‘Insights’, a brand-new feature designed to make your research experience faster, simpler, and more accessible.
Insights gives you short, clear summaries of research papers, pulling out the most important information so you can understand the main points in just a few lines. Instead of reading through pages of dense content, you’ll get a quick overview that helps you decide if the paper is worth exploring further. Here’s how Insights can help:
Save time by getting to the heart of a paper faster.
Understand complex topics without feeling stuck.
Focus on what matters and decide quickly what’s relevant to you.
Why We Created Insights?
We’ve heard from many of you that keeping up with research can feel like a never-ending task. There’s so much to read, and it’s hard to know where to start. That’s where ‘Insights’ comes in, to help you make the most of your time exploring the right research paper you are looking for.
How Does It Work?
Insights uses our AI to scan through a paper and extract key points. It focuses on sections like the introduction, methodology, results, and conclusion, so you can get a clear sense of what the paper is about. You don’t have to worry about missing anything important; it’s all laid out in a simple, easy-to-digest format.
Head over to Zendy, search for what you are looking for, and see how Insights can give you a clearer overview in seconds, Check out Insights now!
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is changing how we live, work, and learn. However, as AI continues to evolve, it is important to ensure it is developed and used responsibly. In this blog, we’ll explore what responsible AI means, why it is essential, and how tools like ZAIA, Zendy’s AI assistant for researchers, implement these principles in the academic sector.
What Is Responsible AI?
Responsible AI, also known as ethical AI refers to building and using AI tools guided by key principles:
Fairness
Reliability
Safety
Privacy and Security
Inclusiveness
Transparency
Accountability
AI vs Responsible AI: Why Does Responsible AI Matter?
Keep in mind that AI is not a human being.
This means it lacks the ability to comprehend ethical standards or a sense of responsibility in the same way humans do. Therefore, ensuring these concepts are embedded in the development team before creating the tool is more important than building the tool itself.
In 2016, Microsoft launched a Twitter chatbot called “Tay“, a chatbot designed to entertain 18- to 24-year-olds in the US to explore the conversational capabilities of AI. Within just 16 hours, the tool’s responses turned toxic, racist, and offensive due to being fed harmful and inappropriate content by some Twitter users. This led to the immediate shutdown of the project, followed by an official apology from the development team.
In such cases, “Tay” lacked ethical guidelines to help it differentiate harmful content from appropriate content. For this reason, it is crucial to train AI tools on clear principles and ethical frameworks that enable them to produce more responsible outputs.
The development process should also include designing robust monitoring systems to continuously review and update the databases’ training, ensuring they remain free of harmful content. Overall, the more responsible the custodian is, the better the child’s behaviour will be.
The Challenges And The Benefits of Responsible AI
Responsible AI is not a “nice-to-have” feature, it’s a foundational set of principles that every AI-based tool must implement. Here’s why:
Fairness: By addressing biases, responsible AI ensures every output is relevant and fair for all society’s values.
Trust: Transparency in how AI works builds trust among users.
Accountability: Developers and organisations adhere to high standards, continuously improving AI tools and holding themselves accountable for their outcomes. This ensures that competition centers on what benefits communities rather than simply what generates more revenue.
Implementing responsible AI comes with its share of challenges:
Biased Data: AI systems often learn from historical data, which may carry biases. This can lead to skewed outcomes, like underrepresenting certain research areas or groups.
Awareness Gaps: Not all developers and users understand the ethical implications of AI, making education and training critical.
Time Constraints: AI tools are sometimes developed rapidly, bypassing essential ethical reviews, which increases the risk of errors.
Responsible AI and ZAIA
ZAIA, Zendy’s AI-powered assistant for researchers, is built with a responsible AI framework in mind. Our AI incorporates the six principles of responsible AI, fairness, reliability and safety, privacy and security, inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability, to meet the needs of students, researchers, and professionals in academia. Here’s how ZAIA addresses these challenges:
Fairness: ZAIA ensures balanced and unbiased recommendations, analysing academic resources from diverse disciplines and publishers.
Reliability and Safety: ZAIA’s trained model is rigorously tested to provide accurate and dependable insights, minimising errors in output.
Transparency: ZAIA’s functionality is clear and user-friendly, helping researchers understand and trust its outcomes.
Accountability: Regular updates improve ZAIA’s features, addressing user feedback and adapting to evolving academic needs.
Conclusion
Responsible AI is the foundation for building ethical and fair systems that benefit everyone. ZAIA is Zendy’s commitment to this principle, encouraging users to explore research responsibly and effectively. Whether you’re a student, researcher, or professional, ZAIA provides a reliable and ethical tool to enhance your academic journey.
Discover ZAIA today. Together, let’s build a future where AI serves as a trusted partner in education and beyond.
