
Search supports fast, balanced, and deep modes. Deep requests additional page content for up to three results; it does not mean an exhaustive literature review or a second ranking pass.
A request for top-page content also limits enrichment to a small number of results. Page content can be missing or truncated. Read the returned warnings and counts, and request a known page directly when you need more of that source.
In the conversation, expand a search to inspect source links, snippets and filtering warnings. Retrieved page text and the original search response have separate disclosures. Unavailable searches remain visible when ordinary activity is collapsed; a successful search returning zero results is labeled separately.
An arXiv record fetched through science_fetch contains citation metadata and an abstract, not the full paper. Open its HTML or PDF and inspect the relevant passages before attributing detailed experimental results to it.
Search for the method, then read the three most relevant primary sources.
For each, distinguish search-summary information from details verified in
the page or paper. Save the source list and unanswered questions.
Understand access and cost
Managed search uses the selected Ace funding workspace. A connected personal search account uses that account's access. A limited fallback may be available when funded search is unavailable; its coverage should not be treated as equivalent to a completed search.
Search cost is separate from the selected chat model. Using a local model does not make a paid search service free. See Pricing and Credentials.
Interpret partial results
| Result | What to do |
|---|---|
| A completed search with no matches | Broaden the query, check terminology, or choose another source. |
| A source or access error | Resolve access or retry the specific failed source. |
| Fewer results than requested | Inspect filters, limits, and returned warnings. |
| A snippet without the needed detail | Open the source before citing that detail. |
| A limited fallback | State the coverage limitation and supplement the search. |
A failed search is not evidence that the literature contains no relevant work.
A delegated agent can finish its handoff after a search failure. Its card then reports Completed with tool errors, retains the failed-attempt count and preserves the source failures. This does not establish that every missing source was recovered or that the review is exhaustive. An unfinished operation, missing handoff or interrupted run still reports an incomplete outcome.
Keep a search record
For a review, save queries, dates, filters, sources searched, access failures, and inclusion/exclusion decisions. Keep retrieved statements separate from your synthesis. Continue with Literature review for screening and evidence tables.