# Assessing LLMs for Serendipity Discovery in Knowledge Graphs: A Case for Drug Repurposing

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.12472 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2511.12472/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 2 of its 14 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 16 Nov 2025.

## Builds on (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Can LLMs Generate Novel Research Ideas? A Large-Scale Human Study with 100+ NLP Researchers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.04109/) (2024)
- [Can Large Language Models Assess Serendipity in Recommender Systems?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.07499/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Large Language Models (LLMs) have greatly advanced knowledge graph question answering (KGQA), yet existing systems are typically optimized for returning highly relevant but predictable answers. A missing yet desired capacity is to exploit LLMs to suggest surprise and novel ("serendipitious") answers. In this paper, we formally define the serendipity-aware KGQA task and propose the SerenQA framework to evaluate LLMs' ability to uncover unexpected insights in scientific KGQA tasks. SerenQA includes a rigorous serendipity metric based on relevance, novelty, and surprise, along with an expert-annotated benchmark derived from the Clinical Knowledge Graph, focused on drug repurposing. Additionally, it features a structured evaluation pipeline encompassing three subtasks: knowledge retrieval, subgraph reasoning, and serendipity exploration. Our experiments reveal that while state-of-the-art LLMs perform well on retrieval, they still struggle to identify genuinely surprising and valuable discoveries, underscoring a significant room for future improvements. Our curated resources and extended version are released at: https://cwru-db-group.github.io/serenQA.