Research Rabbit Setup Guide

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Overview

• Visual citation network mapping
• AI-powered paper recommendations
• Seamless Zotero integration
• Forward/backward citation discovery
• Collection sharing and collaboration
• Free for academic use

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Step 1: Account Creation

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1.1 Sign Up for Research Rabbit

1. Visit researchrabbit.ai
2. Click “Sign Up”
3. Connect with your Zotero account

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Step 2: Understanding Research Rabbit Interface

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2.1 Main Dashboard

• Your collections of papers
• Shared collections from collaborators
• Recently viewed collections

• Citation network graph
• Papers as nodes, citations as connections
• Color coding by publication year or other metrics

• Selected paper metadata
• Abstract and key information
• Related papers suggestions

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2.2 Key Features Overview

• Visual representation of how papers cite each other
• Identify influential papers (central nodes)
• Discover research clusters and themes

• AI recommendations based on content similarity
• “More like this” functionality
• Semantic search capabilities

• Personalized paper recommendations
• Based on your collections and interests
• Weekly digest of new relevant papers

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Step 3: Zotero Integration

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3.1 Prerequisites

• ✅ Zotero desktop app is installed and running
• ✅ Zotero web sync is enabled and working
• ✅ You have at least 3-5 seed papers in a Zotero collection
• ✅ Your Zotero account is active and synced

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3.2 Connect Research Rabbit to Zotero

1. In Research Rabbit, click the ”+” button to create a new collection
2. Select “Import from Zotero”
3. Sign in with your Zotero credentials when prompted
4. Authorize Research Rabbit to access your Zotero library

1. Choose a Zotero collection to import (start with seed papers)
2. Give your Research Rabbit collection a descriptive name
   • Example: “SR2025_AI_Education_Seeds”
3. Click “Import” and wait for processing
4. Verify all papers imported correctly

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3.3 Bi-Directional Sync Setup

• Choose “Sync with Zotero” for bi-directional updates
• Set sync frequency (recommended: manual for better control)
• Select metadata fields to sync (title, authors, abstract, DOI)

1. Add a paper to your Zotero collection
2. In Research Rabbit, click “Re-sync with Zotero”
3. Verify the new paper appears
4. Test reverse sync by adding a discovery in Research Rabbit
5. Click “Sync to Zotero” to push changes back

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Step 4: Literature Discovery Strategies

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4.1 Starting with Seed Papers

1. Import Seed Collection: Start with 3-7 high-quality papers
2. Explore Citation Network: Click on papers to see their connections
3. Identify Clusters: Look for dense citation groups
4. Find Review Papers: Central nodes are often influential reviews
5. Discover Recent Work: Papers citing your seeds

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4.2 Citation Network Analysis

• Central nodes: Highly influential papers
• Bridge papers: Connect different research streams
• Isolated clusters: Potentially different approaches
• Color coding: Usually represents publication year

• Double-click papers to center the view
• Use zoom controls for different network perspectives
• Filter by publication year to see evolution
• Hover for quick paper details

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4.3 AI-Powered Recommendations

1. Select any paper in your collection
2. Click “Find similar papers” in the right panel
3. Review AI suggestions based on:
   • Content similarity (abstracts, keywords)
   • Citation patterns
   • Author overlap
   • Journal similarity

• Check your personalized feed weekly
• Papers recommended based on your collections
• Add interesting papers with one click
• Flag papers for later review

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Step 5: Collection Management

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5.1 Organizing Your Research

Research Collections:
├── SR2025_Seeds_Original          # Initial seed papers
├── SR2025_Citations_Forward       # Papers citing your seeds
├── SR2025_Citations_Backward      # Papers cited by your seeds  
├── SR2025_Similar_AI              # AI recommendations
├── SR2025_Reviews_Found           # Review papers discovered
└── SR2025_Final_Curated          # Papers passing initial screening

• Use project prefix (SR2025_)
• Include discovery method
• Keep names under 30 characters
• Use consistent abbreviations

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5.2 Paper Management

• Click ”+” in any collection
• Search by DOI, title, or authors
• Import from BibTeX/RIS files
• Bulk import from databases

• Use color coding for review status
• Add personal notes and ratings
• Tag papers by themes or methodology
• Mark papers for team review

