Best ChatGPT Plugins for Research
ChatGPT can explain a topic on its own. A research plugin brings in the papers: it searches millions of peer-reviewed studies and shows you where each claim comes from. Start with one of these five.
How we picked. We check the ChatGPT directory every hour. We rank the plugins for each task by how often people search for them with ChatGPT. Ties go to the directory’s Featured and home page picks, then to the plugins ChatGPT offers on its own in conversations.
1. Consensus
Best for quick answers backed by studies
Ask Consensus a research question, such as whether bilingual education helps children think, and it answers from more than 220 million peer-reviewed papers drawn from PubMed, Semantic Scholar and arXiv. It also runs a literature review, builds Boolean search strings, writes a bibliography and points out gaps in the research.
Ready-made workflows cover systematic reviews, reading lists for a course, grant research with a novelty check and summaries of clinical evidence. People search for Consensus with ChatGPT more than for any other research tool, and ChatGPT names it first when you ask for a plugin that searches scientific literature.
- In the directory since
- December 2025
- Searches
- 220M+ papers from PubMed, Semantic Scholar and arXiv
- In the directory
- #1 of 680 in Education & Research★ Featured in the directoryChatGPT suggests it
@Consensus What does research say about creatine supplementation and cognitive performance?
@Consensus Find randomized controlled trials since 2020 on mindfulness for anxiety
@Consensus Summarize the evidence on minimum wage increases and employment
2. Scite
Best for checking a claim against the evidence
Scite shows how other papers cite a study: whether they support it, contrast it or only mention it. Ask it to fact-check a claim, such as whether microplastics raise heart risk, and you get the studies on each side.
It reads citation graphs, formats bibliographies and keeps your papers and notes in Collections. ChatGPT names Scite first when you ask for a plugin that checks facts against published studies.
- ChatGPT recommends it
- Named first in 7 of 7 answers to “Which ChatGPT plugin can check facts against published studies?”
- In the directory since
- December 2025
- Keeps your work in
- Scite Collections
- In the directory
- #6 of 680 in Education & ResearchOn the directory home pageChatGPT suggests it
@Scite Fact-check whether microplastics increase cardiovascular risk using supporting and contrasting studies.
@Scite Review CRISPR treatments for sickle cell disease, including outcomes, limitations, and retractions.
@Scite Find influential AI drug discovery papers and organize the best results into a Collection.
3. SciSpace
Best for a literature table you can sort
SciSpace finds papers on a topic and lays them out in a table with links and metadata. Add columns for the abstract, methods, results or conclusions and you can judge which papers matter without opening each one.
Use the list as the base for review notes, a thematic summary or a follow-up search. Ask it to review the literature on CRISPR gene therapies and write a report, or to find new papers on gravitational waves.
- In the directory since
- December 2025
- You get
- A table of papers with the columns you choose
- In the directory
- #2 of 680 in Education & ResearchOn the directory home page
@SciSpace find new research papers on gravitational waves
@SciSpace can intermittent fasting help me lose weight?
@SciSpace review literature on CRISPR gene therapies and write a report
4. Elicit
Best for pulling data out of many papers
Elicit searches more than 125 million academic papers in plain language and builds structured reports that extract the same data points from each study. You compare findings across papers without reading them one by one.
Elicit built the plugin with life sciences R&D in mind, from early target discovery to systematic reviews of the evidence.
- In the directory since
- May 2026
- Searches
- 125M+ academic papers
- In the directory
- #10 of 680 in Education & Research
5. Undermind
Best for reading full papers, figures included
Undermind runs a deep search meant to find every relevant paper, then reads the full text, figures and tables. It fetches open-access PDFs for you, and the PDFs you upload stay available in all your chats.
Ask it to find and read the four best studies on melatonin and sleep, or every study on creatine and memory in people. It organizes your papers and saves what you learn. Scientists in university labs and pharma R&D teams use it.
- In the directory since
- July 2026
- Reads
- Full texts, figures and tables
- In the directory
- #1 of 37 in Scientific ResearchOn the directory home page
@Undermind Find and read the 4 best studies on melatonin and sleep
@Undermind Find all studies published on creatine and memory in humans
Research plugins compared
How to choose a research plugin
- You need a fast answer with sources: Consensus.
- You want to know whether a claim holds up: Scite shows which studies support it and which contradict it.
- You screen dozens of papers for a review: SciSpace puts them in a table, and Elicit extracts the same data from each.
- You need the full papers, figures and all: Undermind.
- You need math or data computed: Wolfram.
- You search the web beyond journals: Exa finds research papers, news and company data.
How to use a research plugin in ChatGPT
@Consensus or the plugin’s name in a chat, or pick it under +More research plugins
ExaWeb search for AI agentsExa Labs Inc.Academic research
Life Sciences LiteratureFind biomedical papers, preprints, and open-access full textOpenAIAcademic researchScience & engineering
ZoteroFind papers and add citations from ZoteroOpenAIAcademic researchNotes & docs
NGS Analysis WorkbenchAnalyze sequencing dataOpenAIScience & engineeringData & databases
Sider ScholarSearch 350M+ Paper. Save. ChatSider AIAcademic researchNotes & docs
Molecular Structure ViewerVisualize and interact with molecular structures.OpenAIScience & engineeringAcademic research
Life Sciences DatabasesQuery structured public life-science databasesOpenAIAcademic researchScience & engineering
Tamarind BioProtein and molecular designTamarind BioScience & engineeringAPIs & integrationsQuestions and answers
What is the best ChatGPT plugin for research?
Consensus for quick answers backed by studies, Scite for checking a claim against the evidence, SciSpace for a sortable table of papers, Elicit for pulling data out of many papers, and Undermind for reading full papers, figures included.
Can ChatGPT find real academic papers?
Yes, with a research plugin. Consensus, Scite, SciSpace, Elicit and Undermind search databases of published papers and link each answer to its source, so you can open the paper and check it.
Are research plugins for ChatGPT free?
Installing a plugin is free. Each research plugin works under the plan you have on its service.
How many research plugins does ChatGPT have?
About 120 plugins in the ChatGPT directory help with academic research, from paper search tools such as Consensus and Scite to lab tools for biology and chemistry.