AI’s real potential lies not just in speeding up processes but also in helping users engage more deeply with academic content. Sabine Louët, CEO of SciencePOD sat down with Kamran Kardan, CEO of Zendy to discuss how technology, particularly AI, is reshaping the way researchers and independent scholars access critical information and how research is published.
Removing Barriers in Academic Research
When asked by Sabine Louët “what drove the creation of Zendy?” Kamran Kardan’s response was clear and purposeful: “Zendy was created to remove the barriers that restrict access to academic research”.
He highlights the significant gap that exists for those outside privileged institutions, who often face prohibitive costs or limitations when trying to access essential research. Zendy, he says, aims to make academic content not only affordable but also widely accessible to researchers, students, and professionals globally.
Accessing scientific literature remains a privilege reserved for those with institutional affiliations, leaving independent researchers or those from less-resourced regions at a disadvantage. As Kardan puts it, “Zendy is committed to levelling the playing field”, it offers a legitimate alternative to illicit means of accessing research.
AI’s Role in Enhancing Research Accessibility
AI has become a buzzword, but Kardan stresses the importance of AI in Zendy’s strategy, describing AI as an enabler rather than the focal point. Zendy, he explains, uses AI to enhance user experience by making vast amounts of data more navigable.
One of the platform’s key AI-driven features is its summarisation tool, which allows users to quickly digest complex academic papers. With this tool, users can identify relevant content faster and focus their research efforts more effectively.
A forthcoming feature called ‘findings’, will use AI to group related articles together, offering a comparative perspective on topics and highlighting differing viewpoints. This tool is designed to empower researchers to explore a topic from multiple angles without having to sift through unrelated material.
Safeguarding Research Integrity in the Age of AI
Another point of discussion between Sabine Louët and Kardan was the issue of integrity while also leveraging AI. Kardan acknowledges that this is critically important and explains that Zendy is built on principles of transparency and respect for intellectual property. Their AI tools do not merely extract data but give due credit to authors and publishers.
In addition, the platform’s revenue-sharing model ensures that content creators benefit from the usage of their work, fostering a more sustainable and fair ecosystem for academic publishing.
Kardan also addresses the issue of AI-generated inaccuracies, commonly referred to as “hallucinations”. He emphasises that Zendy’s AI is structured to avoid these risks. If the AI does not have sufficient data to provide an answer, it refrains from making assumptions, thus maintaining a high standard of accuracy.
AI: Not Just Speed, but Deeper Learning
In Kardan’s view, AI’s real potential lies not just in speeding up processes but also in helping users engage more deeply with academic content. The tools developed by Zendy are designed to simplify complex materials, making them more approachable for users across various disciplines, without compromising on the depth of information.
Louët agrees and notes that these features, particularly AI-driven comparison and summarising tools, align with the needs of modern researchers who require both efficiency and reliability in handling academic content.
Looking Ahead: The Future of AI in Research
What does the future look like? Kardan foresees more AI advancements that will continue to transform research access, making it more affordable, transparent and equitable. The focus is not just on technology for technology’s sake but on providing meaningful solutions that directly address the challenges of the academic community.
“AI’s role in academic publishing is still evolving”, says Kardan, “and Zendy is committed to using AI responsibly to enhance access to knowledge, not to replace human expertise”.
If you’ve ever tried to figure out which journal is the best fit for your research or wondered how journals classification is carried out, you’ve probably come across terms like Quartiles, H-Index, Impact Factor (IF), and Source Normalised Impact per Paper (SNIP). These metrics might sound technical, but they are simply tools to measure how much attention a journal’s research gets. Here’s a straightforward explanation of what they mean and how they work
Quartiles in Journals Classification: Ranking by Performance
The system of dividing journals into four quartiles, Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4, was created to make it easier to compare their quality and impact within a specific field. This idea became popular through Scopus and Journal Citation Reports (JCR) databases, which rank journals based on metrics like citations. The concept builds on the work of Eugene Garfield, who introduced the Impact Factor, offering a way to see how journals stand up against others. Quartiles break things down further: Q1 represents the top 25% of journals in a category, while Q4 includes those at the lower end. It’s a straightforward way to help researchers determine which journals are most influential in their areas of study.
Q1: Top 25% of journals in the field (highest-ranked).
Q2: 25-50% (mid-high-ranked).
Q3: 50-75% (mid-low-ranked).
Q4: Bottom 25% (lowest-ranked).
However, not all Q3 or Q4 journals are necessarily a disadvantage. While they may not be as well-known, they are still important in scientific research. Some of the benefits include:
Affordability: These journals are easier for researchers to access, especially for those on a tight budget.
Focused Topics: They tend to cover more specific, niche areas of study, making them great for in-depth exploration of certain subjects.
Great for New Researchers: Q3 and Q4 journals classification can be a good place for new researchers to publish their first paper and gain experience in the publishing world.
Ideal for Basic Research: They’re a great option for research that focuses on the basics of science
Finally, publishing your article in a Q3 or Q4 journal doesn’t mean it lacks value or won’t make an impact. If your work presents new findings that address a real problem, it can still attract attention, even when published in a lower-ranked journal.
