Consensus offers a powerful set of AI-enabled search filters, allowing you to refine your searches by:

When the paper was published
If there is open access for the paper
Ask paper is available
Number of citations a paper has
The type of study designed used (meta analysis, RCT, literature review, etc.)
Population studied (human, animal, in-vitro)
Study details: controlled and/or human studies
Sample size of the study
Duration of the study
Journal SJR rating
Field of study
Country the study took place in

These filters give you a completely novel ability to select the granular qualities of the research you want returned. Using this feature makes your search results more relevant and tailored to your needs.

Asking a medical question and only want human, randomized controlled trials? Simply pop open the filters tab and select your desired filter combination.

How to use Filters

Start a new search: https://consensus.app/
Click the Filter button with three dashes
Choose the filters you’d like to apply
Click 'Apply filter'

Filter + Badge Definitions:

General

Publish year: Select the year you would like your search to be filtered since.
Journal rank: SJR quartile rating
- Scimago Journal Rank measures the influence of journals within a domain. Scores are divided into quartiles, with Q1 being the most influential and Q4 being the least.
  - Q1: most influential
  - Q2: moderate influence
  - Q3: moderate influence
  - Q4: least influential
Citations: This filters the number of citations that a paper has. Having lots of citations does not necessarily mean the finding is more valid, but it is an indicator of a paper’s influence.
Exclude Preprints: This filter removes preprint papers that have not yet been peer-reviewed, helping you focus on finalized, published research.
Ask Paper: You can use this filter to search for papers you can use Ask this Paper with.
Open access: This filter allows you to see results that have access to the full text.

Methodology

Design:

Meta-Analysis: A “study of studies” where the authors, in a standardized way, analyze data from multiple studies.
Systematic Review: A review of the existing research on a subject with some systematic inclusion criteria
RCT: An experiment that has a control (or hold-out) group that is randomly assigned.
Non-RCT Trial: An experiment where an intervention is given but does not have a randomly assigned control or hold-out group.
Observational Study: An experiment where the authors systematically observe a group of humans or animals, but no intervention is given.
Literature Review: A review of the existing research with no explicitly laid out inclusion criteria (i.e. background or narrative reviews).
Case Report: A sub-class of observational studies that are a report of a specific individual or individuals, usually about a medical topic.
Animal Trial: An experiment or observational study that is conducted on non-human animals.
In-Vitro Trial: An experiment that is conducted within a test-tube

Study Details

Sample size: The number of participants from first-hand experiments or observational studies.
Duration: Filter for the length of time the experiment ran for: Day, Week, Month, Year.
- This is a helpful filter for:
  - Clinical Trials: To assess short-term efficacy versus long-term safety of medical treatments or interventions.
  - Nutrition: To find studies on the effects of dietary changes over days, weeks, or months, such as weight loss or nutrient impact.
  - Environmental Toxicology: To differentiate short-term vs. long-term exposure impacts of chemicals or pollutants on health and ecosystems.
Controlled studies only: First-hand experiments or observational studies that has a control, placebo, or hold-out group.
Human studies only: First-hand experiments or observational studies that is conducted using human participants.

Fields of study

Filter your results for the field of study
- Agricultural and Food Sciences, Art, Biology, Business, Chemistry, Computer Science, Economics, Education, Engineering, Environmental Science, Geography, Geology, History, Law, Linguistics, Materials Science, Mathematics, Medicine, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, and/ or Sociology.