Modern Research Tools

Writing Tools
o For article, research paper, essay, blog, and
dissertation or PhD thesis.
o Appropriate software depends on choice/money

 Microsoft Word
 Latex
 OpenOffice
 LibreOffice
 Scrivener
 Google Docs
 DropBox Paper
 Microsoft Word
• MS Word is the most widely used tool in the writing community. 
• Some of the popular features include, Grammar and spell checker, Thesaurus,
text formatting and aligning, bullets and numbering, inserting watermarks,
page numbers headers and footers, readymade templates and mail merge.   
• You can use office online for free and save your documents in the cloud; all
you need is a Microsoft account.
• Purchase a copy.
• Some universities offer free copies to students. Office 365 offers a
subscription model that allows you to install the latest version of MS office on
up to 5 computers.
• You will also have access to the online version of MS Office and up to 1TB
cloud storage.
2. Latex
• LaTeX is a typesetting system for the communication and publication of
scientific documents. It is free software. The writer writes in plain text and
then adds markup tags to stylize text.
• Latex is widely used for publishing scientific papers, thesis, and books in
many fields. Latex offers a wide variety of features including cross-
referencing tables and figures, bibliography management, page layout,
chapter and section headings, and numbering. 
• It has a steep learning curve, and beginners will take some time to build up
expertise in Latex. People who have no or very little experience in
programming will take a while to get used to Latex since it is similar to
learning a new scripting language.
• Most publishers make a Latex template available alongside MS Word
template as a part of the author submission instructions.
2. Latex

• Latex produces a .tex file which in turn can be converted into

a wide variety of output formats such as PDF, HTML, etc.
using TEX distribution packages such as MikTex.

• The major disadvantages of using Latex is that it does not

come with an inbuilt spell checker or graphical user interface. 
3. Open Office
• OpenOffice is an open-source product that mimics MS Office. It is completely free,
and the suite of products it offers includes Writer (Word), Calc (Excel), Impress
(Powerpoint) and Base (Access), plus a vector graphics editor, Draw (Visio).
• The default file format of OpenOffice is OpenDocument Format (ODF). However, you
can open and save documents with DOC and DOCX extensions. OpenOffice is
available for Windows, Linux, and macOS, and the tool is distributed under Apache
License. Many paid features of MS Word such as PDF export are available for free in
OpenOffice. The tool supports over 40 languages and includes Grammar and spell
checker.
• OpenOffice might exhibit some formatting issues while working with DOC/DOCX
files. OpenOffice remains quite popular as it is downloaded approximately 100,000
times a day. Another important advantage is that it is open source, and you can
customize the tool to your requirements.
• It is ideal for small businesses and startups if they are not so keen on shedding
money for buying the MS Office site licenses.
4. Scrivener
• Scrivener is a writing tool that allows you write and manage a long document
such as a Ph.D thesis or a novel with a lot of chapters, sections, and
subsections.
• Scrivener is available for both Windows and Mac. One of the great features of
Scrivener is that you can split your writing into small chunks or snippets. You
can move these chunks around easily and reorganize your content.
• You can visualize your document using different views.
• You can create folders and subfolders to store documents, images, PDFs,
audio, video, and web pages that you need for your writing.
• You simply drag and drop these into your writing easily in a single click. After
finishing the text, the user can export the project into a wide variety of
formats.
• Scrivener is not a free software tool; you can get a copy for approximately $45.
5. DropBox Paper
• Dropbox Paper, or simply Paper, is a web based document-editing service developed by Dropbox.
• It has a very lightweight interface and is capable of supporting a wide variety of content including
images, Google spreadsheets, YouTube videos, Spotify playlists, and plain old code.
• Documents can be easily shared with others. Documents can be shared individually or added to a
folder with group access.
• You can also invite people to edit (or view) a file via email or with a specific URL. It is so easy to
create tables and image galleries in Dropbox Paper document.
• You can create a table by simply clicking on an icon and specifying the number of rows and
columns.
• Image galleries can be created by simply dragging and dropping images.
• DropBox will notify the changes made to the DropBox paper documents via the bell icon in the
top left-hand corner.
• You can see all the changes that have been made to the documents and who made the changes.
• DropBox Paper does not currently support spreadsheet and presentation formats. Hopefully, this
will be included in the future updates.
REFERENCING Tools
Reference Management Software