H-Index: A Balance of Quantity and Quality
The H-Index score is an important factor in journal classification. It looks at the number of articles a journal has published and how often those articles are cited. It balances quantity (how many articles a journal publishes) with quality (how many of its articles are referenced).
For example, if a journal has an H-Index of 15, it means it has published 15 articles, each cited at least 15 times. It’s a simple way to measure a journal’s influence without focusing too much on just one super-cited article or a bunch of rarely cited ones.
How H-index works:
Let’s say a journal has published 4 articles, and the number of citations for each article looks like this:
The 1st article has 10 citations – exceeds 1 citation.
The 2nd article has 24 citations – exceeds 2 citations.
The 3rd article has 5 citations – exceeds 3 citations.
The 4th article falls short of 4 citations.
In this case, the journal has three articles that each have at least three citations. The fourth article doesn’t hit the mark, so the H-index stops at 3.
This metric can help researchers, professionals, and institutions decide if a journal publishes research that gets noticed and cited by the academic community. It’s not the full picture, but it’s a useful starting point for understanding the journal’s influence.
Impact Factor: Citation Average
The Impact Factor (IF) is a number that shows how often a journal’s articles are cited on average over the past two years. It helps you understand how much attention the journal’s research gets from other scholars and it also helps with journals classification.
How it works?
To calculate the IF, look at how many times articles from a journal were cited in the past two years. Then, you divide that by the total number of articles the journal published in those two years. This gives you an average citation count per article.
Example:
Let’s say we want to figure out the IF for Journal A in 2023:
1. In 2021 and 2022, Journal A published 50 articles.
2. In 2023, those articles were cited 200 times in total.
3. You take the total citations (200) and divide it by the total number of articles (50):
200 ÷ 50 = 4
So, Journal A has an Impact Factor of 4, meaning its articles were cited, on average, four times each. A higher Impact Factor often places journals higher in classification, but keep in mind that it’s not the full story. Some specialised journals may have lower Impact Factors even though they’re highly respected in their niche.
SNIP: Fair Comparisons Across Fields
SNIP (Source Normalised Impact per Paper) is a valuable metric in journals classification because it goes one step further. It measures contextual citation impact and takes into account the fact that different research fields have different citation habits. For instance, medical papers often get cited a lot, while mathematics papers don’t, even if they’re equally important in their fields.
SNIP adjusts the average citations a journal receives based on these differences, making it easier to compare journals across disciplines.
Example:
Journal A publishes in a low-citation field like social sciences and averages 3 citations per article. Adjusted for its field, its SNIP might be 1.6.
Journal B publishes in a high-citation field like biomedicine and has an average of 8 citations per article. After adjustment, its SNIP might be 1.2.
SNIP makes sure journals in fields with fewer citations still get the recognition they deserve.
What it tells you:
SNIP is especially useful for journal classification because it levels the playing field between disciplines. A higher SNIP score suggests that a journal’s articles are cited more often than expected for its field. It’s a helpful tool for comparing journals, but it’s just one of many ways to evaluate a journal’s influence or importance.
Conclusion
Metrics like Quartiles, H-Index, Impact Factor, and SNIP are essential tools for journals classification, helping researchers, librarians, and institutions rank journals and understand their influence. Each metric focuses on a different aspect of a journal’s impact.
But no single number can tell the whole story. A journal might excel in one metric but be less prominent in another, or it might be vital to a specific audience despite modest scores. These tools are helpful guides, but the best journal for your research depends on your goals.
Have you ever wondered how Zendy sorts the research papers you need? It’s like Netflix, but for research, offering faster, more personalised access to papers that align with your interests.
How Does It Work?
Zendy’s Preference Search makes finding the right scientific papers easy by customising results to your specific interests. Here’s how you can make the most of it:
Create a Zendy Account Signing up is quick and free. Just a few clicks, and you’re all set.
Set Your Interests Tell Zendy what topics you’re passionate about, whether it’s renewable energy, digital marketing, or ancient history.
Search Smarter When you search for a scientific paper, Zendy prioritises showing results that are most relevant to your interests. It saves you time and cuts through the noise of unrelated results.
Update Your Interests Anytime Your research focus might change, and that’s okay! If you update your interests, Zendy instantly adjusts your search results to match your new preferences, ensuring they’re always relevant.
For Example: Let’s say you’re studying Nanotechnology. By setting “Chemical & Material Sciences” as your main area of interest, your searches will bring up studies, reports, and articles related to Nanotechnology, leaving out irrelevant material. Later, if you decide to focus on Electrochemistry, a quick update to your preferences will shift your results to reflect your new priorities.
Why Use Preference Search?
Saves Time: Stop scrolling through irrelevant results and focus on what you need.
Stay Organised: With papers aligned to your interests, your research journey becomes smoother.
