Mushtaq Bilal, PhD Profile picture
Dec 16, 2023 15 tweets 5 min read Read on X
Connect Google Bard with your Zotero library and make it your research assistant.

Plus, get paywalled articles for free.

Here's a step-by-step tutorial on how to do it:
Start by downloading Google Drive for Desktop.

Then open your Google Drive and create a folder titled "Zotero PDFs."
Next, go to zotfile(dot)com and download a Zotero add-on called Zotfile.

This will download an xpi (pronounced zippy) file to your computer.
Open your Zotero. Click on "Tools" and select "Add-ons."

This will open Zotero's Add-on Manager.

Click on the gear-like icon in the top-right corner and select "Install Add-on From File."

Navigate to the xpi file you just downloaded and open it.

This will add Zotfile to your Zotero. Restart Zotero to complete Zotfile's installation.
Next, click on "Edit" and select "Preferences" in your Zotero.

In Zotero Preferences, click on "Advanced" and then "Files and Folders."

Notice the Default Location given under the Data Directory Location. This is the location where Zotero stores your PDFs.

We want Zotero to store our PDFs in our Google Drive. Zotfile will help us do that.
Click on "Tools" and select "Zotfile Preferences." You will see two fields.

Enter Zotero's Default Location of PDFs in the top field.

In the bottom field titled "Custom location," enter the location of the folder you created in your Google Drive.

You can also use the "Choose" button to navigate to the Zotero PDFs folder in your Google Drive.

Now Zotero will store all your PDFs in your Google Drive.
Click on "File" and select "New Collection."

Choose a name for your collection.
Look up papers on Google Scholar or Pubmed or your university's library.

Click on the Zotero Connector in the top-right corner and Zotero will open an Item Selector for you.

(If you are not familiar with the Zotero Connector, please let me know and I will post a link to a Zotero 101 tutorial for you.)

Select the papers you want to read and Zotero will save them in the collection you just created. Click on "Done."

Go to your Zotero collection and you will see your papers there.
To get Zotero to retrieve PDFs of paywalled articles, you will need to install the Sci Hub add-on.

Here's a step-by-step tutorial on how to do that:
Go to the "Zotero PDFs" folder in your Google Drive and you will see all the PDFs there.

Having Zotero save your PDFs in Google Drive also gives you a backup in case you don't want to purchase extra Zotero storage.

If you can afford, please consider purcharing extra storage to help the good folks over at Zotero.Zotero PDFs showing up in Google Drive.
Open Bard by going to bard(dot)google(dot)com.

Click on the puzzle-like icon in the top-right corner to open Bard Extensions.

Enable Google Workspace extension. This will connect Bard with your Google Drive where you have all your Zotero PDFs.
Ask Bard to give you a list of PDFs in your Google Drive.

Once it gives you the list, you can ask Bard to summarize a particular paper and ask other questions about it.

You can also use Bard to help you brainstorm research questions. It will give you suggestions based on the papers in your Drive.
Want to learn more about how to supercharge your academic writing with AI apps?

I have a complete tutorial for you.

4,300+ academics including those at Harvard, Stanford, and Yale are using it.

You can get it by clicking the link below:
efficientacademicwriter.carrd.co
Found this thread on intergating Bard with Zotero 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 use AI apps for academic purposes.
Want me to email you tips on academic writing?

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More from @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? A photo of James Clear's book "Atomic Habits."
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. A photo of "The Plateau of Latent Potential" from James Clear's book "Atomic Habits."
Read 21 tweets
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
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. Academic Writing as if the Reader Matters by Leonard Cassuto
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 The Clockwork Muse by Eviatar Zerubavel
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. Write Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day by Joan Bolker
Read 11 tweets
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 A photo of Dr Ally Louks with her PhD thesis titled, "Olfactory Ethics: The Politics of Smell in Modern and Contemporary Literature."
The Smell of Slavery: Olfactory Racism and the Atlantic World by Andrew Kettler
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. The Smell of Slavery: Olfactory Racism and the Atlantic World by Andew Kettler
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. The Foul and the Fragrant by Alain Corbin
Read 11 tweets
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
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!
Read 5 tweets

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