Some of the popular referencing tools used in the

scientific community are: 

1. Zotero 2. Mendeley 3. EndNote

4. RefWorks 5. Citavi 6. PaperPile
7. JabRef 8. Papers 9. Docear
1. Zotero
• Zotero is a free referencing tool that allows you to collect, cite, organize and share
research sources.
• Zotero comes with a browser extension that automatically senses content in your
web browser, allowing you to add it to your personal library with a single click.
• It automatically picks up the nature of the text displayed in the page and displays
a relevant icon in the address bar that represents the content (book, article, etc).
• The user can click this icon to add the reference to the library.
• Zotero automatically parses metadata of PDF files and extracts citation
information and adds it to the library.
• You can include the references in your text by simply dragging and dropping
citation files from the Zotero library into the document.
• Zotero supports all the major citation formats.
 2. Mendeley
• Mendeley is a free referencing manager and social network that helps you organize
research, collaborate online and discover new research.
• You can sign up for a Mendeley account online and install the Mendeley Desktop Tool in
your computer.
• You can import papers into Mendeley library from your hard drive by simply dragging
and dropping files. You can also import reference list from other reference managers or
by searching various web databases for papers through Mendeley Literature Search. 
• You can also use Mendeley Web Importer, a browser plugin that allows you to import
documents from anywhere on the web quickly. Mendeley desktop will display a PDF
icon next to the paper if the full text is available. You can search annotate and add notes
to PDF documents.
• You can sync your libraries to the cloud to access them anywhere.
• Mendeley Writing Addins are available for MS Word and LibreOffice which enables you
to insert references into your article and generate a bibliography list.
3. EndNote
• EndNote is a reference management tool that allows you to import references
directly from online sources such as PubMed, Web of Science, Library of Congress,
etc.
• You can also import references by uploading a list of references in Citation Manager
format.
• Alternatively, you can manually input the references if it is an unpublished source.
• You can insert references in the document as you write using EndNote Word Addin.
• EndNote supports numerous citation formats.
• The tool automatically generates the bibliography for the references contained in
the text. The cost of full single user license is £209, and student license is £99.
4. RefWork
• RefWorks is a reference management software quite similar to EndNote.
• RefWorks is web-based as in the reference database is stored online.
• The references can be accessed and updated from any computer with an
internet connection.
• Institutions subscribe to RefWorks on behalf of all their students, faculty
and staff.
• The references can be included in the text using RefWorks’s Write-n-Cite
Microsoft Word Addin.
• This plugin allows users to insert references in the text and generate a
bibliography in a wide variety of formats.
 5. Citavi
• Citavi is a reference management tool that combines referencing with task management.
• Citavi allows users to search for sources, analyze content, structure ideas and write a paper.
• You can import PDFs by dragging and dropping files and add books and articles using ISBN.
• When you find information on the web, you can use Citavi browser plugin to import
quotations, pictures, and web pages to Citavi library.
• You can annotate PDFs and save pictures to Citavi library.
• You can also make a note of your thoughts while reading a research paper using Citavi
Thoughts Option.
• You can add tasks to the tasks manager window to manage project deadlines.
• You can structure your paper by creating an outline in Citavi. Then you can drag and drop
references, image, and quotations to relevant sections of the paper.
• Finally, you can download the paper outline as a Word document and start filling in the
missing bits of the paper.
 6. PaperPile
• PaperPile is a GoogleDocs Addon for managing your references and bibliography.
• It is a very useful tool if you are using GoogleDocs for writing papers instead of
MS Word.
• PaperPile is attached to your Google account. You can download this app from
the Google store. There is a basic version available for free, and you can upgrade
for a few dollars to a premium version.  One of the big advantages of PaperPile is
that it works very well with other citation managers such as Zotero and EndNote.
• PaperPile allows you to import Zotero or EndNote citations into GoogleDocs. You