Flexibility: Easily update your interests to keep your search results in sync with your evolving research goals.
Start your personalised research journey today with Zendy’s Preference Search! Perfect for researchers, students, and professionals seeking fast and focused access to high-quality academic content.
The rise of predatory journals began around the time open-access journals became popular. While open-access journals typically charge authors a fee to cover publishing costs, predatory journals exploit this by tricking researchers into paying for publication in a journal that doesn’t actually provide the benefits of expert peer-reviewed or academic value that a legitimate journal would.
What Are Predatory Journals?
Predatory publishing, carried out by predatory journals, refers to deceptive practices by fake journals created solely for profit. These journals often lack scientific value and do not follow any ethical considerations in academic research or rigorous peer review standards. As a result, their acceptance rates for submitted research are high, primarily because their goal is to make money, not advance academic knowledge.
Who Are the Targets?
Researchers From Developing Institutions
Those from less well-established institutions or countries where access to quality academic publishing opportunities is limited. These researchers may not have the experience or support to differentiate between legitimate and predatory outlets
Early-career researchers, graduate students, and those under pressure to publish quickly
These individuals, eager to disseminate their work, fall into the “pay and get published” trap. After paying the fees, they receive an acceptance letter within days and see their work published without proper peer review, which often damages their credibility.
What Happens if You Publish in a Predatory Journal?
It’s essential for researchers to carefully evaluate the journals they consider for submitting their work. Predatory journals create the illusion of being reputable and indexed in trusted databases when in reality, they are not.
Publishing in these journals, especially without realising their nature, can be a serious pitfall. Such publications offer no meaningful academic value and can significantly harm a researcher’s reputation. It is a total waste of time, effort and money.
How to Spot Predatory Journals
In the following points, we’ll explore the characteristics of predatory journals and how to distinguish them from legitimate ones. We’ll also discuss ways to verify journals and identify the predatory ones.
As mentioned earlier, predatory journals use several deceptive tactics. Some of the key signs to look for include:
Their publishing policies, evaluation standards, and editorial board details are unclear or vague.
They tend to display fake impact factors (IF).
They typically charge high publication fees.
They often have unusually high acceptance rates for submitted research.
Most have rapid publication processes, often completed in just days or weeks.
They could be indexed in fake or unreliable databases.
They often send unsolicited marketing emails urging researchers to submit their work, promising quick publication.
Ways to Verify the Credibility of a Journal:
To safeguard your work, follow these tips:
Check Trusted Databases
Look up the journal in reputable databases like Zendy or Web of Science. These platforms can help you verify the journal’s indexing and journals classification, giving you a sense of its academic performance.
Use Beall’s List
Visit beallslist.net, you will see a list of predatory journals, search for the journal or its publisher. Beall’s list provides insights into potentially predatory journals and publishers, helping you identify any red flags.
Use Think, Check, Submit Tools
Utilise the tools provided by Think, Check, Submit. This resource offers a step-by-step guide to evaluate journals, making it easier to decide where to publish your research.
Take a Thorough Approach
It’s essential to use multiple tools and methods rather than relying on a single one. None of these methods provide a definitive judgment on a journal’s credibility, but together they give a clearer picture. Always take the time to research thoroughly before submitting your work.
Consult University Resources:
Academic institutions often provide curated lists of trusted journals and warnings about predatory journals.
Are All Open-Access Journals Predatory?
No, not all Open Access (OA) journals are predatory. Open Access is a publishing model designed to make scholarly research freely available to the public, promoting knowledge sharing and accessibility. Unfortunately, the model can sometimes be exploited by predatory journals that prioritise profit over academic integrity.
Conclusion
Staying cautious is key to avoiding the risks associated with predatory journals, and preserving academic integrity. Take the time to verify journal legitimacy, and rely on trusted databases and resources to ensure your work is published in a credible platform that aligns with your academic goals.
When we think about research tools, the first thing that comes to our mind is laboratory equipment, survey questionnaires, traditional statistical software, interviews, and more. But in 2025, things are changing. More online tools are being integrated into the research process, and they can save you a lot of time. After reading this blog, you’ll be introduced to some of the latest tools used in research in 2025, some of which you might not have encountered before. If you’re just starting your research or are unsure where to begin, these research tools can help you get started and make your work easier.
Brainstorming Tools
Defining a clear scientific topic has always been the challenging part of the research process. Even with a deep understanding of the field, researchers cannot stop asking themselves, “Do I provide a real solution?” That’s why brainstorming is such an important step, as it helps you go from Zero to One. Here’s a list of research tools used in brainstorming to help you set up your topics and make sure it’s unique and relevant.
Miro is an online platform for you and your colleagues to gather every idea in one place. It gives you plenty of templates such as mind maps, bubble maps, or even tree maps with sticky notes that will help you pull out your thoughts from your mind right in front of your eyes. This easy and simple online tool used in research will save you hours of thinking inside your head.
