Search Advisor

Search Advisor is the first website for the comparison of scientific databases and search engines. Search Advisor suggests users the best search system for their specific search task a t hand and thereby allows scientists, students and decision makers to find faster and better. On the basis of innovative test heuristics Search Advisor allows the comparison of implicit performance characteristics of dozens of very different search systems. It acts as a central control body and verifies whether the quality standards of scientific search are met. Similar to tariff-comparison websites Search Advisor allows the detailed real-time selection of various distinct search criteria; and similar to consumer protection websites Search Advisor tests independently, comprehensively and transparently whether search functionalities are in fact operational and bring the promised results. All these is completely free for millions of interested users worldwide. Background: The challenges of scientific search and why Search Advisor is needed. Finding the right scientific information was never this important. For Covid-19 alone more than 1000 medical studies are being published daily(!). This flood of information is no exception. In fact, the stock of scientific publications is growing at an exponential rate, in all disciplines, globally. Hundreds of millions of publications are scattered across hundreds of search systems; all systems with different disciplinary focus and technical search capabilities. Particularly with new, AI-based systems the search capabilities are mostly non-transparent and often also embellished. Without a control and comparison authority users cannot be certain about the limitations they search and if they would not find faster and better with some other service. This is problematic, because the choice of search system defines which information will (not) be seen, which conclusions are drawn and which decisions are made, not just to fight Covid-19. Current state of Search Advisor Search Advisor bases on a recently published study which drew tremendous interest in the scientific community. Measured by Tweets, Blogs, and news entries, etcetera (Altmetric) the article is the most successful published in the renown scientific journal Research Synthesis Methods. Among others, the study was featured in London School of Economics Impact Blog and Science. Based on the findings of this study we build Search Advisor to make scientists find better and faster. Collaborating with institutions of different disciplines Search Advisor aims at defining what search systems need to be able to perform in order to meet the high criteria of scientific search.