can insert citations, format citations and generate a bibliography in a wide variety
of formats. You can easily import papers from Google Scholar into PaperPile.
• If full-text PDF is available for an article, you can use PaperPile to store them in
GoogleDrive.
7. JabRef
• JabRef is a reference management software for Latex.
• The tool allows you to manage citations and generate bibliography if you are
using Latex as your writing medium.
• This is a free tool and is well maintained. You can simply download citations
in BibTex format and create entries in JabRef.
• You can also export a list of papers from multiple sources at the same time
by selecting multiple items from a web page.  
• JabRef tool will produce a .bib file with a list of references in your library and
create a BibTexKey for each source.
• Now you can link this .bib file with Latex using ‘addbibresource’ command
and cite articles in your Latex document using BibTexKey and ‘cite’ command.
It supports a wide variety of citation styles and bibliography formats.
8. Papers
• Papers is a citation manager and referencing tool that allows users to
discover, organize, read & annotate and share research.
• Papers tool is available for both Windows and Mac.
• It comes with all the basic functionality offered by other reference
managers. Also, some useful features are unique to Papers.
• You can search multiple search engines at the same time for keywords
and view one set of results.
• You can organize your references by annotating, ranking and color
coding.
• You can search your research library by building a complex query
rather than searching for simple keywords. You can share your
collection with your colleagues using Papers online web interface.
9. Docear
• Docear helps you to find relevant literature and remember all the things
you read in the literature.
• Docear is a free tool and is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. It
provides a user-friendly graphical interface where you can drag and
drop PDFs into different categories and topics. Then you can directly
open the PDFs from this interface and annotate them.
• The annotations can be viewed by clicking on annotation icon that is
displayed next to the PDF in the graphical interface.
• You can create an outline of the paper using Docear’s interactive user
interface. You can drag and drop annotations and references into
relevant sections of your outline in the interface.
• Once you are done, you can download the outline as a document in a
wide variety of formats. 
Research tool and
Software
Research tool and Software
• If you are conducting research, it is very important that you have
appropriate methods and tools to carry out your research.
• If you are a non-native English speaker, then you need a research tool
to help you with your written language.
• If your research involves data analysis, then you need a good
statistical research tool for your work.  
• It is also important that you keep tabs on what other people in your
research arena are doing, so you need research tools such as Google
Scholar and ResearchGate to collaborate with your peers.
• You also need a good plagiarism checking software to avoid academic
misconduct. Finally, you need a research project management
software to stay on top of the deadlines.
1. REF-N-WRITE Academic Writing Tool
• Ref-N-Write is a fantastic research tool for beginner/non-native English
speakers.
• This is a Microsoft Word add-in which allows users to import research
papers into MS Word.
• This tool is like Google search engine.
• REF-N-WRITE functions within MS Word and the search results are
displayed in a panel that pops up from the bottom.
• This research tool is fantastic to lookup for writing ideas from related
research papers or documents from your colleagues. You can use this to
polish your writing by substituting colloquial terms and informal
statements in your text with academically acceptable words and phrases.
• REF-N-WRITE also features text-to-voice option.
2. Free Online Statistical Testing Tools
• Whether you are doing quantitative or qualitative research,
statistical analysis will be an indispensable part of your
workflow.  
• Basic calculations stuff such as mean, standard deviation,
confidence intervals, standard error, etc. to make your work
sound scientific. 
• Also, statistical test for the significance of difference between
two groups or cohorts and compute the p-value.
• Some of the widely used statistical tests for this purpose
include T-test, F-test, Chi-square test, Pearson correlation
coefficient and ANOVA.
2. Free Online Statistical Testing Tools
 Following are the list of free popular statistical research tools
available online. These tools will allow you to cut and copy