What makes MindMeister unique and suitable for research tools is that it has the user interface of what a researcher’s mind needs, especially in the phase of choosing a topic. You and your team can use MindMeister on the go with a native mobile application for both Android and iOS. Benefits?
Tool
Free Plan Features
Miro
3 editable boards, templates, 100+ integrations
MindMeister
Up to 3 mind maps, unlimited collaborators and mobile apps.
The bottom line is to always start with a broad field and gradually narrow your focus to recent trends and challenges to address a problem and its potential solution until you find a relevant and unique question to answer.
Literature Search & Access Tools
Now, after a long day of brainstorming, you finally have your next research topic in hand. It’s time to conduct and structure a literature review to set the stage for your research question.
In the past, researchers would travel to universities and libraries to access academic resources. With the arrival of the internet, they began to search online across many websites. Now, there are millions of research papers available online. Despite the increased accessibility, the need for a one-stop shop for peer-reviewed academic papers has become essential. These research tools have been designed to provide access to millions of articles in one place, while also offering features to help you organise them efficiently.
With over 40 million research papers on a wide range of topics used by over 600,000 researchers worldwide, Zendy is one of the top 10 open access library databases that offer much more than just an online database for academic resources. Its simple, easy-to-use interface and powerful search filters make it one of the most efficient research tools available. This allows you to quickly find the articles you need, organise your sources and build a solid foundation for your research, saving you both time and money during the literature review stage.
With Zendy, you have three options:
Zendy Open – The free plan gives access to open-access articles.
Zend Plan gives you unlimited AI research tools, including ZAIA, AI Summarise, Insights, PDF Analysis, and Keyphrase Highlight.
Zendy Plus – Full access to paywalled articles along with unlimited usage of AI tools.
Google Scholar is one of the most widely used research tools today. It’s a free tool that allows researchers to easily search through millions of academic articles, theses, books, and conference papers across various disciplines. In 2025, it continues to be an essential tool for students, professionals and researchers who need quick access to high-quality, peer-reviewed materials.
While Google Scholar may not have the same in-depth organisational tools as other research tools, its ability to provide access to a vast amount of information with minimal effort makes it a go-to option for many researchers.
Reference and Citation Management Tools
Organising large amounts of data, sharing findings with colleagues, managing complex citations and references, and, of course, keeping up with deadlines, these tasks can be time-consuming and feel overwhelming. However, tools used in research like Zotero and Paperpile can help take care of all these details. These research tools make managing your project a lot easier, allowing you to focus on what really matters without getting weighed down by the small stuff.
Instead of having documents and notes scattered all over the place, tools used in research like Zotero and Paperpile keep everything in one spot, so it’s easy to find what you need, saving time and reducing mistakes.
Zotero is one of the great research tools for organising your project. It automatically grabs citation details from websites and academic databases, and you can attach PDFs, notes and other files to each reference, so everything stays in one place. Zotero allows you to organise your research into collections and tags, making it easier to find what you need later. It also integrates with Word and Google Docs to add citations and create bibliographies while you write. Plus, it syncs across devices, so you can access your research anytime, anywhere. It’s a simple way to stay organised and keep everything in one spot.
If you’re looking for research tools that integrate easily with Google’s ecosystem, Paperpile is the best choice. It’s specifically built for Google apps! You can organise, find and collect, download and sync, annotate, share, and cite in Google Docs. With its clean interface and integration with Google, Paperpile is a great choice for anyone looking to simplify research management. It’s straightforward, user-friendly and saves lots of hours.
Data Collection and Survey Tools
Not so long ago, researchers often gathered data based on assumptions and possibilities within a small circle of interest, which wasn’t always accurate. Today, with the help of advanced research tools, you can collect and analyse data more precisely from a broader range of samples online.
I’ve tried Jotform, and in just 1:57 minutes, I created an account and built a form with basic questions (name, age, location, background, etc.) using its drag-and-drop feature. It’s incredibly easy and fast to use. In addition, Jotform offers many features, such as adding collaboration and integration with various project management software. It is a great tool used in research to simplify data collection.
You may have noticed what makes Google’s tools on top is their straightforward, fast, free and most of all, their simplicity. This simplicity is what makes Google stand out. Google Forms, for example, allows you to create extensive questionnaires and surveys that are easy for your target audience to use and comprehend. Its integration with other Google tools, like Google Sheets, makes it easy to manage and analyse responses all in one place. For researchers looking for research tools to gather data, Google Forms offers an effortless option for collecting valuable data.
Project Management and Collaboration
The right project management and collaboration research tools can make it much easier to stay on top of everything. Notion and Trello are two popular choices among researchers, and they are reliable options that can help you bring structure to your research management with less effort.
Notion is a one-stop workspace, combining notes, project management, and databases in one place. You can set up a hub for your research, keep notes, track references, and collaborate with others in real time, adapting it to fit the specific needs of your project.
