Post

More from @MushtaqBilalPhD

Mushtaq Bilal, PhD

@MushtaqBilalPhD

Dec 31, 2024

NotebookLM lets you create podcasts based on research papers.

Now you can also join these podcasts as a guest.

Here's how to do it:

1. Go to notebooklm[.]google[.]com and click on "Create new."

Upload a paper and NotebookLM will give you its summary.

2. In the column to your right, you will see "Audio Overview."

Click on "Customize" and add any instrcution on what the podcast should focus on.

Then click on "Generate."

Read 8 tweets

Mushtaq Bilal, PhD

@MushtaqBilalPhD

Dec 29, 2024

Ten ethical ways to use ChatGPT for academic purposes that do not involve any plagiarism:

1. Project Management and Scheduling:

Sample Prompt:

Project Title:
Project Type:
Expected Start Date:
Expected Finish Date:

Follow very carefully the steps given below:

1. Carefully consider the scope and type of the project (if it is a journal article, conference paper, dissertation, presentation).

2. Consider carefully the primary and secondary academic fields relevant to the project.

3. Act as if you are a leading expert in the primary and secondary fields relevant to the project. You can proficiently explain the project using adequate technical knowledge and language.

4. Act as if you are an award-winning teacher who can break down extremely complex ideas into easily understandable language.

5. Keeping in mind the scope, type, and the academic field of the project, break it down in tasks that can be scheduled weekly. Do this very carefully. This breakdown should optimize for speed without compromising on authenticity of the project.

6. Breakdown the weekly tasks into subtasks that can be completed within a normal workday of six to eight hours.

7. Every subtask should be accompanied by one to two pieces of clear and actionable advice to carry out the subtask. Remind me constantly to focus on progress and not perfection.

8. While giving the schedule of the project, you must consider the importance of both mental health and the ability to meet deadlines. Strive to have a work-life balance.

2. Brainstorming Ideas

Start by asking a couple of “warmup” questions. This way you will get better suggestions. You can ask questions like, “Do you know about X?” and “Do you know about Y?”

Then ask how we can be related X with Y. After that ask ChatGPT to help you brainstorm research questions on the relationship between X and Y.

While brainstorming ideas, always start with a basic idea and build on that gradually.

Read 13 tweets

Mushtaq Bilal, PhD

@MushtaqBilalPhD

Dec 11, 2024

ChatGPT still generates fake references to papers that don't even exist.

And Google just launched Gemini Deep Research.

It generates well-researched articles with references to published sources.

This will change the way we do literature reviews.

Here's how to use it:

1. Open your Google Gemini.

Click in the top-left corner and select "1.5 Pro with Deep Research."

2. Type in your question in the search bar.

Gemini will understand your question and create a research plan for you.

Then it will give you two options: Edit plan or Start research.

Read 11 tweets

Mushtaq Bilal, PhD

@MushtaqBilalPhD

Dec 3, 2024

Dr. Ally Louks's PhD thesis is set to be one of the most influential theses of 21st century. Puts forward an original argument with remarkable clarity.

Already has 85M+ views on X/Twitter.

Most people criticizing her don't understand her argument at all.

I have a PhD in literary studies, and in this thread, we'll do a close reading of her abstract to understand her argument in simple English.

Before we jump in, we need to keep in mind that a PhD thesis is written for a small group of 3-5 scholars.

These scholars serve as a candidate's supervisor and examiners. They are the only audience of a PhD thesis.

If you think you can't understand a PhD thesis, it's because you are not its intended audience.

Let's start with the title:

"Olfactory Ethics: The Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Prose."

There are three important here: ethics, politics, and smell.

Politics here is not used in the sense of running the political affairs of a country. Here, politics means things related to power.

If something reinforces oppressive power strucutres it's considered unethical (e.g. a story that celebrates poor people being discriminated against or getting killed).

If something challenges these power structures, that's considered ethical.

Put simply, the thesis deals with the relationship between smell and power.

In literary studies, we don't look at how things are in the world. That's not our concern. That's the job of anthropologists and sociologists.

Literary scholars look at how things are potrayed in literature. We deal with representations.

This thesis looks at how the relationship between power and smell has been portrayed in modern (1914-1945) and contemporary literature.

Read 16 tweets

Mushtaq Bilal, PhD

@MushtaqBilalPhD

Nov 29, 2024

Sci-Hub — a "pirate" website with 85M research papers freely available.

Here's how to integrate Sci-Hub with Zotero to get paywalled papers for free. This will take you just 5 min.

Billion-dollar academic publishers would get mad at you. So, do it at your own risk🤷

1. Go to this link: github[.]com/syt2/zotero-scipdf

Scroll down and click on "latest release xpi file."

This will download an "xpi" file to your computer.

2. Open your Zotero and click on "Tools" and then "Plugins."

In the Plugin Manager, click on the gear-like icon and select "Install Plugin From File."

Navigate to the "xpi" file you just download and add it.

Close the plugin manager.

Read 5 tweets

Mushtaq Bilal, PhD

@MushtaqBilalPhD

Nov 28, 2024

☹️Google Scholar is a great tool. But it doesn't show you how papers are connected with each other.

😀Here's how to fast-track your literature review with visual search using Google Scholar's database:

(And export papers to Zotero, Mendeley, or EndNote.)