Top Six Questions to Ask Your Research Tool

With the wealth of information available today developing at a breakneck speed, conducting quality research is more vital than ever. However, sifting through the sheer volume of content to find precisely what you need remains a challenge—not to mention the added obstacles of fact-checking and validating information. Investing in the right research tool can make an enormous difference in work efficiency and output quality. But not all solutions are created equal.  

Specifically, there are key capabilities that set the truly powerful tools apart. From the breadth and quality of sources to visualization features and time-saving measures, you need to know that a research technology investment is going to be an asset to and not a drain on your business.  

In this article, we break down the six questions you need to ask of your research tool and show how Nexis® provides the perfect answer to them all.   

What is the quality of data, and can I trust it?  

First and foremost, you need to know that the quality of the data you are researching is trustworthy. This has become even more challenging today as artificial intelligence and large language models are becoming a primary source of information. Like on the open web, it can be difficult to know you’re getting information from accurate or reliable sources on these platforms—often you won’t even get sources cited with the results.  

All these sources are part of an open web search, and you must do your own vetting as to their validity. This takes time you don't have, and you run the risk of disseminating content that is inaccurate--which could damage your reputation.   

That’s why a database that has vetted and trustworthy content from licensed sources is so important to conducting research. Unlike the open web, the data available through Nexis is carefully curated to provide premium content across premier source material. It excludes dubious sources to provide quality search results and reliable insights all in one platform. Our enriched datasets help you discern exactly where your content is coming from and the validity of the source. This means you don't have to worry about sharing incorrect data or making a business decision based on bad information.  

MORE: 6 ways premium news data yields better business performance 

How much data do I have access to?  

To make the right business decisions, you need information from more than one source. While news data can provide insight into one aspect of a business decision, you can add more insight if you also consult things like transcripts, legal data, public records, and company and financial data, among other sources. All this data can complete the picture, allowing you to be sure that you have everything you need to make your best decisions.  

While you can run an open web search and find some of this information, you’d be missing key insights from information not available on the open web. Furthermore, an open web search can often lead to a perfect source—only to have you stuck behind a paywall. This could mean you’re missing out on valuable data every time you do research.  

With Nexis, this isn't an issue. Boasting 36,000+ licensed resources and 45,000 resources across news, web and social media outlets, Nexis offers a comprehensive content library from leading publishers across the globe. Both current content and more than 45 years of archival content, including international outlets and nine different languages, are available in Nexis.  

On top news data and industry publications, Nexis has company data covering over 280 million organizations worldwide. It also features the industry's largest collection of legal dockets and documents, allowing you to stay current with court proceedings in international courts, as well as federal, state, and civil court filings in the U.S. This vast legal data collection can help you uncover potential financial or reputational risks, and you stay alert to shifts in the regulatory environment that could impact your business. 

For approved use cases, Nexis also connects you to LexisNexis® Public Records*. With more than 83 billion public records aggregated from 10,000+ sources, finding links between people, companies and locations could be a time-consuming process, but the sophisticated linking and reporting technology of LexisNexis® SmartLinx® does all the heavy lifting. As a result, you can quickly connect the dots to make well-informed choices.   

MORE: Experience Data Magic with Nexis Data+ 

Is it easy to find exactly what I need?  

With access to all that data on the open web, you can easily get overwhelmed by trying to find the right details. For example, it's quite possible that your search topic can have different meanings, lead you to a variety of people, or get commandeered by paid promotion. Ensuring that the results match your search intent can cost you valuable time and effort.  

Furthermore, filtering search results on the open web can be confusing and it might not lead to streamlined results.  

With a top research tool, you’re sure to get reliable content that is relevant to your topic. Nexis leverages natural language processing and machine learning to connect search queries across datasets, which is one of the reasons why it is the trusted business search engine for verified, up-to-date sources of competitive intelligence, breaking news and other key information.  

Nexis users can easily run searches across all database content or conduct advanced, targeted searches using the power search tool. With smart search technologies, Nexis researchers can input natural language or Boolean searches, pinpoint timelines and add or remove certain keywords. You can even easily save your research in Nexis® Hub to return to later. This makes sure you not only have exactly the right material, but that you also never lose it once you’ve found it.  

MORE: Search like a pro with these Nexis Search pro tips 

Is it easy analyze data for key insights and share the findings with key stakeholders?  

Gathering the data is one thing, discerning meaning from it is another. No one has time to look at long lists of data to get key results. Then, you need to make sure that all key stakeholders are on the same page to begin important discussions. It’s easy for articles or datapoints to get lost if they are sent in an unorganized, ad-hoc manner, which could cost you time and leave out some of the information you worked hard to find.  

A research tool that produces reports and customized analysis makes it easy for you to interpret data to support your business goals. Within Nexis, Nexis Newsletter lets users quickly and easily add content to an existing template with just a click or by dragging and dropping. This keeps your content organized, and you can add annotations to ensure key insights or context are clear—so decisions can be made even faster.  

MORE: Get the whole research picture, faster 

Can it keep me up to date with new developments automatically?  

Market changes happen fast, and it can be difficult to keep on top of all the news you may need to stay informed. While you can set alerts on an open web search, you still run into the challenge of getting inundated with irrelevant content or misinformation. 

The real-time alerts within Nexis take care of this problem because the same proprietary enrichments and indexing technology in the basic search monitor key terms and create updates that are delivered to you in real time. You get important information as it happens, so you never run the risk of missing a crucial moment.  

MORE: Top five reasons to take advantage of Nexis Free Trial 

Does it save me time and money?  

Open web searches are free, but have you calculated the cost of the time and resources spent sifting through all that data? Not to mention the costs to subscribe to every platform that has a paywall. Furthermore, in addition to the shift toward paywall content, media publishers are also becoming the second fastest growing segment behind streaming video services to adopt subscription-based models, meaning your costs will quickly add up.  

Nexis customers save money with access to restricted sources through one, easy-to-use platform. And, the ease-of-use saves you time on research, which will lower your total overhead costs. What's more, backed with the insights from specific, reliable data, you can make business decisions that will improve your bottom line. 

Our customized solutions are framed around set of core features and content with access ranging from a single license to large-scale enterprise, so prices and subscription plans vary from one client to the next, making sure you get exactly what you need.  

* Access to U.S. Public Records content is subject to credentialing. Due to the nature of the origin of public record information, the public records and commercially available data sources used in reports may contain errors. 

Due to the nature and origin of public record information, the public records and commercially available data sources used in reports may contain errors. The LexisNexis Public Records services are not provided by “consumer reporting agencies,” as that term is defined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. §, et seq.) (“FCRA”) and do not constitute “consumer reports,” as that term is defined in the FCRA. Accordingly, these LexisNexis services may not be used in whole or in part as a factor in determining eligibility for credit, insurance, employment, or another eligibility purpose in connection with which a consumer report may be used under the FCRA.