Sometimes, seeing tasks laid out visually makes organising projects a lot easier. Trello is a simple research tool that does just that. It allows you to arrange tasks on boards and lists and view them in either calendar or timeline formats. With Trello, you can sort out to-do lists, create channels for different topics, assign tasks to team members, set deadlines and check your project’s overall progress, all while working together with your colleagues in real time. You will find Trello helpful for managing literature reviews, tracking data collection, and collaborating on research tasks.
Academic Writing and Editing
While these research tools are helpful, they shouldn’t do all the work for you. They’re best used as a way to clean up your writing, not to create it. The main ideas and structure of your research should come from you, with the tools stepping in to help with the fine details. Let’s take a look at some of the best writing tools used in research that can help you improve your academic writing and make your research easier to read and understand.
A very practical writing assistant tool offers more than 400 features, including grammar checks, vocabulary improvement suggestions, plagiarism detection, citation recommendations and more.
What makes Grammarly really useful is how easy it is to use. You can install it as an extension on your browser or use it in its standalone app, and it works across different platforms, from your computer to your phone.
Academic writing isn’t just about getting the facts right, it’s about presenting ideas clearly so they’re easy to understand. Most research tools, like spelling and grammar checkers, can help fix basic mistakes, but they’re often not designed for research-level writing. This is where Paperpal really shines.
Paperpal is built to support the unique needs of researchers and students. It doesn’t just spot typos; it helps you refine your language, follow academic standards, and structure your paper for better readability. For example, when writing a research paper, Paperpal can suggest improvements that make complex ideas easier to follow and help you use the right tone for a professional audience.
With Paperpal, your research writing will meet the standards journals are looking for. This makes it a valuable addition to the tools used in research.
In Conclusion
2025 is proving to be an exciting time for the academic industry. Today, researchers have access to an impressive range of research tools, starting with brainstorming platforms to citation managers, academic writing assistants and project management software that make every stage of research more efficient and effective. The right tools used in research can help you focus on what matters most.
The increased usage of AI tools has sparked many conversations in the world of academia, which inspired the innovation of AI tools for research. The integration of technology in academia has brought innovation that introduced digital libraries, plagiarism trackers and grammar-checking softwares, this changed the way researchers write and discover academic literature. In recent years, the academic sphere has witnessed the rapid growth and implementation of AI, which we believe can be leveraged to create efficiency in research.
As an AI-powered research library, Zendy provides key tools like summarisation and keyphrase highlighting to streamline the process of literature review, we also developed and launched ZAIA, the AI research assistant. These tools have been designed to create efficiency in research, which allows researchers to invest significant time in data analysis and their primary research.
With the growing integration of AI products, we believe in the ethical use of AI in the world of research while also harnessing the innovative technology to streamline research processes amongst students and researchers alike. According to a study that looked at the usage of AI amongst students, it was found that every fourth student (25.2%) uses AI-based tools frequently, while almost half of the students (47.8%) use AI-based tools occasionally. Slightly more than a third of the students (36.6%) do not use AI-based tools at all.
In this blog, we recommend the 6 best AI-driven tools to assist you with annotating, citing and more!
ZAIA is a domain-specific LLM designed to assist researchers in understanding essential research concepts and finding relevant papers. This tool enhances the efficiency of the literature review process, providing answers backed by millions of academic research papers.
Housing over 200 million papers from all fields of science, this tool generates a comprehensive summary of an academic paper, including the area of study the research addressed and its overall impact on the discipline.
Paperguide is an all in one AI workspace for researchers to conduct literature reviews, understand and extract data from scientific papers, collaborate, manage and write research.
This tool generates date visualisation and analytical tools for businesses and researchers. The platform is equipped with Einstein AI which is driven by machine learning and delivers predictions and recommendations within Tableau workflows to assist with efficient decision-making.
This is a well-rounded citation tool that provides context to citations by clearly stating whether an academic paper supports or contrasts the cited claim. This helps researchers save time having to read lengthy papers and quickly determine whether the citation is relevant to their research.
This tool annotates insights about research papers using AI. It produces “study snapshots” to condense lengthy research papers by mentioning study aims, variables, and findings. The platform also provides credible responses backed by academic papers to queries, by presenting research papers that both support and contrast the query, allowing users to browse through objective responses.
Limitations of AI Tools
While AI tools are effective in streamlining research processes, they raise ethical concerns and can impact research integrity if misused. AI raises ethical issues including data privacy, algorithm bias and misuse of AI. However, due to the increasing usage of AI tools, policies are developing quickly to ensure the technology is adequately regulated.
Tips for Using AI Tools in Research
Follow these recommendations to ensure ethical AI usage:
Always fact-check content generated by AI tools
Do not write academic articles using AI tools. Instead, use these tools to edit and structure original research content.
Do not use AI tools to generate references, instead use it to manage and store the references.
