33 Best Academic Research Software For Students

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Is research your middle name? Do you lose track of time when diving into research tools and exploring the best ways to enhance your academic papers, summaries, and articles?

Whether you're a student, academic researcher, or curious, finding the right academic research software is critical to making your writing smoother and more practical. Our upcoming guide will reveal the mystery and share tips on how research tools can significantly improve your writing journey.

AI Research Assistant by Unriddle is the ultimate key to enhancing your writing skills and boosting the efficiency of your papers, summaries, and articles.

What Is Academic Research?

Academic research is about delving into the unknown territories of knowledge to uncover hidden gems that will enrich your understanding of a subject. It's like embarking on an exciting adventure to unearth valuable treasures that will bolster your arguments and dispel any biases or misconceptions you might have. But how can academic research tools help you navigate this complex landscape and achieve success in your educational pursuits?

Navigating the Academic Research Landscape

Utilizing the right tools in academic research can significantly impact your quest for knowledge. By employing academic research software, you can streamline your research process, gain access to a wealth of scholarly sources, and enhance the quality of your work. Moreover, these tools can assist you in selecting appropriate topics, identifying relevant keywords, searching for information efficiently, and evaluating your sources' credibility.

Discover the Power of Academic Research Software

Imagine having a trusty sidekick that guides you through the vast sea of information available online, helping you filter out irrelevant sources and focus on the ones that truly matter. Academic research software acts as your virtual assistant in academia, enabling you to navigate the complexities of research easily. With the right tools, you can conduct thorough investigations, strengthen your arguments, and produce well-rounded assignments that showcase your research skills.

Enhancing Your Research Skills

Having the right tools is vital for success in academic research. Incorporating academic research software into your workflow can sharpen your research skills, expand your knowledge base, and produce high-quality work demonstrating your expertise in a particular subject. These tools empower you to think like a researcher, enabling you to approach assignments with confidence and precision.

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How To Do Research For Academic Paper In 8 Simple Steps

1. Identify and Develop Your Topic

Selecting a topic can be the most challenging part of a research assignment. Since this is the first step in writing a paper, it must be done correctly. Here are some tips for selecting a topic:

Select a topic within the parameters set by the assignment. Your instructor often gives clear guidelines on what you can and cannot write about. Please work within these guidelines to ensure your instructor considers your proposed paper acceptable.

Select a topic of personal interest to you and learn more about it. Researching and writing a paper will be more enjoyable if you write about something interesting.

Select a topic for which you can find a manageable amount of information. Conduct a preliminary search of information sources to determine whether existing sources meet your needs. If you see too much information, you may need to narrow your topic; if you find too little, you may need to broaden your topic.

Be original. Your instructor reads hundreds of research papers yearly, many on the same topics (topics in the news at the time, controversial issues, subjects for which there is ample and easily accessed information). Stand out from your classmates by selecting an interesting and off-the-beaten-path topic.

Still trying to come up with a topic to write about? See your instructor for advice.

Once you have identified your topic, it may help to state it as a question. For example, if you are interested in finding out about the epidemic of obesity in the American population, you might ask the question, "What are the causes of obesity in America?" By posing your subject as a question, you can more easily identify your research's main concepts or keywords.

2. Do a Preliminary Search for Information

Before beginning your research in earnest, do a preliminary search to determine whether there is enough information out there for your needs and to set the context of your research. Look up your keywords in the appropriate titles in the library's Reference collection (such as encyclopedias and dictionaries) and other sources, such as our catalog of books, periodical databases, and Internet search engines.

Background information may be found in your lecture notes, textbooks, and reserve readings. You may need to adjust the focus of your topic in light of the resources available to you.

3. Locate Materials

With the direction of your research now clear to you, you can begin locating material on your topic. There are several places you can look for information:

If you are looking for books, do a subject search in One Search. A Keyword search can be performed if the subject search doesn't yield enough information. Print or write down the citation information (author, title, etc.) and the location (call number and collection) of the item(s). Note the circulation status. When you locate the book on the shelf, look at the nearby books; similar items are always shelved in the same area. The Aleph catalog also indexes the library's audio-visual holdings.

Use the library's electronic periodical databases to find magazine and newspaper articles. Choose the databases and formats best suited to your particular topic; ask the librarian at the Reference Desk if you need help figuring out which database best meets your needs. Many of the articles in the databases are available in full-text format.

Use search engines (Google, Yahoo, etc.) and subject directories to locate materials online.

