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

And Google just launched Gemini Deep Research.

It generates well-researched articles with references to published sources.

This will change the way we do literature reviews.

Here's how to use it: 1. Open your Google Gemini.

Click in the top-left corner and select "1.5 Pro with Deep Research."

Dr. Ally Louks's PhD thesis is set to be one of the most influential theses of 21st century. Puts forward an original argument with remarkable clarity.

Already has 85M+ views on X/Twitter.

Most people criticizing her don't understand her argument at all.

I have a PhD in literary studies, and in this thread, we'll do a close reading of her abstract to understand her argument in simple English.
Before we jump in, we need to keep in mind that a PhD thesis is written for a small group of 3-5 scholars.

These scholars serve as a candidate's supervisor and examiners. They are the only audience of a PhD thesis.

If you think you can't understand a PhD thesis, it's because you are not its intended audience.

Sci-Hub — a "pirate" website with 85M research papers freely available.

Here's how to integrate Sci-Hub with Zotero to get paywalled papers for free. This will take you just 5 min.

Billion-dollar academic publishers would get mad at you. So, do it at your own risk🤷 1. Go to this link: github[.]com/syt2/zotero-scipdf

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

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

☹️Google Scholar is a great tool. But it doesn't show you how papers are connected with each other.

😀Here's how to fast-track your literature review with visual search using Google Scholar's database:

(And export papers to Zotero, Mendeley, or EndNote.)
1. Go to litmaps[.]com and log in to your account.

Sign up if you don't have one already.

Chinese company DeepSeek recently introduced R1-Lite, a large language model.

Some people are saying it's cheaper, faster, and better than ChatGPT.

Here's an overview of DeepSeek R1-Lite and its comparison with ChatGPT: 1. Go to deepseek[.]com and click on "Start Now."

Then sign up for a free account.

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.

Nature recently asked me if AI could conduct a literature review.

I wrote 1,000-word piece to think through it.

The article that came out yesterday contains a few quotes.

Thought I'd share my detailed answers here:

Can current AI tools produce an accurate literature review? I am not sure if the current generation of AI tools can produce accurate reviews of scientific literature autonomously without any supervision by a qualified scientist.

That said, AI tools can certainly make your review and writing processes efficient.

Let’s say, you are working on a literature review and you come across a certain article. You want to find out studies supporting and refuting the claims of that particular article.

You can do it manually, which will take a lot of time.

Google has launched "Learn About" — an AI tool designed specially for students and teachers.

You can use it to create interactive articles and guides on any topic.

Here's how to use it: 1. Go to learning•google•com/experiments/learn-about

(If you are outside the US, you will need to use a VPN.)

Type in your topic and it will give you:

• Introduction to the topic
• Relevant terms
• Topic's significance
• Suggested topics (on the left)

Don't ask ChatGPT for any references or citations. It generates fake references to papers that don't even exist.

Instead, use Scite — an AI-powered app designed for researchers.

It answers your questions with references to real, published papers.

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

Scite gives you a 7-day free trial.

Limitation of Google Scholar: You can only look up articles with keywords. It doesn't work if you paste a sentence or a paragraph.

Sourcely is an AI-powered app that lets you look up papers using whole paragraphs.

Here's how to use it: 1. Go to sourcely[.]net and click on "Find Sources Now."

Log in to your account or sign up if you don't have one already.

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.

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

Create a account and log in.

This post calling for a ban on Benedict Anderson's book "Imagined Communities" went viral recently.

Here's why you should read it:

It's the single most important book if you want to understand modern identity, nationalism, and the world we live in today.

Thread: The most important chapter in "Imagined Communities" is titled "Cultural Roots" and is only 27 pages long.

Anderson starts by talking about communities that preceded modern nations. He calls them religious or classical communities.

Zotero's new Note Editor can supercharge your note-taking and writing processes.

But many academics don't know about it.

Here's how to take notes with Zotero's Note Editor: 1. Open your Zotero desktop app and select a relevant collection.

Drag and drop the paper you want to read and take notes on.

Open the paper by double-clicking on it.

PodAnyWhere can convert any research paper or webpage into a podcast.

And it's totally free.

Here's how to use it:

1. Go to Chrome Web Store and type in "podanywhere" in the search bar.

Add the extension to your browser. 2. Once you've added the extension, you will see a black icon in the bottom-right corner.

Open a research paper you want to convert to a podcast.

Map This is an AI app that turns any piece of writing into a graph.

This can help you brainstorm ideas, develop your research projects, and prepare impressive presentations.

Here's how to use it: 1. Go to map-this(dot)com and sign up for a free account.

Map This will give you 5 free credits to get started.

ChatGPT just introduced Canvas, a collaboration tool for writers.

It can adjust the reading level of any piece from kindergarten to graduate. It can also help you with editing and polishing your writing.

Here's how to use it: 1. Log in to your ChatGPT account and click on the name of the model in the top-left corner.

Select "GPT-4o with canvas" and ask it to give you a short write-up on any topic.

It will give you the write-up in the middle and a chat column in the left side bar.

This Nature article shows that most Nobel Prize winners are part of one big, incestuous academic network.

Out of 736 Nobel Prize winners in science and economics, 702 are "part of the same academic family."

Only 32 researchers out of this network have won the Nobel Prize. English physicist, John W. Strutt (1842-1919) won the Nobel in 1904.

Strutt's student J. J. Thomson (1856-1940) won the Nobel in 1906.

Thomson's nine students won the Nobel Prize and went on to train many more Nobel prize winners.

228 Nobel laureates are connected to Stutt.

Google's NotebookLM can turn any research paper into an engaging podcast.

This can help you simplify complex topics in a matter of minutes.

Best part: NotebookLM is totally free.

Here's how to do it: 1. Go to notebooklm(dot)google(dot)com.

If you have a Google account, you will be signed in automatically.

Click on "Create" at the bottom of your screen. NotebookLM will ask you to upload documents.

Zotero can help you build and organize libraries for all kinds of research projects.

But many academics don't know about it.

Here are 4 ways to build and organize your Zotero library: Before we dive in:

If you are new to Zotero, here's a tutorial to help you get started on it:

https://x.com/MushtaqBilalPhD/status/1835296209386217965

The new version of Zotero was recently released. It's more powerful and versatile than ever.

It can help you organize your reading lists, take notes, and automate your citations and bibliography.

And it's totally free.

Here's how to get started with Zotero: 1. Go to zotero(dot)org.

Download and install it on your computer.

Want to use a free AI app to summarize research papers and chat with them?

Try Google NotebookLM.

It can summarize articles, prepare study guides and briefing documents.

Here's how to use it: 1. Go to notebooklm(dot)google(dot)com. It will open NotebookLM for you.

Click on "Create" and it will ask you to upload sources. You can upload up to 50 papers.

Once you upload, NotebookLM will summarize the paper for you. You can also ask questions about the paper.