Use AI tools that produce accurate results.
Incorporate your own voice and style of written content as much as possible.
In conclusion, AI is a resourceful innovation in academic research when used ethically. The correct and responsible usage of AI can create immeasurable efficiency in research processes, and aid in citation management, resource annotation, data visualization, literature discoverability and summarisation. Discover a comprehensive suite of AI-driven tools like summarisation, keyphrase highlighting and ZAIA – AI assistant for research on Zendy now.
Welcome to Zendy’s annual recap, where we reflect on another year of milestones. The ever-evolving landscape of scholarly communication this year was anything but stagnant, dominated by themes of openness, integrity, inclusion, and innovation. As we reflect on 2023, we’re proud to have welcomed new publishers, attended events, celebrated milestones with our users, and released some really great features to continue to support our users on their research and learning journey.
How we enhanced our user experience
We developed and launched ZAIA
Our most anticipated and exciting feature launch this year was ZAIA – Zendy’s AI assistant. Ask any question, and ZAIA will analyse millions of researchers papers to give you credible answers backed by references. If you haven’t already, log in to your Zendy account and put ZAIA to the test!
We launched Zendy Plus globally
We launched our global subscription plan at Frankfurt Book Fair 2023! The plan allows students, researchers and professionals globally to access scholarly material from leading publishers for the monthly price of a single research paper. This was a key milestone for us as our previous Zendy Plus plan was limited to several countries. Having an affordable and equitable access model strengthens our mission to remove the barriers to scholarly literature.
Keyphrase Highlighting
We released an AI-powered keyphrase highlighting tool. Instead of having multiple tabs open, looking for definitions and further research on a concept, Zendy highlights keyphrases in just one click to allow readers to grasp key research concepts quickly.
Summarisation
We also released an AI-powered summarisation tool. This tool summarises lengthy research papers into a concise paragraph on demand. This significantly helps readers save time during literature review.
Reading Lists
Earlier this year, we launched a reading list feature. Reading lists can be used to organise and categorise research papers according to projects, subject areas or whichever method the reader finds simplest to navigate through.
New UI coming soon
The team has been working on a brand new UI to transform the user journey on Zendy. Zendy will reveal a new fresh look very soon, with additional personalisation features to further enhance the discovery of scholarly literature.
Milestones we marked with our users
Welcomed over 400,000 readers
We’re proud to support over 400,000 readers from 200 countries and territories on Zendy! We thank our valued community for their consistent support. The trust of our community fuels our mission to keep striving for a world where equal access to research is a reality.
Over a 6 million searches & 2.5 million downloads
We have seen over 6 million keywords searched on the platform. Searches ranging from the neural networks, to enteric bacteria, and social impact – we’re proud to support a diverse community of students, researchers, and professionals. We marked over 2.5 million downloads on Zendy! As we continue to work with new publishers, we look forward to bringing an even better selection of content to our readers.
We exhibited, presented, and attended many events!
Presented at Charleston Hub 2023
Our Partner Relations Manager, Sara Crowley Vigneau presented at Charleston Hub in partnership with IGI Global. The presentation titled ‘On the Open Road: The story of an OA publication through the stakeholder journey’ looked at the journey of a publication through the eyes of each custodian.
Exhibited at STEP 2023
Earlier this year, our team exhibited Zendy at STEP 2023. Showcasing our Zendy alongside various startups inspired the team to learn from other tech products in the Middle Eastern region.
Sponsored and presented at the Forum for Open Research MENA
It was a pleasure to exhibit and connect with new and existing partners at Frankfurt Book fair 2023. We hosted a launch event at this year’s fair, showcasing our Zendy Plus global subscription offering. Thanks to all who attended!
Presented at the MENA Panel
Our co-founder, Kamran Kardan spoke at The MENA panel titled, “AI wrote this abstract: The Impact of AI on higher education and academic research.” The discussion touched on the impact of AI on higher education, dissecting how it affects teaching, learning and ethical guidelines.
Attended London Book Fair
We attended the London Book Fair earlier this year. Our team met with many of our partners and other key leaders in scholarly communication. We look forward to exhibiting at next year’s fair.
Exhibited at UKSG 2023
We also exhibited at our first UKSG conference this year. It was a really great experience connecting with and learning from some of the best minds in our global knowledge community.
Joint Webinar with InTechOpen
We partnered with InTechOpen to host a joint webinar titled, “Emerging Technologies – Partnering for Accessibility, Discoverability and a Sustainable Future.” Zendy’s Head of Marketing, Monica Chinsami, presented on the panel alongside Prof Tatiana Morosuk, Editorial Board Member of IntechOpen’s Green Energy and Environmental Technology (GEET) journal, and Dr Jo Havemann, Co-founder of AfricArXiv.
We welcomed new partners
IEEE
In September, we integrated IEEE’s open access research content. This partnership has brought significant technological research across various areas of study, like aerospace, robotics and more on Zendy.
