# Ponder > Ponder is an AI research workspace where you search 320M+ scholarly works, map what you read, and write with every citation traced to its source. Ponder (https://ponder.ing) is built for researchers, graduate and PhD students, and analysts. It is used by 400,000+ researchers in 120+ countries and is available in English, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, French, German and Turkish. It runs in the browser; there is a free plan. A Ponder project carries one piece of research through three stages: - **Search**: ask a question in plain language. Ponder searches an index of 320M+ scholarly works and returns a cited review together with the papers behind it, with abstracts, full text and DOIs when available. - **Analyze**: bring PDFs, Word files, slides, audio and video, web links, or a pasted list of DOIs. Paper metadata is recognized from PDFs and DOIs when available (title, authors, journal, DOI). Ponder organizes sources into mind maps and notes, walks through a difficult paper, or maps a field. - **Draft**: write a literature review, paper or research report from the sources in the project, with every citation traced to its source. Give Ponder the legwork. Its agent searches the literature, reads your PDFs, and updates your mind maps and documents, right inside your project. Every step stays in view, it checks in when a call is yours, and it keeps working after you close the tab. How Ponder keeps work defensible: - Every citation is traced to its source. - If a citation is based only on an abstract or a link, it is labeled that way in the references. - Retracted papers are flagged in search-session results, require confirmation in the citation picker, and are checked again at export. - AI edits to mind maps and documents are saved as versions that can be restored. - Seven citation styles: APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago 18, IEEE, NLM, GB/T 7714-2025 and Harvard. Switching style updates the whole reference list. - Cited drafts and reference lists can be exported directly as Markdown or PDF. - User files, notes and drafts are never used to train Ponder's models or any third-party model. Ponder brings literature search, reading, analysis and writing into one research project. The sources you find feed the work that follows, from comparing papers to developing a draft. Work directly with papers, mind maps and documents, or have AI work on them with you. You can return to the evidence, revise the work and change direction as your understanding develops, with your materials and progress kept together. ## Product - [Ponder home](https://ponder.ing/): Product overview — Search, Analyze and Draft in one research project. - [Features](https://ponder.ing/features): Index of Ponder's capabilities and use cases. - [Pricing](https://ponder.ing/pricing): Free and paid plans. - [Security](https://ponder.ing/security): How research data is stored, protected and deleted. - [Release notes](https://ponder.ing/release-notes): What has changed in Ponder, newest first. - [Help Center](https://ponder.ing/help): How-to guides and answers about using Ponder. ## Research use cases - [AI Research Assistant](https://ponder.ing/ai-research-assistant): Ponder as an AI research assistant for academic work. - [AI Research Tool](https://ponder.ing/features/ai-research-tool): All-in-one academic research workflow. - [Literature Review Evidence Map](https://ponder.ing/features/literature-review-evidence-map-ai): Build evidence maps from a body of literature. - [Systematic Review Evidence Map](https://ponder.ing/features/systematic-review-evidence-map-generator): Structure a systematic review visually. - [Medical Literature Review Assistant](https://ponder.ing/features/ai-medical-literature-review-assistant): Literature review for medicine and health research. - [Citation Network Visualizer](https://ponder.ing/features/ai-tool-visualizing-citation-networks): See how papers cite and relate to each other. - [Research Gap Finder](https://ponder.ing/features/visualizing-research-gaps-with-ai): Map a field to find open questions. - [Dissertation Mapping](https://ponder.ing/features/ai-research-assistant-for-dissertation-mapping): Plan and map a dissertation. - [PhD Thesis Concept Map](https://ponder.ing/features/phd-thesis-concept-map-generator): Map thesis arguments and concepts. ## Guides - [How to use Ponder for a literature review](https://ponder.ing/blog/how-to-use-ponder-for-literature-review): Step-by-step literature review workflow in Ponder. - [Best AI tools for literature review](https://ponder.ing/blog/ai-research-tools-for-literature-review): Tools and workflow for literature review. - [Best AI research tools for students](https://ponder.ing/blog/best-ai-research-tools-for-students-2026): Curated tools for student researchers. ## Comparisons - [Ponder vs ChatGPT](https://ponder.ing/blog/ponder-vs-chatgpt) - [Ponder vs NotebookLM](https://ponder.ing/blog/ponder-vs-notebooklm) - [Ponder vs Elicit](https://ponder.ing/blog/ponder-vs-elicit) - [Ponder vs SciSpace](https://ponder.ing/blog/ponder-vs-scispace) - [Ponder vs Consensus](https://ponder.ing/blog/ponder-vs-consensus) - [Ponder vs Perplexity](https://ponder.ing/blog/ponder-vs-perplexity) - [Ponder vs Semantic Scholar](https://ponder.ing/blog/ponder-vs-semantic-scholar) - [Ponder vs Google Scholar](https://ponder.ing/blog/ponder-vs-google-scholar) ## Optional - [Blog](https://ponder.ing/blog): All articles — research guides, tutorials and product comparisons. - [NotebookLM alternatives](https://ponder.ing/blog/notebooklm-alternatives): Alternatives to Google NotebookLM for research. - [Elicit alternatives](https://ponder.ing/blog/top-alternatives-to-elicit): Alternatives to Elicit for research. - [SciSpace alternatives](https://ponder.ing/blog/scispace-alternatives): Alternatives to SciSpace for research.