LeapSpace goes live: the Research-Grade AI-Assisted Workspace built on trusted science

Leading publishers and societies join LeapSpace at launch, with 18+ million full-text research articles and books already included

LONDON, Jan. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- LeapSpace™, Elsevier's research-grade, AI-assisted workspace, is now live and available to customers. Built on the world's most comprehensive collection of scientific content, LeapSpace helps academic and corporate researchers uncover deeper insights, accelerate innovation, and collaborate seamlessly in one secure environment. It combines multi-model responsible AI with transparency and clear trust markers, industrial-grade data privacy and security, so that every insight is explainable, traceable, and grounded in the highest-quality global science.

Researchers are increasingly using AI but only 22% trust existing tools^[1], with 86% saying AI can cause critical errors^[2]. General-purpose AI tools are often opaque and do not include peer-reviewed content, making it difficult for researchers to assess how answers are generated or whether they can be relied upon.

"LeapSpace stands apart from general AI tools as it is built on peer-reviewed scientific content and is designed to support research, not generic queries. For teams under pressure to deliver well-supported evidence, LeapSpace advances rigor and transparency by providing traceable citations in its responses," said Victoria Ball, Associate Director, Global Library Services, at leading biopharmaceutical company Incyte. "R&D teams need quick access to verifiable scientific evidence within tight timelines and strict compliance requirements. In my early experience with LeapSpace, I'm impressed by how it helps shorten the time spent on cross-checking references for regulatory readiness and broader research needs. With clickable sources and clearly structured tables, it saves users time when sharing reports and streamlines workflows."

LeapSpace was developed and tested with the global research community and is already being used by thousands of researchers from the world's top universities and leading R&D-driven corporations.

Most comprehensive collection of trusted scientific content

Elsevier is bringing together selected content from leading publishers and scholarly societies to help researchers benefit from the broadest collection of peer-reviewed science. This publisher-neutral approach allows LeapSpace to draw from a growing, unmatched body of trusted content and data:

• New licensing agreements have been signed with Emerald Publishing, IOP Publishing, NEJM Group, and Sage, with more publishers set to join in the coming months. The solution displays fully referenced article extracts in its responses, linking to the article on the publisher's platform.
• 18+ million peer-reviewed articles and books from Elsevier, and licensed subscription and open access articles from other leading publishers and societies.
• The world's largest collection of research abstracts from Scopus (100+ million records, 7,000+ publishers).

LeapSpace is built on Elsevier's deep expertise in combining quality scientific information and data sets with innovative technologies to deliver critical insights that help researchers advance outcomes. By combining AI with structured, enriched, verified and linked data, LeapSpace delivers high-quality results that are accurate and grounded in trusted sources.

Transparency by design to support critical thinking

LeapSpace places researchers in control, delivering full context and transparency for every result while displaying, in real time, the steps used to generate each answer - enabling continuous human validation. All insights are referenced and can be traced back to their original sources, providing provenance. Innovative 'Trust Cards' explain why sources were cited and highlight contradictions, helping researchers calibrate the strength of the evidence with confidence.

Researchers report that LeapSpace supports critical thinking, saves significant time, improves research design, strengthens collaboration, uncovers new insights, and deepens analysis.

"LeapSpace was created with researchers in mind, which means I have more trust in it. It helps refine where I want to go in my research, validates certain directions to explore, and makes it easier to learn outside of my domain," said Paul Preuschoff, Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Researcher at leading research university RWTH Aachen University. "LeapSpace has also propelled me to a point in my reading I wouldn't reach otherwise. I run Deep Research Reports in the background and then save them for my train journey."

Judy Verses, President Academic and Government at Elsevier, said: "Researchers rightly demand AI they can trust. LeapSpace puts researchers in the driver's seat, drawing on the world's broadest and highest-quality peer-reviewed research and providing full visibility into the evidence behind every insight. Our goal is to support critical thinking, helping impact makers succeed."

Advanced AI, enterprise-grade privacy and security

LeapSpace uses a multi-model AI approach, selecting models based on the task to ensure optimal outcomes and flexibility as AI technologies evolve. It is built on enterprise-grade data protection and security. Use of third-party Large Language Models (LLMs) is private; no information is stored or used to train public models, and all data is stored in a protected environment. Elsevier ensures responsible AI use and data privacy in its AI solutions, in line with its Privacy Principles.  

LeapSpace is available now for institutions to purchase and will be available for individual academics and students to purchase in February 2026. For more information, please www.elsevier.com/products/leapspace/introducing-research-grade-ai.

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a global leader in advanced information and decision support. For over a century, we have been helping advance science and healthcare to advance human progress. We support academic and corporate research communities, doctors, nurses, future healthcare professionals and educators across 170 countries in their vital work. We do this by delivering mission-critical insights and innovative solutions that combine trusted, evidence-based scientific and medical content with cutting-edge AI technologies to help impact makers achieve better outcomes. We champion inclusion and sustainability by embedding these values into our products and culture, working with the communities that we serve. The Elsevier Foundation supports research and health partnerships around the world.

Elsevier is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. For more information, visit www.elsevier.com and follow us on social media @elsevierconnect.  

[1] Confidence in Research: Researcher of the Future Report 2025, Elsevier.
[2] Insights 2024: Attitudes Towards AI, Elsevier.

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SOURCE Elsevier Limited