4. Evaluate Your Sources

See the CARS Checklist for Information Quality for tips on evaluating the authority and quality of the information you have located. Your instructor expects that you will provide credible, truthful, and reliable information and you have every right to expect that the sources you use are the same. This step is critical when using Internet resources, many of which are regarded as less than reliable.

5. Make Notes

Consult the resources you have chosen and note the information that will be useful in your paper. Be sure to document all the sources you consult, even if you may not use that particular source. The author, title, publisher, URL, and other information will be needed later when creating a bibliography.

6. Write Your Paper

Begin by organizing the information you have collected. The next step is the rough draft, wherein you get your ideas on paper in an unfinished fashion. This step will help you organize your ideas and determine your final paper's form. After this, you will revise the draft as often as necessary to create a final product to turn in to your instructor.

7. Cite Your Sources Properly

Give credit where credit is due; cite your sources. Citing or documenting the sources used in your research serves two purposes: it gives proper credit to the authors of the materials used. It allows those reading your work to duplicate your research and locate the sources you have listed as references. The MLA and the APA Styles are two popular citation formats. Failure to cite your sources properly is plagiarism. Plagiarism is avoidable!

8. Proofread

The final step is to proofread the paper you have created. Read the text and check for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Make sure the sources you used are correctly cited. Ensure the message you want to convey to the reader has been thoroughly stated.

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Unriddle understands the meaning behind your writing and automatically links you to relevant things you’ve read and written about. Highlight text, and Unriddle will show you the most appropriate sources from your library using AI. Never lose a citation again. Generate text with AI autocomplete to improve and expand your writing, with suggestions based on the context of your work. Step into a collaborative workspace where everyone can contribute and chat with the same documents in real time and much more!

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What Is The Purpose Of Academic Research?

1. Facilitates Learning

Academic research is the best tool for developing or enhancing knowledge and facilitating learning. It is important not just for students but also for the entire scholastic world. Knowledge is associated with research objectives and findings.

Arguments framed by the researcher in the academic paper provide a pathway to the scholar's mind. Research allows comprehension of specific issues through varied angles that were never identified or discussed much. While conducting the research, a scholar goes beyond personal experience and collects evidence based on facts and rationality. That is how academic research papers open the gates for further discourse and discussions.

2. Highlights Issues

Academic research often highlights various issues prevalent in society. These issues could be related to cultural norms, health, education, specific practices, etc. For example, psychological research or studies on mental health may lead to new findings and cure ongoing mental disorders. Similarly, to understand people's psyche during colonial times, one can read the research articles of Edward Said and Frantz Fanon. This way, academic research sheds light on various societal issues.

3. Helps in Business Growth

Research plays a crucial role in the business field. Market research can help any organization to see ongoing trends and work accordingly. Different business industries such as healthcare, agriculture, Pharmaceuticals, construction, robotics, aerospace, and aviation have Research and development centers to bring product innovation and improve products. They conduct market analysis and understand the demands of society. Based on their research, they manufacture products according to demand.

4. Leads to Personal Growth of Students

Academic research helps students in their personal growth as well. Research assists in the development of skills. Students learn how to identify a problem and reach a possible solution or develop a point of view on a specific topic. They develop analytical skills by analyzing vast amounts of data. They learn how to put up questions, form focus by paying complete attention to key issues, organize their ideas, and perceive things from different points of view. They develop a wider mindset through academic research.

33 Best Academic Research Software For Students

1. Unriddle.AI

Unriddle is an AI-powered research tool that allows you to read faster and write better. With the power of AI, Unriddle helps you find information in documents, simplify complex topics, take notes, and write more effectively. Unriddle is trusted by thousands of researchers and students across various levels of academia, from the classroom to the boardroom.

Unriddle's AI assistant generates insights from your writing, helping you understand, summarize, and link relevant information from your past work. Additionally, Unriddle's AI-autocomplete feature suggests text based on the context of your current writing project, promoting efficient and accurate writing. Unriddle also offers collaborative workspaces for real-time document editing and group discussions.

2. CORE

CORE is a comprehensive aggregator of open-access (OA) research articles. It boasts the most extensive collection of OA articles, with access to over 219 million resources. While most articles link to the original publisher's site, five million records are hosted directly on CORE. This platform is dedicated to offering OA articles to anyone, anywhere in the world. CORE's user-friendly interface allows for easy navigation and sorting of search results by relevance or recency. It offers advanced search options to filter results by publication type, year, language, journal, repository, and author.

