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Mushtaq Bilal, PhD

Mar 16, 2023 • 14 tweets • 5 min read • Read on X

Scrolly

There are many AI-powered tools for taking notes, but none like Glasp.

It's powered by ChatGPT and has some extraordinary features.

And it's totally FREE!

Here's how to set it up:

Glasp is a Chrome extension that you will have to add to your browser.

Go to Chrome webstore and look up Glasp.

Then click on "Add to Chrome."

After adding it to Chrome, click on the puzzle-like button in the top-right corner to see a list of your extensions.

Click on the "pin" next to Glasp to pin it to your browser.

Click on the Glasp icon and log in with your email.

Now open a journal article you want to read and simply start highlighting whatever you think is important.

You can also color-code your annotations.

To write a note, simply highlight a passage and click on the ✍️ icon.

Glasp will open a new note for you. Start writing.

You can also add your comments to annotations.

To do so, click on the small pen-like icon in the bottom-right corner of a note.

To access all your notes, click on the home button in the top-right corner of Glasp.

It will take you to your account.

Click on "My Highlights" to see all your notes.

You can find these features in many other note taking apps.

What sets Glasp apart is this 👇

Click on the "Home" button in the top-left corner of your account and it will show you notes from people in the Glasp community.

You can their work, and they can follow yours.

Think of it as Twitter for note-takers.

This feature is particularly helpful for group projects.

You can explore the community to find like-minded people.

To do so, click on the "Explore" button and see what other people are reading and taking notes on.

With Glasp, you can also take notes on YouTube videos.

Click on the "Transcript and Summary" in the top-right corner and simply start annotating.

You can also create summaries of videos with Glasp.

Click on the OpenAI's icon next to "Transcript & Summary" and you will get a summary of the video generated by ChatGPT.

@MushtaqBilalPhD

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More from @MushtaqBilalPhD

Mushtaq Bilal, PhD

@MushtaqBilalPhD

Jan 5

How to build an academic writing habit (to write a lot and publish a lot):

In his book "Atomic Habits," James Clear writes about habits that are so small we don’t even notice them, but the power they have over us is immense.

He calls them atomic habits.

Although they are small, building atomic habits is VERY DIFFICULT.

Why?

Clear calls the time between the point we start a habit to the point we start seeing its first results "the plateau of latent potential."

Most people remain stuck within this plateau.

To see the results of any habit, we must cross the plateau of latent potential.

Read 21 tweets

Mushtaq Bilal, PhD

@MushtaqBilalPhD

Dec 25, 2025

Don't use Sci-Hub — it's a "controversial" website with 84M+ research papers freely available.

We should all try to make billion-dollar academic publishers richer.

Anyway, here's a thread on how to integrate Sci-Hub with Zotero to get free papers.

🚨DO NOT DO IT!

1. Don't go to this link:
github(dot)com/syt2/zotero-scipdf

But if you do, replace the word "dot" with an actual [.]

Don't scroll down and click on "latest release xpi file."

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

2. Don't open your Zotero. But if you do, click on "Tools."

In "Tools," click on "Plugins." This will open Zotero's Plugin Manager.

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

Navigate to the XPI file you downloaded and add it.

Read 6 tweets

Mushtaq Bilal, PhD

@MushtaqBilalPhD

Dec 24, 2025

10 books to help you become a better academic writer so you can write a lot and publish a lot:

1. Academic Writing as if the Reader Matters by Leonard Cassuto

Practical tips on how to make your academic writing more engaging and readable. Examples from the arts and sciences.

2. The Clockwork Muse by Eviatar Zerubavel

Helpful advice on how to organize your writing process in terms of time.

A-Time: for writing new material (deep work)
B-Time: for shallow work like compiling bibliography, etc.
C-Time: for house chores

3. Write Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day by Joan Bolker

Excellent tips on how and why you should write zero drafts.

Teaches you how to understand different stages of the writing process from ideation to drafting to revision.

Read 11 tweets

Mushtaq Bilal, PhD

@MushtaqBilalPhD

Dec 15, 2025

Dr Ally Louks's viral PhD thesis (130M views) on the politics of smell redefined the way people talk about smell.

Everyone wants to read her thesis, but it's unavailable until 2028

Here are 10 books on the politics of smell that you can read right now:

1. The Smell of Slavery

1. The Smell of Slavery by Andrew Kettler

Shows how white slave owners defined Black, African bodies as noxious and deserving of enslavement.

Smell was used to dehumanize Black folks who were equated with animals by white slave owners.

2. The Foul and the Fragrant by Alain Corbin

Considered a foundational text in smell studies.

Shows how the bourgeois nose associated bad smells with the poor and how deodorization became a tool for state control in 18th and 19th century France.

Read 11 tweets

Mushtaq Bilal, PhD

@MushtaqBilalPhD

Dec 2, 2025

Getting past peer review is a challenge every researcher faces.

Stanford researchers recently launched a free AI-powered Agentic Review that can help you with it.

It gives you a human-level mock peer review so you can polish your paper before submitting it.

Check it out 👇

1. Go to paperreview[.]ai and upload your manuscript.

Enter your email and specify your target venue (conference or journal).

You may also want to copy the "Review Token" in case you don't receive an email.

2. A few minutes later you will receive an email with a link to the review report.

Go through the review report and revise your paper according to the suggestions you think are most relevant.

Read 4 tweets

Mushtaq Bilal, PhD

@MushtaqBilalPhD

Oct 6, 2025

Libgen, Sci-Hub, and Z-library had millions of pirated academic books and papers.

So, they were shut down. We shouldn't use them anyway.

We should help billion-dollar academic publishers get richer.

Anyway, here's how to access these libraries:

Don't do this!

1. Don't go to open-slum[.]org.

Because there you will see links to LibGen, Anna's Archive, Z-Library, and Sci-Hub.

2. Don't click any link because that will open your desired library.

Don't type the title of a book you want to read because it might show up.

Look at this, someone has pirated my own book. I'm livid!