Springer Nature survey shows early-career researchers drive AI-first discovery workflows

• Springer Nature published a market analysis showing AI is moving into early-stage research discovery, based on a March 2026 survey.
• Nearly 50% of 10,480 respondents reported frequent AI use for information gathering or editing, signaling rising AI-first workflows.
• Early-career researchers reported higher frequent use at about 48% versus about 34% for more established researchers.
• General-purpose AI tools dominated usage, accounting for 75.9% of tool mentions, pointing to weak penetration for specialized research tools.
• Institutional support lagged, with 11% reporting funding for their primary AI tool, while reliability concerns persisted despite broad satisfaction in discovery.

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