Deep Research Mastery: Brief, Launch, and Read Sourced Reports · Lesson 4 of 8

4. Launching a Session and Following It Live

Launch a background research session and monitor its progress in real time.

Deep Research runs multi-source AI investigations in the background. You type a question, select which providers to query — web, academic, news, specialized — and launch. The engine queries all chosen sources in parallel, cross-checks findings, and assembles a sourced report that is far deeper and better referenced than a single chat answer. Because sessions run in the background, you don't need to keep the page open; you can follow progress live or come back later from History.

To launch a session, open the Deep Research main page and type your question in the input field. Below it you'll see the available source providers. Pick only the ones relevant to your topic — academic for scientific queries, news for current events, web for general coverage — or hit Select All for maximum breadth. Then click Launch. The session starts immediately in the background and a live progress view appears so you can watch each provider return results in real time.

Tip

Fewer, well-chosen sources produce a tighter, faster report. Select All maximizes coverage but takes longer and costs more. Match providers to the question: if you're researching a regulation, academic + specialized beats a broad web sweep.

While a session runs, the live view shows which providers have been queried and which results are being synthesized. You can leave the page at any time — the research continues in the background. Every session is saved in History with its question, selected sources, current status, and the full report once complete. Reopen any past session to reread the report or launch a variant with Try Again.

Tip

If a session fails or returns thin results, open it and use Try Again. Reformulate with more specific terms: name the entities, time period, and angle you care about. Broad questions dilute results; precision drives quality.

Try it now

Open Deep Research now and launch the guided tour 'Getting started with Deep Research' (4 steps). Then type a real question, select two or three relevant sources, and launch your first session. Watch the live progress view as providers return results, then check History to confirm the session is saved.

Take this course in OUPI → This exercise is done inside the OUPI platform.

Recap

You now know how to launch a Deep Research session: type a precise question, select the right source providers, and hit Launch. Sessions run in the background — follow them live or revisit from History. If results are thin, use Try Again with a sharper question. Remember: source selection directly affects report quality, speed, and cost. Your finished report is citable rich text you can reuse in Documents, ChatPro, or workflows.

Guided steps in OUPI · Getting started with Deep Research

Ask your question — Be specific: entities, period, angle. The report quality follows the question quality.
Pick your sources — Select the providers to query — or Select All for maximum coverage (longer, costlier).
Your researches — Sessions run in background and land here, with their full sourced reports.
API keys — Bring your own provider keys to use your quotas and unlock more sources.