IT Governance
In June, we partnered with IT Governance, which is a leading publisher of books on information technology, cybersecurity and governance.
IGI Global
We partnered with IGI Global, a leading publisher focused on research across different specialisms under the vast umbrella of Science. This partnership saw the addition of leading e-journals as well as book content across subject areas including Business & Management; Scientific, Technical, Medical (STM); and Education.
Bristol University Press
We also signed an agreement with Bristol University Press. BUP is well known for producing scholarship that advances theory, knowledge and learning within and beyond academia.
InTechOpen
We also welcomed IntechOpen to our partner community. InTechOpen specialises in journals and books in the fields of Medicine, Technology and Science.
A couple of things we published
Published SDG Report
This year, we published an SDG report in partnership with Knowledge E. This comprehensive report helps us keep track of our efforts in accelerating the aims of the UN’s publishers compact. With a focus on SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), Zendy progresses to ensure that academic research is accessible to everyone everywhere.
An analysis of OER’s on Research Information
Our co-founder, Kamran Kardan, wrote a piece on the future of Open Educational Resources and how the industry is preparing for them. In summary, with the uncapped potential of responsible AI, the future looks bright and full of innovative opportunities to positively impact societal progress.
We look forward to continuing our journey together in 2024, and we thank you for your unwavering support.
In academic research, the hypothesis statement directs the course of investigation and exploration. It serves as the foundation of an experiment as it is a proposed outcome, this guides the methodology and findings of a research design. In this blog, we shed light on the significance and intricacies of formulating an effective hypothesis that solidifies the approach while investigating its impact on relevant variables.
What is a research hypothesis?
A research hypothesis is a testable statement that predicts the relationship between two variables and how they impact one another. A good research hypothesis has no ambiguity, clearly specifies variables and is structured to be proven or countered depending on the trajectory of the study. This statement should also specify how the study aims to generate new knowledge through the experiment.
What are the different types of hypotheses?
Hypothesis Type
Definition
Example
Simple
Proposes a relationship between independent and dependent variable.
Increased sunlight exposure leads to higher plant growth.
Complex
Proposes relationships between two or more independent and dependent variables.
Increased sunlight exposure impacts the growth rate of specific plant species, and this effect is contingent upon factors such as the plant’s genetic makeup, soil composition, and optimal climatic conditions, implying that while sunlight plays a crucial role, its influence on plant growth is mediated by multifaceted environmental and genetic variables.
Directional
Details the directions derived from theory, specifies the steps to be taken to identify a relationship between relevant variables.
Increased sunlight exposure significantly increases the rate of plant growth.
Non-directional
Does not predict exact nature of relationship between variables and is usually applied when there’s an absence of theory and contradictory results.
There is a relationship between sunlight exposure and plant growth.
Null
Proposes that there is no relationship between variables, justifies the generation of results through chance.
There is no significant effect of increased sunlight exposure on plant growth.
Alternative
Opposite to null, alternative hypothesis states that there is a significant relationship between two variables.
Increased sunlight exposure is associated with higher plant growth.
Components of a hypothesis
In the case of research experiments, a good hypothesis contains independent and dependent variables, the predicted relationship between them, and the outcome of this relationship.
Example hypothesis:
Variables: Employee job satisfaction (independent variable) influences productivity levels (dependent variable) within an organization.
Predicted Relationship: Higher job satisfaction among employees will lead to increased productivity levels.
Outcome: The study might find that departments or teams with higher job satisfaction scores tend to demonstrate greater productivity, implying a positive relationship between job satisfaction and productivity.
Why is a well-written hypothesis important?
A well-written hypothesis is the foundation of a research study, it helps the researcher determine how to address the investigation. A good hypothesis also aids in assuming the probability of the study’s failure or progress while also ensuring the methodologies are scientifically valid. Furthermore, the research hypothesis statement links the underlying theory to the research question while also measuring the reliability and validity of the study itself.
Common hypothesis errors to avoid
Your research hypothesis should be specific and clear. When constructing the hypothesis, try to be as concise as possible while understanding that less is more. The following should be avoided in research hypotheses:
Ambiguity, overgeneralisation and lack of specifics
Having too many variables without establishing clear relationship between them
Unvalid or insufficient justification of variable relationship
FAQs
What are some tips for ensuring testability of a hypothesis?
The hypothesis should be structured in a way wherein the possibility of it being being false or true is present. Furthermore, the results of the hypothesis should be reproducible.
How do I differentiate between a research question and a research hypothesis?
A research question states what the study will investigate without making any assumptions or predictions, whereas a hypothesis answers that question through predicting relationships between variables and their possible outcome.
What are the potential drawbacks of a poorly formulated hypothesis?
Having a poor hypothesis structure can negatively impact the research design as the hypothesis statement guides the methodology and findings sections.
Discover millions of open access research papers across an array of disciplines on Zendy now.
