Supporting academic research
Research Assistant aims to inspire students and researchers to ask questions; discover new meanings and perspectives; and dig deeper into their research.
What can Research Assistant do?
Research Assistant supports four types of request:
Answer research questions – get cited overviews of topics drawn from academic books in Perlego’s library
Find books on Perlego – check whether specific titles or authors are available
Recommend books – get suggestions by topic or based on a book you know, with refinement options
Answer basic questions about a book – find out what a title covers before you open it
Availability & usage
Device & platform
Available on desktop & mobile devices
Available on web browsers only
Not yet available on the Perlego mobile app
Subscriptions
Not yet subscribed? You can try Research Assistant for free with a limited number of questions. To keep going or read full books, you'll need a Perlego subscription.
Personal subscribers You have full access if you're on the Complete plan, or if you've been subscribed since before November 2025.
Institutional subscribers (university or organisation) Access depends on whether your institution has turned it on. If you're not sure, check with your library or IT team.
Language
Research Assistant currently searches English-language content only — but ask in any language and you'll get your answer in that language.
Step 1: Inspire
Curiosity is key.
Ask questions
Ask questions to build a better understanding of broad topics and find nuances to inform what direction to take next in your research.
Tip 🪄
For the richest research overviews, ask questions about the subject matter rather than asking to summarise a specific book.
✅ How did World War II shape politics in Europe?
❌ Summarise Educational Psychology by Tony Cline
✅ What are theories surrounding educational psychology?
❌ Find me books about World War II impact on politics
Explore alternatives
At the end of an overview, Research Assistant will propose alternative questions to help you consider different angles for your search. Each time you reframe the question you get a different response — be creative!
Create threads
Your initial discovery may lead you to identifying sub-categories or arguments. Ask Research Assistant to explore those or other positions by asking new questions. These questions are saved within the same thread as the original question for easy access later.
Note: new questions are researched independently of the preceding questions, so be sure to include all the context you need in each question.
No results?
Research Assistant is continuously improving. If there aren’t enough resources (3+) to confidently form a response, it will let you know.
Try asking a different question or rephrasing. If you need help, contact our support team (details below).
Step 2: Discover
Tap on any numbered resource or citation
Tap any numbered resource or citation to discover the specific passage used to inform the corresponding section of the overview. Sources can be found in three places:
Book titles are shown at the top of the overview
In-line reference numbers correspond to book tiles and the reference list
Full reference list (Harvard style) at the end of each overview
Step 3: Dig deeper
Read excerpts
Reading excerpts directly from the referenced texts will help you to narrow down key sources.
Open in book
Tap on the title to access more information about the book, or dig even deeper by selecting Open in book to access the full text within our reader.
Find & explore books in the library
In addition to answering research questions, Research Assistant can help you find and explore books in Perlego’s library.
Search for a specific book
Ask whether a particular title or author is available on Perlego. For example:
Is Shoe Dog on Perlego?
Does Perlego have books by J. Armstrong?
Search for multiple books at once
You can check availability for a list of titles or ISBNs in a single message. For example:
I have this list of books: X, Y, Z — are they on Perlego?
I am looking for these books with ISBNs 978XX, 978XX
Get book recommendations
Ask for reading suggestions on a topic, or based on a book you already know — even one that isn’t on Perlego. Recommendations can be refined based on publishing information, table of contents, and descriptions. For example:
Can you recommend books on behavioural economics?
I enjoyed Thinking, Fast and Slow — what should I read next?
Ask basic questions about a book
Research Assistant can answer general questions about a specific book using its metadata, helping you decide whether it’s worth opening. For example:
What is this book about?
Does this book address X?
Terms of use
Disclaimer: The information generated by this AI model is for informational purposes only and may not always be accurate or up-to-date. We do not accept any responsibility for false or misleading information produced by the AI. Additionally, the opinions and perspectives expressed in the content of the books available in the Library are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect our views. Users are encouraged to verify any information independently.
Feedback
We’re continuously improving Research Assistant and want to hear from you. Tell us what’s working, what isn’t, and what you’d like to see next.
Perlego is dedicated to providing you with an accessible research experience that cuts through the noise of irrelevant or unreliable information, so you can count on our library as a trusted academic resource.
Contact support 💙
If you have any questions, let us know via live chat or email us at [email protected]