Skip to main content
All CollectionsExplore features
How to Filter Searches by Paper Details
How to Filter Searches by Paper Details
Allison Elechko avatar
Written by Allison Elechko
Updated over a month ago

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

  1. Sign in to your Consensus account.

  2. Click the Filter button with three dashes on the top-right corner of the results screen.

  3. Choose the filters you’d like to apply.


Filter + Badge Definitions:

Papers

  • Published since: Select the year you would like your search to be filtered since.

  • Open access: This filter allows you to see results that have access to the full text.

  • Ask Paper available: You can use this filter to search for papers you can use Ask this Paper with.

  • 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.

Methods

Study Types:

  • 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

  • Controlled studies: A first-hand experiment or observational study that has a control, placebo, or hold-out group.

  • Human studies: A first-hand experiment or observational study that is conducted using human participants.

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.

Journals

  • 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

Domains

  • 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.

Country


Example:

Search with no filters or with restrictive filters:


Still need assistance? Contact us at [email protected] or via the Support Chat.

Did this answer your question?