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Step 6: Advanced Discovery Techniques

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6.1 Author Following

1. Click on author names in papers
2. View their publication history
3. Click “Follow Author” for notifications
4. Get alerts when they publish new work

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6.2 Journal Monitoring

1. Identify key journals from your collection
2. Set up journal alerts
3. Get notifications for new issues
4. Track special issues and calls for papers

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6.3 Keyword-Based Discovery

1. Use the search function with key terms
2. Combine multiple search terms
3. Use boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT)
4. Save searches for regular updates

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Step 7: Collaboration Features

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7.1 Sharing Collections

1. Select collection to share
2. Click “Share” button
3. Set permissions:
   • View only
   • Comment and suggest
   • Full edit access
4. Share via email or direct link

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7.2 Team Workflows

• Supervisor creates master collection
• Team members have “suggest” access
• Weekly review meetings to evaluate suggestions
• Final curation remains with lead reviewer

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Step 8: Export and Backup

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8.1 Export Options

1. Click “Sync to Zotero” in collection view
2. Choose target Zotero collection
3. Select papers to sync (or sync all)
4. Verify sync completed in Zotero

1. Select papers to export
2. Click “Export” button
3. Choose format:
   • BibTeX (.bib) - for LaTeX users
   • RIS (.ris) - for EndNote, Mendeley
   • CSV - for spreadsheet analysis
   • JSON - for custom processing

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8.2 Backup Strategy

1. Export collections to BibTeX
2. Save search history
3. Document discovery strategies used
4. Note any technical issues or limitations

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Step 9: Research Workflow Integration

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Daily Discovery Routine

1. Monday: Check discovery feed for new papers
2. Wednesday: Explore citations of newly added papers
3. Friday: Sync all discoveries to Zotero
4. Weekend: Curate and screen new additions

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Pre-Research Checklist

• Create Research Rabbit account
• Connect to Zotero successfully
• Import seed papers collection
• Explore citation network for 30+ minutes
• Find 5-10 related papers as initial corpus
• Sync discoveries back to Zotero
• Verify bidirectional sync is working

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Troubleshooting

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Common Issues

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Zotero Sync Not Working

• Verify Zotero web sync is active
• Check internet connection
• Try logging out/in of both platforms
• Use BibTeX export as fallback

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Partial Import Issues

• Check for duplicate DOIs
• Verify all papers have complete metadata
• Import smaller collections (<50 papers)
• Import missing papers individually

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Citation Network Not Loading

• Refresh the page
• Check browser compatibility (Chrome recommended)
• Clear browser cache and cookies
• Try with fewer papers in collection

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Poor Paper Recommendations

• Ensure seed papers are high-quality and on-topic
• Add more diverse seed papers
• Use more specific search terms

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Best Practices for Systematic Reviews

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1. Start Small, Expand Systematically

• Begin with 3-5 high-quality seed papers
• Expand in focused waves rather than bulk discovery
• Maintain quality over quantity

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2. Use Multiple Discovery Methods

• Forward citations (who cites your seeds)
• Backward citations (who your seeds cite)
• AI similarity recommendations
• Author following for prolific researchers

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3. Document Your Discovery Process

• Keep notes on search strategies
• Record date ranges explored
• Note which methods yielded best results
• Track sources of key papers found

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4. Maintain Quality Control

• Not all recommendations will be relevant
• Apply inclusion criteria consistently
• Use Zotero for final curation decisions
• Research Rabbit is for discovery, not final selection

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5. Regular Maintenance

• Clean out irrelevant papers from collections
• Review and refine your discovery strategies
• Sync with Zotero regularly to avoid conflicts

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Quick Reference

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Essential Keyboard Shortcuts

• Space: Pan the network view
• +/-: Zoom in/out
• Ctrl+A: Select all papers
• Ctrl+Z: Undo last action
• F: Fit network to screen

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Useful URLs

• Main platform: researchrabbit.ai
• Help center: help.researchrabbit.ai
• Feature requests: Research Rabbit Discord community
• Academic tutorials: YouTube Research Rabbit channel

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Integration with Zotero

• Primary integration for bibliography management
• Bi-directional sync capabilities
• Use Zotero for final paper curation