Google Scholar Labs is a major new AI interface for Google Scholar that launched in late November 2025.
Instead of using key terms to search academic studies, Scholar Labs lets teachers, academics, and their students ask research-related questions such as, “What are some recent research papers about mindset?" Google Scholar Labs then finds relevant research studies and summarizes.
Experimenting with the tool, I was struck by its speed and convenience. It’s a quick way to get a broad overview of any research topic, and while it doesn’t replace a more traditional research search, it can definitely help with one. It also furthers Google Scholar’s mission of making academic research more accessible overall.
What is Google Scholar Labs?
Scholar Labs is an AI-powered search tool designed to assist users in searching Google Scholar, Google’s search engine for scholarly resources such as research papers.
The tool's purpose is to simplify the process of finding relevant research. As such, it’s a useful tool both for seasoned academics and newbie researchers.
To use Scholar Labs, go to scholar.google.com/scholar_labs and then type in a search query. For instance, you can ask it to summarize all the recent research on flipped learning and whether it impacts student achievement. Within a few moments, you’ll get a type-annotated bibliography with links to various research papers on the topic and summaries of these papers.
How Well Does Google Scholar Labs Work?
Scholar Labs works as advertised. Despite some limitations, I found it to be great at providing a quick snapshot of research into a topic without requiring me to spend a lot of time searching.
For instance, in the example I gave above about mindset research, it provided me with 10 or so pieces of research on the topic that quickly let me know there are a good deal of questions around whether growth mindset is really as linked to student achievement as many educators believe. The tool led me more quickly to this takeaway than a traditional Google Scholar search might. I got similarly helpful results on queries about flipped learning and other topics.
You can also use Scholar Labs to compare and contrast different interventions, such as flipped learning vs. traditional classroom settings. In addition, you can get specific about the types of research you want it to include in its search summary with instructions such as, “include only randomized control trials.”
Despite all these great features, Google Scholar Labs is not perfect. By default, it tends to include a lot of old research, and can miss important studies. So while it provides a quick overview of research, it’s not a replacement for a deep dive on a topic.
Additionally, the tool is less a chatbot and more the Google Scholar version of Google Search’s AI summary tool. So your queries should be framed as questions, and it struggles to do more than provide broad research summaries.
When I asked it to find the first study linking Growth Mindset to education, it provided me with another summary of research into Growth Mindset’s impact on learning overall. This was not at all what I asked for.
Despite these minor drawbacks I find myself using the tool more and more as a starting point for my research.
How Can Teachers Use It?
Teachers can use Google Scholar Labs for quick overviews of pedagogical research and for research related to the subject matters they teach, as well as with students, provided such use is in accordance with their institution's data privacy and AI policies.
I plan on recommending it to my graduate students who are working on research. It’s the rare AI tool that is relatively free of drawbacks, provided students don’t over-rely on it and use it in addition to, rather than instead of, more traditional research methods.
Bottom line: Is Google Scholar Labs Helpful for Education?
Google Scholar Labs is an easy-to-use new AI tool that makes research more efficient, effective, and therefore accessible.
If you can’t tell already, I’m a big fan of Scholar Labs.
