Company Description
Research Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: RSSS) is a vertical SaaS and artificial intelligence (AI) company focused on simplifying research workflows for organizations that depend on scientific, technical, and medical (STM) information. According to the company’s public disclosures, it provides cloud-based technologies that help academic institutions, life science companies, and other research-intensive organizations obtain, manage, and create intellectual property and scientific literature more efficiently.
Research Solutions operates a single reportable segment built around software and related services. As described in its filings and press releases, the company generates revenue from subscription fees tied to its cloud-based SaaS platforms and from transactional service fees related to the electronic delivery of individual articles and other STM content. The company has stated that a majority of its revenue is derived from transactions, with additional growth coming from recurring platform subscriptions.
Business model and platforms
Research Solutions describes itself as a publisher-independent marketplace for STM content. Its offerings are designed to streamline discovery, access, management, and analysis of scientific literature. The company highlights two key platform pillars in its public communications:
- Article Galaxy – A SaaS research platform used by research-intensive organizations to streamline access to scientific research and data. The company states that more than 70 percent of the top pharmaceutical companies, as well as prestigious universities and emerging businesses, rely on Article Galaxy to obtain and manage scientific content, supported by 24/7 customer support.
- Scite – An AI-based product acquired by Research Solutions that underpins several AI capabilities. Public releases describe Scite as an AI-powered scientific research tool that uses citation analysis and “Smart Citations” technology to evaluate how research is cited (supporting, contrasting, or mentioning). This technology supports offerings such as Scite Rankings and contributes to the AI capabilities within the company’s product set.
The company positions its platform as a way for organizations to discover, access, manage, and analyze scientific literature more efficiently. It emphasizes that its tools bring together AI-powered features, including an intelligent research assistant and full-text search capabilities, with seamless access to both open access and paywalled content.
AI and workflow capabilities
In its news releases, Research Solutions highlights a set of AI-driven capabilities integrated into its SaaS platforms. These include:
- Intelligent research assistant features that help users work with large volumes of scientific literature.
- Full-text search across STM content to support in-depth literature analysis.
- Smart Citations and citation-context analysis through Scite, which categorize citations as supporting, contrasting, or neutral.
- Scite Rankings, a ranking system based on AI-driven citation analysis that aims to provide a different view of research influence and veracity by examining how work is cited.
These capabilities are presented by the company as tools to help academic institutions, life science organizations, and other research-focused entities evaluate research quality, understand how publications are received, and make decisions about where to direct resources.
AI Rights add-on and intellectual property management
Research Solutions also discloses a focus on copyright compliance and rights management for AI use of scientific literature. The company has announced an AI Rights add-on for its Article Galaxy platform, which it describes as a solution that enables corporate researchers to use generative AI tools with journal articles in a copyright-compliant way.
According to the company, the AI Rights add-on:
- Transforms Article Galaxy into a solution for AI rights verification and acquisition, providing clarity on usage permissions.
- Works with direct publisher partnerships, open access licenses, Reproduction Rights Organization agreements, and marketplace acquisition mechanisms to manage AI-related rights.
- Offers features such as instant rights verification, one-click rights acquisition for missing permissions, retroactive rights purchase for previously obtained content, and organization-wide licensing of AI rights.
These capabilities are presented as addressing compliance challenges for organizations that want to integrate generative AI tools into their research workflows while respecting publisher terms and copyright requirements.
Customer base and end markets
In its public descriptions, Research Solutions states that it serves academic institutions, life science companies, and research organizations worldwide. It also notes that more than 70 percent of the top pharmaceutical companies, along with prestigious universities and emerging businesses, use its Article Galaxy platform. The company’s focus is on organizations that are research-intensive and that need efficient, compliant access to STM content and related data.
The company’s disclosures indicate that it earns recurring revenue from both B2B and B2C platform subscriptions, as well as transaction revenue from article delivery. It also reports metrics such as annual recurring revenue (ARR), platform deployments, and transaction customer counts in its financial communications, reflecting its emphasis on subscription-based and transaction-based models.
Corporate structure, history, and listing
Research Solutions, Inc. is incorporated in Nevada and is traded on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol RSSS, as confirmed in its SEC filings. The company describes itself as a holding company that provides vertical SaaS and AI solutions through its operating subsidiaries.
In its news releases, Research Solutions notes that it was founded in 2006 as Reprints Desk, initially focusing on solutions to serve researchers. Over time, it evolved into its current form as a vertical SaaS and AI company centered on research workflows, STM content access, and IP-related services. The company has also disclosed that it became a fully remote company in 2019, and its SEC filings state that it does not maintain principal executive offices.
Financial reporting and performance emphasis
While specific financial figures change over time, the company’s communications emphasize several recurring themes in its performance reporting:
- A focus on platform revenue growth and the increasing share of total revenue coming from SaaS platforms.
- Tracking and reporting of annual recurring revenue (ARR) for both B2B and B2C segments.
- Monitoring gross margin improvements associated with a higher mix of platform revenue.
- Use of Adjusted EBITDA as a non-GAAP performance metric, with reconciliations provided in its financial releases.
The company also discusses its progress toward a “Rule of 40” framework based on ARR growth and Adjusted EBITDA margin, as described in its earnings-related press releases.
Governance and shareholder matters
Research Solutions’ SEC filings, including its definitive proxy statement (DEF 14A), outline standard corporate governance topics such as director elections, ratification of the independent registered public accounting firm, and advisory votes on executive compensation and the frequency of such votes. The company conducts virtual annual meetings of stockholders and provides proxy materials and voting instructions through online platforms.
Stock information and regulatory status
According to its Form 8-K filings, Research Solutions’ common stock is registered under Section 12(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and trades on The Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol RSSS. The filings do not indicate any delisting, deregistration, or bankruptcy events. The company periodically files current reports on Form 8-K to disclose earnings announcements, governance matters, and certain management changes.
Key concepts for investors and researchers
For those analyzing RSSS stock or evaluating the company as a partner or vendor, the publicly available information highlights several core aspects:
- A vertical SaaS and AI focus on STM content and research workflows.
- A publisher-independent marketplace model that combines AI tools with access to both open access and paywalled content.
- Emphasis on recurring revenue through platform subscriptions, complemented by transaction-based article delivery.
- Product initiatives such as Article Galaxy, Scite, Scite Rankings, and the AI Rights add-on, as described in company communications.
All of these elements are drawn from the company’s own descriptions in press releases, SEC filings, and related public materials.