SciSpace AI Literature Review Workspace - Find and survey relevant papers in minutes

Summary

This tutorial introduces SciSpace's Literature Review tool, designed to simplify the research process. It helps users discover and review scientific literature by searching papers based on topics or questions, sorting them by relevance, and offering filters like full PDFs and Open Access. The tool provides insights from top papers and customizable columns for specific information, saving time without needing to read full papers. It also includes a translation feature for non-native English speakers and a Copilot AI assistant for further queries, ultimately aiding in forming insightful research questions.

Takeaways

• 📚 The video introduces SciSpace's Literature Review tool designed to assist in the literature review process for research projects.
• 🔍 SciSpace addresses the challenge of discovering new papers by allowing searches based on topics or questions, not just paper titles.
• 📈 The tool automatically sorts papers by relevance and offers customizable filters like full PDFs, Open Access, year, and publication type.
• 📊 Users can sort search results by citation count, newest first, or alphabetically to refine their literature search.
• 📑 SciSpace provides an 'insight' feature that summarizes the top five papers related to the search query and cites sources.
• 📝 The platform displays paper-specific insights such as 'TL;DR', 'Conclusion', and other details in column format for quick reference.
• 📋 Custom columns allow users to request specific information from all papers, like problem statements, directly from their abstracts.
• 🌐 A language translation feature supports 75 languages to assist non-native English speakers in understanding scientific texts.
• 🗂️ Users can curate a collection of relevant papers, which is automatically saved and can be exported as a .csv file for sharing.
• 🤖 SciSpace's Copilot is an AI research assistant that explains and summarizes complex text, math, and tables, and answers follow-up questions contextually.
• 💡 The Literature Review tool, combined with Copilot, aids in forming insightful research questions by enhancing understanding of existing literature.

Q & A

What is the purpose of SciSpace's Literature Review tool?

The purpose of SciSpace's Literature Review tool is to assist researchers, particularly students and early researchers, in discovering and reviewing scientific literature for their projects more easily.

How does the Literature Review tool help in the initial stages of research?

The tool helps by showing papers based on a topic or question, allowing users to find relevant papers without knowing the exact title, thus aiding in the discovery of new papers.

What are some of the sorting and filtering options available in SciSpace's Literature Review tool?

Users can sort papers by relevance, citation, publication year, or alphabetically. Filters such as full PDFs, Open Access, and publication type are also available to refine search results.

What insights does SciSpace provide from the top five papers related to a query?

SciSpace provides an overall insight that answers the query and cites the papers from which the answer was derived, updating as papers are added or removed from the search list.

How does the Literature Review tool help in understanding the content of papers?

The tool offers paper-specific insights like TL;DR, Conclusion, and other information in columnar form, allowing users to extract key points without reading the full paper.

What is the functionality of custom columns in SciSpace's tool?

Custom columns allow users to request specific information from all papers, such as the problem statement, by entering the desired information into the custom column section.

Why are the columns useful during the literature review stage?

Columns are useful because they allow users to extract insights without reading the full paper and to view insights from multiple papers on one screen, streamlining the comparison and contrast process.

How does SciSpace cater to non-native English speakers?

SciSpace offers a translation feature that supports 75 languages, helping non-native English speakers to understand dense scientific jargon in papers.

What can users do with the curated collection of papers in SciSpace?

Users can curate a collection by removing irrelevant papers, which is automatically saved. They can also export this collection as a .csv file for sharing with colleagues.

What is Copilot and how does it integrate with the Literature Review tool?

Copilot is an AI research assistant that provides explanations and summaries of text, math, and tables in papers. It can answer follow-up questions with contextual responses, enhancing the Literature Review tool's capabilities.

How can users get further assistance or clarification on the topic or papers?

Users can ask questions to Copilot for a deeper understanding of the topic or specific papers, which helps in forming more insightful research questions.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to SciSpace's Literature Review Tool

The speaker introduces the tutorial video on SciSpace's Literature Review tool, emphasizing its utility for researchers, particularly students and early-career investigators. The tool is designed to assist in the literature review process by helping users find and understand relevant scientific papers based on a topic or question. The video promises to guide viewers through the tool's features, such as searching for papers, applying filters, sorting results, and extracting insights from the top papers. The speaker also mentions the tool's ability to provide paper-specific insights and the option to add custom columns for tailored information extraction.

