Deep Research: A Systematic Survey

Preprints.org

Abstract

Large language models (LLMs) have rapidly evolved from text generators into powerful problem solvers. Yet, many open tasks demand critical thinking, multi-source, and verifiable outputs, which are beyond single-shot prompting or standard retrieval-augmented generation. Recently, numerous studies have explored Deep Research (DR), which aims to combine the reasoning capabilities of LLMs with external tools, such as search engines, thereby empowering LLMs to act as research agents capable of completing complex, open-ended tasks. This survey presents a comprehensive and systematic overview of deep research systems, including a clear roadmap, foundational components, practical implementation techniques, important challenges, and future directions. Specifically, our main contributions are as follows: (i) we formalize a three-stage roadmap and distinguish deep research from related paradigms; (ii) we introduce four key components: query planning, information acquisition, memory management, and answer generation, each paired with fine-grained sub-taxonomies; (iii) we summarize optimization techniques, including prompting, supervised fine-tuning, and agentic reinforcement learning; and (iv) we consolidate evaluation criteria and open challenges, aiming to guide and facilitate future development. As the field of deep research continues to evolve rapidly, we are committed to continuously updating this survey to reflect the latest progress in this area.

Authors 21

1. Yiqun Chen

   Renmin University of China

   Affiliation as printed

   Renmin University of China

2. Haitao Li

   Tsinghua University

   Affiliation as printed

   Tsinghua University

3. Weiwei Sun

   Carnegie Mellon University

   Affiliation as printed

   Carnegie Mellon University

4. Yougang Lyu

   University of Amsterdam

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Amsterdam

5. Run-Ze Fan

   University of Massachusetts Amherst

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Massachusetts Amherst

6. Bowen Jin

   University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

   Affiliation as printed

   University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

7. Yixuan Weng

   Westlake University

   Affiliation as printed

   Westlake University

8. Minjun Zhu

   Westlake University

   Affiliation as printed

   Westlake University

9. Qiujie Xie

   Westlake University

   Affiliation as printed

   Westlake University

10. Xinyu Guo

    University of Arizona

    Affiliation as printed

    University of Arizona

11. Qu Yang Aachen

    Leiden University

    Affiliation as printed

    Tencent 12 Leiden University

12. Jiang Wu Aachen

    Leiden University

    Affiliation as printed

    Tencent 12 Leiden University

13. Xiaqiang Tang Aachen

    Leiden University

    Affiliation as printed

    Tencent 12 Leiden University

14. Xin Ma Aachen

    Leiden University

    Affiliation as printed

    Tencent 12 Leiden University

15. Cunxiang Wang

    Tsinghua University

    Affiliation as printed

    Tsinghua University

16. Qingyao Ai

    Tsinghua University

    Affiliation as printed

    Tsinghua University

17. Wenxuan Wang

    Renmin University of China

    Affiliation as printed

    Renmin University of China

18. Yue Zhang

    Westlake University

    Affiliation as printed

    Westlake University

19. Yiming Yang

    Carnegie Mellon University

    Affiliation as printed

    Carnegie Mellon University

20. Zhaopeng Tu corresponding Aachen

    Leiden University

    Affiliation as printed

    Tencent 12 Leiden University

21. Zhaochun Ren corresponding