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Mushtaq Bilal, PhD

Nov 18, 2023 • 14 tweets • 6 min read • Read on X

Scrolly

Literature review is one of the most time-consuming parts of any research project.

Here's a new Zotero+SciSummary workflow to supercharge your literature review.

It'll help you collect, organize, and summarize papers in a fraction of a time.

You can learn it in 15 min:

1. Go to zotero(dot)org. Download and install it on your computer.

You will also need to install Zotero Connector. This is a tool that connects Zotero with your web browser. (I am using Chrome.)

Click on "Install Chrome Connector" and add it your browser.

Once it's added, click on the puzzle-like icon and pin the Zotero Connector to your browser.

2. Open your Zotero and click on "File" and then select "New Collection."

Name your collection.

3. Go to Google Scholar or PubMed (or your university's online library). Look up papers relevant to your project.

Click on the Zotero Connector in the top-right corner. It will open an "Item Selector" with all the items on the page.

Select the papers you want to read and click on OK. Then choose the collection that you just created and click on "Done."

Zotero will add the selected papers to your library. It will also retrieve open source PDFs of those papers.

If you are logged in through your university's library, Zotero will even retrieve PDFs of paywalled articles.

4. Register for a free Zotero account. This will do two things.

First, it will give you an online backup of your library.

Second, it will help you integrate Zotero with SciSummary.

Go to zotero(dot)org and click on "Log In." Then click on "Register for a free account."

Log in to your acocunt after creating it.

5. To read these papers efficiently, we will use an AI-powered app SciSummary.

Go to scisummary(dot)com and register for a free account.

6. Next we need to integrate Zotero with SciSummary.

Log in to your SciSummary account and click on your name in the top-right corner and select "Profile."

Scroll down to Zotero and click on "Login with Zotero." You will be asked to sign in to your Zotero account.

Zotero will tell you that SciSummary wants to access your account. Click on "Accept Defaults."

This will integrated Zotero and SciSummary.

7. Go to your SciSummary dashboard. Click on "Add Articles" and select "Import from Zotero."

SciSummary will show you a list of articles that were recently added to your Zotero library.

Select the articles you want to summarize and click on "Submit."

SciSummary will open an article you have just uploaded.

Click on "Request New Summary" and SciSummary will summarize the article for you.

SciSummary will also hyperlink all important words and terms to Wikipedia entries. This feature alone can save you a lot of time and effort.

8. You can export these summaries as notes to your Zotero library.

Click on the "Actions" button and choose "Add As Zoteor Note."

SciSummary will export summary to your Zotero. It will automatically attach the summary to the relevant article for better organization.

Want to learn how to supercharge your academic writing with AI apps?

I have a tutorial for you.

4,000+ academics including those at Harvard, Stanford, and Yale are using it.

You can get it here👇
efficientacademicwriter.carrd.co

9. If English is not your first language, you can ask SciSummary to summarize articles in your own language.

In the "Summaries" tab, click on "Language" and select your language. Here I have selected Urdu.

Then click on "Request New Summary" and SciSummary will summarize the article in your language.

And you can export this summmary to Zotero.

10. SciSummary can also help you with research questions.

Click on the "Summary Mode" and select "Opportunities for Future Research." Then click on "Request New Summary."

SciSummary will give you a list research questions.

You can export these questions to Zotero and take notes on them.

11. SciSummary offers several pricing plans.

The free plan lets you summarize 10,000 words a month.

If you are interested in a paid subscription, you can buy one month's subsciption for $0.99 only with the code FIRSTMONTH.

Found this workflow helpful?

1. Scroll to the top and hit "Like" on the first tweet.

2. Bookmark it so you can come back to it later.

3. Follow me for more tutorials on how to supercharge your academic writing with AI apps.

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More from @MushtaqBilalPhD

Mushtaq Bilal, PhD

@MushtaqBilalPhD

Mar 5

A lot of academics still think AI apps generate fake references to papers that don't exist.

They are living in 2023.

You can easily integrate a database of 280M research papers with Claude and ChatGPT to get answers with references to published papers.

Here's how to do it:

1. Go to scite[.]ai/mcp and select Claude ai

Copy the URL given in the second line. Then click on the blue "Add Scite" button.

This will open Claude Connectors. Type in the name Scite and paste the URL in the "Remote MCP" field.

Then click on "Add."

2. This will add a Scite Connector to your Claude.

Scroll down a little and you will see a Scite Connector. Click on "Connect" and log in to your Scite account.

Give Claude permission to access Scite. And that's it.

You will need a paid subscription for Scite to do this.

Read 7 tweets

Mushtaq Bilal, PhD

@MushtaqBilalPhD

Mar 4

Claude Code will fundamentally change the nature of academic research.

But most academics don't know how to use it.

Here's how to get started on Claude Code (even if you've never coded).

Claude Code for Academics 101:

Before getting started, we need to understand what Claude Code (CC) is.

It's not a simple chatbot.

Think of it as a general-purpose work enviroment that lets you create customized features for your own specific purposes.

It'll become clear by the end of this thread.

1. To get started, go to claude[.]com/download and download the Claude desktop app.

You will need a paid plan.

Select the $20/m one. That'll be enough to get you started.

Read 17 tweets

Mushtaq Bilal, PhD

@MushtaqBilalPhD

Mar 3

Academics are abandoning ChatGPT for Claude, and for good reason.

Claude is way better than ChatGPT for intellectual work.

But moving to Claude risks losing your work history and memory in ChatGPT.

Here's how to move all your work history and memory from ChatGPT to Claude:

1. Open Claude and click on your profile in the bottom-left corner.

Then click on "Settings" and select "Capabilities."

In Capabilities, look for the "Start Import" button.

Click it and then copy the prompt given on the top.

2. Open ChatGPT and put it on "Thinking."

Then run the prompt you just copied from Claude.

ChatGPT will give you an answer. Copy that.

Read 6 tweets

Mushtaq Bilal, PhD

@MushtaqBilalPhD

Mar 2

Claude Cowork is set to revolutionize intellectual and academic work.

But most academics don't know how to use it.

Here's how to set up Claude Cowork as your research assistant:

(This workflow will take you only 15 min.)

1. To use Claude Cowork, you'll need to download Claude desktop app.

Go to claude[.]com/download

and download the Claude desktop app.

You'll also need a paid plan for $20/m or $100/m.

Start with $20/m plan.

2. Once you've installed it, open Claude desktop app.

On the top, you will see three options: Chat, Cowork, Code.

Click on "Cowork."

Read 13 tweets

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.