05:03

🔍 Advanced Features and Conclusion

This paragraph delves into the advanced features of SciSpace's Literature Review tool, including the ability to translate dense scientific jargon into 75 languages, aiding non-native English speakers. It highlights the tool's capability to curate a collection of papers, automatically saved and exportable as a .csv file for sharing. The paragraph concludes with an introduction to Copilot, an AI research assistant that can explain and summarize complex information within papers, and answer follow-up questions contextually. The speaker invites viewers to try the tool, share their experiences, and ask further questions in the comments.

Keywords

💡Literature Review

A literature review is a comprehensive analysis of existing research on a particular topic. It is a critical step in the research process that helps in understanding the current state of knowledge, identifying gaps, and formulating research questions. In the context of the video, the literature review is the core process that SciSpace's Literature Review Tool aims to facilitate, making it easier for researchers to discover and review scientific literature related to their projects.

💡Research Project

A research project is a systematic investigation to contribute new knowledge or understanding to a field. It typically involves defining a research question, conducting a literature review, collecting and analyzing data, and drawing conclusions. The video script mentions a research project as the starting point for using SciSpace's tool, emphasizing the importance of literature review in the early stages of such projects.

💡SciSpace

SciSpace is the platform introduced in the video that offers tools to assist researchers, particularly in the area of literature review. The platform is designed to help users navigate the complex process of literature review by providing features that simplify the discovery and analysis of scientific papers. The video focuses on SciSpace's Literature Review Tool, which is central to the tutorial.

💡Search Engine

A search engine is a software system that is designed to search for information on the internet. In the video, SciSpace's Literature Review Tool is likened to a search engine but with specialized capabilities tailored for academic research. It allows users to search for papers based on topics or questions, going beyond the basic functionality of general search engines like Google Scholar.

💡Relevance

Relevance, in the context of the video, refers to the degree to which the search results from SciSpace's tool match the user's query or research needs. The tool automatically sorts papers based on their relevance, which is crucial for researchers to efficiently find the most pertinent literature for their review.

💡Filters

Filters are criteria used to narrow down search results. The video mentions that SciSpace allows users to apply various filters such as full PDFs, Open Access, year, and publication type to refine their search and make it more precise. This feature is essential for researchers to tailor their literature review to specific requirements.

💡Insights

Insights, as discussed in the video, are summaries or key points extracted from the top papers that answer the user's query. These insights are dynamic, updating as the user modifies their search list. They provide a quick understanding of the content and help in the initial assessment of papers without reading them in full, which is particularly useful during the literature review stage.

💡Custom Columns

Custom columns are a feature within SciSpace's tool that allows users to request specific information from all papers, such as the problem statement or methodology. This feature is highlighted in the video as a way to tailor the literature review process to the user's needs, enabling them to extract and compare specific data across multiple papers efficiently.

💡Abstract

An abstract is a brief summary of a research paper that presents the key points of the study. In the video, it is mentioned that the information for custom columns is taken from the abstract of a paper. Understanding the abstract is important for researchers as it provides a quick overview of the paper's content and helps in deciding whether to read the full paper.

💡Non-native English Speaker

The term 'non-native English speaker' refers to individuals whose first language is not English. The video script highlights that SciSpace's tool offers language support for 75 languages, which is beneficial for non-native English speakers who might struggle with scientific jargon. This feature makes the platform more inclusive and accessible to a global audience.

💡Curating a Collection

Curating a collection in the video refers to the process of selecting and organizing papers that are relevant to the research topic. SciSpace's tool allows users to create a curated collection of papers, which can be saved and exported for sharing. This feature streamlines the literature review process by helping researchers manage and share their findings efficiently.

💡AI Research Assistant

An AI research assistant, as mentioned in the video, is an artificial intelligence tool designed to assist with research tasks. SciSpace's tool includes an AI research assistant called Copilot, which provides explanations and summaries of text, math, and tables in papers. It also answers follow-up questions, contextualizing its responses to the user's collection of papers, thus aiding in a deeper understanding of the literature.

Highlights

Introduction to SciSpace’s Literature Review tool

Clarification of what a literature review is

Challenges faced when starting a literature review

How SciSpace's Literature Review Tool aids in literature discovery

Searching for papers based on a topic or question

Automatic sorting of papers by relevance

Customizable filters and sorting options

Insight feature providing answers from the top papers

Paper-specific insights like TL;DR, Conclusion, and more

Custom columns for specific information extraction

Utility of insights for efficient literature review

Comparing insights from multiple papers in one view

Translation support for non-native English speakers

Curating a collection and exporting as a .csv file

Introducing Copilot, the AI research assistant

Using Copilot for explanations and contextual answers

Encouragement to try the tool and share experiences

Invitation for questions and comments from viewers

Transcripts

Hi there! Welcome to this  interactive tutorial video  

where I’ll be taking you through  SciSpace’s Literature Review tool.

