Searching within Consensus

Consensus helps you find, understand, and synthesize peer-reviewed research.

When you submit a query, Consensus looks for the most relevant research papers to ground its response. In Pro and Deep search modes, Research Agent can also plan multi-step searches, apply filters, read across papers, and return citation-backed answers.

There is no single “correct” way to search in Consensus. You can use keywords, natural language questions, Boolean queries, or more detailed research instructions.

For best results, keep a research question, topic, or paper at the center of your query.

Basic search tips

Search for topics likely covered in peer-reviewed research
Ask a clear research question or enter a focused topic
Include important details like population, intervention, outcome, timeframe, or study type when relevant
Use Pro messages or Deep review for complex, multi-step research questions
Use Paper Search when you want to browse papers without an AI summary
Search within My Library when you want answers based on your saved or uploaded papers

How to search

Access consensus.app/search/
Type a query in the search bar
Select your search mode
- By default, you will run in a Pro message. To run a more in-depth analysis, click Deep to turn your message into a Deep Review.
Open the Corpus dropdown to choose where you’d like to search:
- All: search our full database of 220+ million research papers
- Medical mode: search a curated subset of ~8M papers and 50,000 clinical guidelines from the top 1,000 medical journals.
- My Library: search within papers you’ve uploaded or saved
Submit your search

Search Modes

🔍 Paper search (formerly Quick search): Provides a list of relevant papers for your query without a summary, making it useful for quickly browsing sources (located under Tools in the bottom-left corner).

🔭 Pro: Analyzes up to 20 papers, providing a more thoughtful summary and connections between findings.

🔬 Deep: Conducts a comprehensive literature review across up to 50 papers, best for in-depth exploration of complex topics.

How should I format my search query?

There’s no single “right” way to search in Consensus, we’re built to adapt to your style.

You can search with:

Keywords
Natural language questions
Boolean logic
Paper titles
Author names
DOI-based queries
MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) synonyms
Instructions (i.e. “create a table”, “make a bulleted list”, "find the research gaps", or “explain it like I’m 6”)
Specific filters, such as study type, population, recency, sample size, or journal quality

Using Boolean logic in your searches

Consensus supports Boolean operators to give you more control over your search results. These operators can help you narrow, broaden, or refine your queries with precision.

AND = Show results that include all terms
- obesity AND diet AND exercise
OR = Show results that include either term
- yoga OR meditation
NOT = Exclude a term from results
- depression NOT postpartum
"Quotes" = Search for an exact phrase
- "traumatic brain injury"
(Parentheses) = Group terms for advanced logic
- Therapy AND (PTSD OR trauma) AND veterans

Example Searches:

Keyword searching

🍇 Fructose consumption

🤕 Cancer

🌿 Eucalyptus

Ask a yes/no question

Yes/no questions can generate the Consensus Meter, which shows the level of agreement or disagreement across the research.

🧠 Does creatine improve cognition?

🔫 Does the death penalty reduce crime?

😣 Is CBT effective for anxiety?

Ask about the relationship between concepts

🌎 What is the impact of climate change on GDP?

🧘 What are the benefits of mindfulness meditation?

❤️‍🩹 What are the long-term health effects of preeclampsia?

Add instructions for Pro or Deep

🏚️ Make me a bulleted list of all the effective ways to reduce homelessness

📄 Review the literature on the relationship between socioeconomic factor and healthcare outcomes in America

💊 Discuss the various supplements that reduce nausea, do it in very simple language

Ask for multi-step research workflows

Research Agent can help with more complex searches in Pro and Deep modes.

📊 Find RCTs on CBT, IPT, and digital interventions for adolescent depression. Build a comparison table with columns: intervention type, sample size, session count, follow-up duration, and effect size on depression symptoms

🧬 Starting from Jennifer Doudna's foundational paper on CRISPR-Cas9, identify the most important papers it cites that contributed to it as a genome-editing tool, then identify the key later papers that cite it. Organize results by year and type of contribution

💊 Find studies on GLP-1 agonists and cardiovascular outcomes published in the last 3 years, in Q1 journals, with sample sizes over 500. Summarize the strongest evidence.

Focus on the right subject matter

Consensus only searches through peer-reviewed scientific research papers to find the most credible insights to your queries. But keep in mind this covers many areas!

Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth Science, Environmental Science, Oceanography, Materials Science, Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, Linguistics, Economics, Political Science, Geography, History of Science, Philosophy of Science, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Cellular Biology, Genetics, Neuroscience, Ecology, Meteorology, Geology, Paleontology, Zoology, Botany, Microbiology, Pharmacology, Biophysics, Quantum Mechanics, Relativity, Astrophysics, Organic Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Software Engineering, Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Cognitive Science, Developmental Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Experimental Psychology, Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Social Psychology, Behavioral Science, Archaeology, Demography, Public Health, Nursing Science, Medicine, Veterinary Science, Dentistry, Agriculture, Forestry, Nutrition Science, Kinesiology, Environmental Health, Renewable Energy, Conservation Science, Space Science, Acoustics, Optics, Material Engineering, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Nuclear Engineering, Systems Science, Cybernetics, Urban Studies, Science Education, Science Policy, Science Communication, Science and Technology Studies.