Elsevier Unveils Next-Generation AI Assistant to Redefine Global Research
LONDON, September 17, 2025 — Elsevier, a global leader in advanced information and decision support, today announced the development of a comprehensive, next-generation AI-powered solution aimed at fundamentally transforming the academic and corporate research workflow. Developed in collaboration with the research community, the "end-to-end" solution is designed to accelerate scientific breakthroughs, boost productivity, and improve the impact of research while upholding principles of integrity and trust.
The new tool is positioned as a sophisticated alternative to generic AI, which, according to Elsevier, often falls short due to reliance on limited literature, low-quality data, and a lack of transparency. The company’s solution directly addresses these challenges by combining a powerful AI assistant with unmatched content depth, breadth, and quality.
"By combining a powerful AI assistant with high-quality peer-reviewed literature from across publishers, we aim to create a next-level experience for impact makers who are advancing human progress," said Judy Verses, Elsevier President of Academic and Government Markets. The assistant is intended to be a single, seamless assistant where researchers can brainstorm ideas, plan projects, review literature, find collaborators, and discover funding opportunities.
A Focus on Trust and Transparency
A cornerstone of the new platform is its commitment to transparency and reliability. Key differentiating features include:
Trust Cards: A novel feature that provides transparency by showing exactly how evidence was used or inferred, highlighting confidence levels, and offering risk assessments for potential inaccuracies.
Certified Content Only: The answers are powered by a vast repository of comprehensive, peer-reviewed, cross-publisher academic content, including both subscription and Open Access material, ensuring no critical evidence is missed.
Publisher-Neutral Algorithms: To guarantee unbiased results, the platform will utilize publisher-neutral algorithms and will be overseen by an independent Advisory Board focused on transparent and responsible ranking based on quality.
The solution leverages trusted content from ScienceDirect and comprehensive data and analytics from Scopus' 100+ million interconnected records. It is built on Elsevier’s Responsible AI Principles, prioritizing human oversight and transparency to augment, rather than replace, human expertise.
Roadmap and Availability
Elsevier confirmed that a closed beta version has been launched, with hundreds of invited researchers currently testing the capabilities. The full solution is slated to be commercially available for purchase in Q1 2026. Existing customers of ScienceDirect AI will gain access to the new platform as part of their current subscriptions. The company views the initiative as a crucial step in ensuring emerging AI tools support—not undermine—original human thinking and creativity in the pursuit of academic excellence.