I’m not going to lie, there will  be a lot to unfold in the video,  

so feel free to pause, rewind, slow,  or fasten the video at any point.

But before we get started, I just want to  clarify what exactly is a literature review.

Say, you’ve got a research project coming up and  all you have is a vague topic as a starting point.

The standard procedure is you need to  find related papers, go through them,  

understand your topic, and finally come up with  

a research question before you can  move on to conducting your research.

Or in other words, do a literature review.

Sounds a little overwhelming?

Well, it really can be, particularly if  you’re a student or an early researcher.

Don’t fret, because enter SciSpace. More  specifically, our Literature Review Tool.

Hi, this is {{speaker’s name}}, and I’ll take  you through how our Literature Review Tool works,  

its different features, and how  you can utilize it to have a much  

easier time discovering and reviewing the  scientific literature for your project.

So one of the bigger challenges  you might face is starting out.

While you do have Google Scholar,  it’s mostly useful if you know the  

title of a paper. Not so much if  you want to discover new papers.

How SciSpace solves this problem is by showing  you papers based on a topic or a question.

Suppose you want to find  papers related to the question,  

“what is the significance of dark matter?”

You simply type it in the search bar,  hit enter, and voila! find papers.

Now these papers are automatically sorted  based on their relevance to your query. But  

you can always add filters like full PDFs,  Open Access, year, and publication type.

You can also sort the search results  by citation, see newer papers first,  

or in alphabetical order. All this  helps make the search more precise.

So, you have the papers  you want to read. Now what?

Well, in addition to being just a search engine,

SciSpace also shows you an  overall insight from the top  

five papers. This changes as you add  or remove papers from the search list.

What this insight does is give  you an answer to your query and  

cite from which papers it took the answer.

And for all the papers in the search results,  SciSpace also shows you paper-specific insights,  

TL;DR, Conclusion, and other  information in the form of columns.

You can add from preset insights like  methodology, practical implications,  

and limitations. Or if you want,  there’s this nifty little feature  

called custom columns where you can ask  for a specific information from all papers.

For example you want to know  the problem statement of each  

paper. All you have to do is enter it  into the custom column section here.

Now, mind you, these information  bits are taken from the abstract  

of a paper so if an abstract isn’t clear  enough, SciSpace’s column might show NA.

If you’re wondering how these columns are  useful, then two of the most obvious answers are 

1. You don’t have to read papers  in it entirety at this stage. You  

can simply extract an insight. I’m not  advocating not reading the full paper.

You absolutely should if you want  to understand it. But since we’re  

in the review stage of the research, these  insights can help you save a lot of time.

2. The second use of these columns is you see  insights from multiple papers on one screen.

Usually, you’d be going back and  forth between tabs, jotting down  

your findings, and then comparing  or contrasting different papers.

SciSpace lets you do this in one place.

Ooh, I almost forgot! If you’re  a non-native English speaker who  

sometimes struggles to understand  extremely dense scientific jargon,  

you can choose from 75 languages  to survey these papers.

To get this right, you have a list of papers  and you have all the insights from them. Based  

on this, you can now curate a collection  by removing all the irrelevant papers.

This collection is automatically saved, so you  don’t have to bother yourself. And if you want,  

feel free to export this collection as a  .csv file for sharing with your colleagues.

We’re still not quite done yet, though.  At the bottom right of the screen,  

you see this thing called Copilot.  If you’re wondering what that is,  

it’s this AI research assistant that gives  you explains and summarises text, math,  

and tables in a paper. You can also ask follow-up  questions and it gives a contextual answer.

We’ll get into Copilot in another video but  when paired with our Literature Review tool,  

it allows you to ask questions on the top  insights and papers in your collection.

So, if you’re a little blurry on the  topic and want to understand it better,  

feel free to ask Copilot any question, For  instance, “what are non-baryonic particles?”

This way, you can really dive into a topic or  a paper and move faster towards understanding  

existing literature, which will help you  form a more insightful research question.

That brings us to the end of the video.

Go try the tool for yourself and do  share your experience with us. If you  

have any more questions, put them in the  comments, we’ll be sure to answer them.

Until next time.