Elsevier launches LeapSpace, a research-grade AI workspace for scientists
21 January 2026
Elsevier has launched LeapSpace, an AI-assisted workspace built for academic and corporate research. The goal: help teams find stronger evidence, move faster, and collaborate in one secure environment with traceable, explainable outputs.
Under the hood, LeapSpace blends multi-model AI with transparency and trust markers, backed by enterprise privacy and security. Every response is tied to sources so you can see how it was formed and verify the claim.
Why this matters
Researchers are turning to AI, but trust is low. Only 22% trust existing tools, and 86% say AI can cause critical errors. General AI tools are often opaque and rarely grounded in peer-reviewed content, making it hard to judge reliability.
What LeapSpace includes
- Evidence first: Built on peer-reviewed literature with fully referenced extracts and links back to publisher platforms.
- Content depth: 18 million peer-reviewed articles and books from Elsevier, plus licensed subscription and open access content from other publishers and societies.
- New agreements: Emerald Publishing, IOP Publishing, NEJM Group, and Sage have signed on, with more to come.
- Scopus coverage: Research abstracts spanning 100+ million records from 7,000+ publishers. Learn more about Scopus.
- Accountability: Traceable citations, transparency markers, and industrial-grade data privacy and security.
Early user feedback
"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 rigour and transparency by providing traceable citations in its responses," said Victoria Ball, Associate Director, Global Library Services, at Incyte.
She added: "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."
Adoption and availability
Elsevier says thousands of researchers across leading universities and R&D-driven companies are already using LeapSpace. The platform presents fully referenced article extracts and links out to the original publisher page for verification.
"Researchers rightly demand AI they can trust," said Judy Verses, President Academic and Government at Elsevier. "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."
LeapSpace is available now for institutions. Individual access for academics and students is expected in February 2026. More details: Elsevier LeapSpace.
Practical ways to use it
- Literature triage with receipts: Generate summaries with citations you can click, check, and save.
- Regulatory and QA support: Speed up reference checks and evidence tables for submissions and audits.
- Study design and scoping: Surface prior art, inclusion/exclusion logic, and related methods quickly.
- Competitive and horizon scans: Build shareable, source-linked research briefs for stakeholders.
- Collaboration: Keep insights and sources in one secure workspace to reduce rework.
What to verify before rollout
- Coverage for your specialties and priority journals.
- Export options, audit trails, and how citations map to your reference manager.
- Access controls, data handling, and alignment with institutional policies.
- Integration with your ELN, knowledge base, or library systems.
If your team is building AI literacy for research workflows and compliance, see curated training options by role at Complete AI Training.
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