your data directly from your spreadsheet and perform the
required statistical analysis.
 GraphPad
 Easy Calculation
 Daniel Soper
 VassarStats
 SocSciStatistics
 SurfStat
3. Microsoft Excel
• One of the widely used tools for research is Microsoft Excel.  
• MS Excel have research tool if your study involves a lot of quantitative
analysis.
• Excel offers a wide range of statistical functions such as AVERAGE, MIN,
MAX, SUM, etc. that you can apply to the cells in a few clicks.
• You can visualize your data using a wide variety of chart types, for
example, bar plot, scatter plot, etc.
• You can use pivot tables to organize and generate summaries of your
data easily.
• For complex statistical analysis, you can use Data Analysis ToolPak
Excel add-in. This add-in comes with variety of statistical analysis tools
such as Descriptive statistics, Histogram, F-test, Random number
generation, Fourier analysis, etc. 
4. Google Scholar
• Google Scholar is a free online research tool offered by Google. 
• This tool allows users to search for academic literature, scientific articles, journals,
white papers and patents across the web.
• It not only searches well-known databases, but also looks for articles in university
repositories, so your chances of finding the full-text PDF of the research article.
• You can set up keyword alerts so that Google Scholar notifies you when there is a new
article in your field or from your co-authors.
• You can label paper or article, and Google Scholar will organize them for you. Google
Scholar displays vital information about the article such as citation number, versions
and other articles citing the current article.
• Google Scholar also alerts you if somebody else has cited your paper. You can
download citations in a wide variety of formats – MLA, APA, Chicago, Harvard,
Vancouver, – and you can easily export the citation to EndNote and other bibliography
managers.
• Overall, Google Scholar is an indispensable tool for researchers.
5. ResearchGate
• ResearchGate is a social networking site for people doing research.
• The site contains more than 11 million members that include scientists,
academics, Ph.D. students, and researchers.
• Create an account using a valid institutional email address. Once successful,
they can create a profile, upload pictures, list publications and upload full-text
papers.
• ResearchGate is a perfect research tool for researchers and academics looking
for collaborations.
• You can follow updates from your colleagues or peers with similar interests.
• You will be notified if somebody reads or cites your paper, and you will know
if the people you are following have published new research.
• You can email and request full-text of their listed publications.
• RG score, H-index and i-10 index
6. Plagiarism detection software tools
• Plagiarism is seen as academic misconduct. 
• Plagiarism is not taken lightly by academic and research institutions
and is punished and penalized severely.
• Plagiarism occurs when you copy/paste a large chunk of text from a
document written by someone else without giving credit to the author.
• One of the common forms of plagiarism is self-plagiarism i.e., use of
one’s own previous work in another context without citing that it was
used previously.
• This is because once you publish your work, the publisher holds the
copyright for your text, so you need to either get permission from the
publisher to reuse the text or you should cite the source.
6. Plagiarism detection software tools
There are plenty of plagiarism detection software and online checking
tools available that you can use to check how much of your text overlap
with previously published materials.
You can fix these mistakes before submitting your academic essay or
research paper.
Some of the tools for checking plagiarism are listed below.
Turnitin Scribbr Viper
PaperRater WriteCheck PlagiarismDetector
PlagiarismSoftware DupliChecker Plagium
PlagTracker
 7. Project management tools
• It is good practice to choose a project management tool to keep
on top of your research project. These tools can help you to
minimize the amount of time you spend on managing the project
and instead concentrate on research work.
• Find a tool that allows you to lay out what is to be done, by whom
and by then. 
• Sometimes it would be helpful if you can visualize your tasks and
the timeline for execution using simple diagrams such as a Gantt
chart. There are plenty of research project management tools
available; you can simply pick the one that suits your research
project.
7. Project management tools
 Here are some popular research management tools used in the
academic community.

 Microsoft Project
 Microsoft OneNote
 ToDoist
 Asana
 Atlassian
 Trello