Zotero is the best citation management software. It's free and doesn't monetize your data.

But many folks have a hard time starting out on it.

Here's a step-by-step tutorial to get you started on Zotero: 1. Go to zotero[.]org and click on the "Download" button.

Download the app and install it on your computer.

Small businesses can't hire expensive desginers for fancy logos and branding materials..

Genspark AI Designer @genspark_ai can help you with it.

It generated a logo for my coaching business and branded presentation templates — with a single prompt: 1. Go to and ask it to design a logo for your business.

I asked it to design a logo for my academic writing coaching business. It did a wonderful job. genspark.ai/ai_designer

ChatGPT has a great feature called Projects, which you can use to make it a reliable research assistant with no hallucinations.

Not many academics seem to be using it though.

Here's how to make ChatGPT Project your research assistant: 1. Open ChatGPT and click on "New Project" in the left taskbar.

Choose a name for your project and click on "Create project."

Chat Academia now offers a FREE plan.

• Brainstorm research questions
• Run searches across multiple databases
• Generate literature maps
• Extract relevant information from papers

Here's how to use Chat Academia for free: 1. Go to and click on "Get started."

Select the free plan. chatacademia.com

An updated list of 60 apps for academic writing and research: Finding Research Gaps

• Research Kick
researchkick[.]com/start
Pricing: $9/m, $99/year

Intergrating AI with Academic Databases

• Chat Academia

Pricing: $15/mchatacademia.com

Four AI-powered apps that generate detailed research reports with references to published sources: 1. Storm (Free)

Go to storm[.]genie[.]stanford[.]edu and log in.

Type in your question in the search box. Storm will ask you the purpose of your question. Type in your answer.

Storm will generate a detailed report with references.

You can also download the report as a PDF.

Genspark's AI Docs is a great tool to get your scut work done.

Simply give it a link, a prompt, and it will draft tutorials, resumes, and quizzes in minutes — sort of vibe working.

Vibe Working is about using AI as your assistant.

Here's how to use @genspark_ai: 1. Go to genspark[.]ai Click on "AI Docs."

Copy a link to a YouTube video and ask AI Docs to draft a step-by-step tutorial based on the video.

It will give you a tutorial, which you can edit.

You can also download the document as a Word file or a PDF.

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.

Zotero is the best citation management tool for academic writing.

Here's how to automate your citations and bibliography:

You can learn this in 15 minutes, and it will save you hours of work. 1. Go to zotero[.]org and click on the "Download" button.

Download the app and install it on your computer.

Conducting systematic reviews is a very lengthy process — it involves screening hundreds of studies and extracting data from them.

Silvi is an AI app designed to streamline systematic reviews.

Here's how to use it (you can learn this workflow in 20 minutes): 1. Go to and click on "Get started."

Sign up for a free account.

Silvi offers three plans: Basic (free), Rapid (€19/m), and Plus (€59/m). silvi.ai

Chat Academia now offers a FREE plan.

• Brainstorm research questions
• Run searches across multiple databases
• Generate literature maps
• Extract relevant information from papers

Here's how to use Chat Academia for free: 1. Go to and click on "Get started."

Select the free plan. chatacademia.com

Zotero is the best citation management software. It's free and doesn't monetize your data.

But many folks have a hard time starting out on it.

Here's a step-by-step tutorial to get you started on Zotero: 1. Go to zotero[.]org and click on the "Download" button.

Download the app and install it on your computer.

😢
ChatGPT: $20/m
Claude: $20/m
Gemini: $20/m
No access to academic databases❌

😃 Chat Academia: $15/m only

ChatGPT + Claude + Gemini
Integrated with six databases✅
Plus, Zotero integration, 50GB storage

Here's a detailed overview of Chat Academia's features: 1. Go to and click on "Get started."

You'll need to buy a subscription to use the app.

Chat Academia offer three plans: $15/m, $30/m, and $45/m. chatacademia.com

NotebookLM was already one of the best AI apps for academic work.
Now it supports 50+ languages.

• Summarize papers
• Generate audio overviews of papers
• Ask question about papers
• Prepare study guides

All this in your own language and that too for free. 1. Go to notebooklm[.]google[.]com.

Click on "Create new notebook" and upload a paper.

NotebookLM will give you its summary.

AI is on its way to automate literature review and literature discovery.

MIT researchers have built Undermind, an app that generates detailed literature reviews based on abstracts and full texts of research papers.

Here's how to use it: 1. Go to undermind[.]ai and sign up for an account.

Undermind offers a free plan with limited features.

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

So, researchers at Stanford built Storm.

It's an AI-powered app that generates well-researched articles with references to published sources. And Storm is free to use.

Here's how to use it: 1. Go to storm[.]genie[.]stanford[.]edu and click on "Get Started."

Create a account and log in.

Free: Sci-Hub, a "pirate" website with access to 84M+ research papers.

Free: Zotero, a reference manager.

Free: Google NotebookLM, an AI-powered research assistant.

Download papers from Sci-Hub directly to Zotero and read them with the help of NotebookLM.

Here's how: 1. Download Zotero Sci-Hub plugin

Go to this link: github(dot)com/syt2/zotero-scipdf
Replace the word "dot" with an actual [.]

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

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

Ten smart ways of using 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.

Getting past peer review is a challenge every researcher faces.

Paper Wizard is an AI app that can help you get past peer review.

Featured in Nature, scientists are calling it "the best [tool] for spotting statistical and methodological issues."

Here's how to use it: 1. Go to and sign up for a free account.

Once you sign up, you will receive one free credit. This means you can get one paper reviewed for free. paper-wizard.com

Genspark's Downlaod Agent is a great and reliable tool to outsource your academic labor.

Give it details like your topic, citation count, time period, publisher, etc. and it will download the relevant papers for you.

Here's how to outsource your labor to Genspark: 1. Go to genspark[.]ai and sign up for a free account.

Writing a paper involves a lot of reading, drafting, revising, and formatting citations.

Yomu is an AI app that can streamline your whole writing process (without cheating).

Here's how to use it: 1. Go to yomu(dot)ai and sign up for an account.