Mushtaq Bilal, PhD Profile picture
Nov 20, 2024 13 tweets 4 min read Read on X
Finding relevant papers for literature review takes a lot of time.

So, MIT researchers built Undermind, an AI-powered search engine.

It can generate well-researched overviews on any topic and is 10-50 times better than Google Scholar.

Here's how to use it:
1. Go to undermind[.]ai and sign up for a free account.
2. Once you've logged in, this is how Undermind would look like.

Type in the topic of your research project. You can be as vague as possible.

Undermind will you a brief overview about your topic. Then it will ask you to narrow down your topic.
3. Once you've narrowed down your topic, type in your question, and press Enter. Undermind will reword your question.

Then scroll down a little and click on "Submit Deep Search."

Undermind will take 3-5 minutes to compile a comprehensive answer to your question.
4. Once it's done, Undermind will give you a detailed overview of the project with citations to published papers.

Hover your cursor over a citation and it will show you the relevent article.
5. Undermind will also show you different categories of papers relevant to your topic.

This can help you a lot in framing your project.
6. Undermind also has an option for timeline of published papers and the citation network.

I didn't find the user interface of the timeline very helpful. But I am sure this will improve in the future.
7. If you scroll all the way down, Undermind will give you a list of references.

You can enable abstracts and it will show you abstracts of all the papers in the list.

It will also give you a score of how relevant a given paper is to your topic.
8. You can also ask it to write brief review articles on a given topic.

After you have run a search, ask it to give you a review article.

These articles can be a great way to familiarize yourself with new topics.
Want to supercharge your academic writing with AI?

I am doing a webinar on 30 Nov. Includes access to video recording.

2,100+ academics have attended this webinar since last year.

Use "SUPER25" for a 25% discount.

Registration details:
eventbrite.dk/e/supercharge-…
9. Undermind will save all your searches.

To look at your previous searches, simply click on "History."
10. And here's the paper on how Undermind works: A screenshot of the first page of the paper titled "Benchmarking the Undermind Search Assistant" by Thomas Hartke and Joshua Ramette.
Found this thread on Undermind helpful?

1. Scroll to the top and repost the first post to share it with your friends.

2. Follow me for more tutorials on how to use AI apps for academic purposes.

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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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