Dimensions: New AI-based Natural Language to Query Search
Want to know how your research program’s productivity stacks up? Check out Digital Science’s Dimensions, a powerful, user-friendly research analytics tool that allows everyone at Stanford to measure and assess their research impact, identify collaborators and competitors, and inform strategic initiatives. Users can explore connections between researchers and institutions along with the grants, publications, clinical trials, patents, and policy documents that they may have contributed to the academic sphere.
While various search tools offer access to academic literature, Dimensions distinguishes itself by including a wide variety of research outputs from across the research life cycle including datasets, grants, patents, clinical trials, and policy documents. These features make Dimensions an excellent tool for assessing the research landscape.
How to Search Dimensions
Check out the video below for a demonstration of how to search Dimensions. You have a variety of search options to choose from, including:
- Full data: keyword search across all available information, including full text when publicly available. This will give you the most comprehensive results and is a good option if you are struggling to find information on a specific topic.
- Title and abstract: keyword search across titles and abstracts to find research outputs on specific topics.
- DOI: search for a specific item with a unique identifier
The similar documents search lets you enter an entire abstract of a relevant document to find similar documents. The advanced search provides options to search specific fields.
After running your search, you can navigate between different research outputs such as publications, datasets, grants, patents, and more using the top categories.
The filters on the left side of the results page let you narrow down your search results by a variety of fields including research organization, funder, and county of funder.
The database also provides a variety of analytical views to give a visual overview of your search results. Select “Analytical Views” on the right side of your results to see the view options and choose different visualizations including bar charts, timelines, heatmaps, and network views.
What’s New with Dimensions
Dimensions now offers an AI Query beta tool to develop complex search queries using natural language. This AI tool is designed to translate your natural question phrasing into complex Boolean expressions with relevant filters. You can access the AI Query in the search bar by using the sparkle icon.
For example, the natural language query: “Which papers talk about prostate cancer and were funded by an institution from the US, Canada, Japan, or Germany? Only show those published in Nature Medicine or The Lancet in the years between 2015 and 2019” would be translated into a keyword search from prostate cancer with appropriate date, funder, and source filters (see the screenshot below).
After entering your natural language search query, you can edit the output including the keywords and any added filters. You can also rate the quality of the AI-generated results. Test out this beta feature with your next Dimensions search.
How to Access Dimensions
There is a free version that anyone can access, but Stanford has a subscription to the database. Register for an account at the top right of the screen and enter your Stanford-affiliated email address to get started. Once registered, begin adding articles to your library or connect your ORCID account.
Questions?
Contact Lane Library or your liaison librarian for questions or additional support with Dimensions.