3. Google Scholar

Google Scholar is an academic search engine that provides free access to a vast repository of research papers and patents across all disciplines. It enables users to find research papers and often provides links to full-text PDF files. Google Scholar's advanced search capabilities allow users to search by keywords, author name, journal name, and publication date. Users can filter search results by article type, language, and publication status. The platform's MyNCBI service allows users to save search queries and receive email alerts for new articles matching their criteria.

4. ScienceOpen

ScienceOpen is a research and publishing network with access to over 74 million articles in various scientific fields. Although registration is required to view full-text articles, it is free. The platform offers advanced search functions to help users find specific research content. ScienceOpen allows users to export search results for integration with reference management systems and bookmark articles for future review. Additionally, users can interact with other researchers through the platform's forums and track their usage and citations.

5. BASE

BASE, hosted at Bielefeld University, is a multidisciplinary academic search engine. It provides access to various scholarly resources, including articles, theses, and books. The platform allows users to search for content from different scientific disciplines.

6. Directory of Open Access Journals

The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is a community-curated directory of high-quality, peer-reviewed journals. Users can browse subjects or search by keyword to access over two million articles from 17,193 journals. DOAJ aims to increase the visibility and accessibility of OA scholarly journals globally by providing a platform for quality research globally. The site's detailed search results show journal information and abstracts in an easy-to-navigate format.

7. Science.gov

Science.gov is a valuable resource that combines search results from over 15 U.S. federal agencies into a single platform, eliminating the need to search each resource individually.

8. PubMed

PubMed, a free database from the U.S. National Library of Medicine, focuses on biomedical sciences. It contains over 32 million citations for biomedical literature, making it an invaluable resource for researchers in medicine and related fields. Its advanced search capabilities help users find articles based on keywords, author, journal, publication date, and other criteria.

9. PsycINFO

PsycINFO, a database by the American Psychological Association, covers psychology and related fields. With over four million records, it includes international literature, advanced search capabilities, and filtering options for article type, language, and publication status.

10. Education Resources Information Center

The Education Resources Information Center (ERIC) allows users to search for education-related material by topic. ERIC primarily indexes journals, gray literature, and books related to education and undergoes a formal review process before indexing materials. Users can access an extensive FAQ section for guidance on using the database.

11. Proquest

ProQuest is a general research database offering access to over 90,000 academic journals, magazines, newspapers, and millions of dissertations and theses. The platform covers various subjects, including business, health, education, and social sciences.

12. JSTOR

JSTOR is a digital library providing full-text access to over 12 million academic articles, books, and primary sources in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Users can search for materials by keyword, author, title, or subject, with advanced search options available.

13. ResearchGate

ResearchGate is a social networking site connecting academics and researchers for collaboration. It allows users to create profiles, share publications, ask questions, and network with other researchers. The platform also features a citation tracker and reputation score to manage research activity.

14. Grammarly

Grammarly is a real-time writing tool that checks written content's spelling, punctuation, and style. It offers a free, premium version with additional features like genre-specific writing style advice and plagiarism detection.

15. Microsoft Academic

Microsoft Academic is a free search engine providing access to research papers, journals, and scholarly publications across various domains. It leverages natural language processing to identify author, publication, and research domain relationships for improved search accuracy.

16. Library of Congress

As the most extensive library globally, the Library of Congress offers online access to various digital resources, including documents, videos, audio recordings, photographs, and maps. Users can explore materials across different topics and historical periods.

17. Evernote

Evernote lets users capture, organize, and share notes and information across devices. It features note-taking options for texts, photos, audio, and site clippings. The premium version offers additional features like PDF annotation, presentation mode, and team collaboration.

18. QuestionPro Insight Hub

QuestionPro Insight Hub connects businesses with consumers and expert panelists for market research. The platform enables users to conduct surveys, polls, and focus groups and collect data from various sources to understand customer behavior and preferences.

19. Google Books

Google Books contains over 40 million books, offering a diverse range of publications for research. Users can find books by entering search terms and access full-text versions of public domain titles. The site also includes book reviews and reference pages for additional information.

20. Digital Commons Network

The Digital Commons Network presents peer-reviewed articles, dissertations, book chapters, conference proceedings, and working papers curated by university librarians across diverse disciplines. Users can access scholarly work in architecture, business, education, law, and sciences.

21. WorldCat

WorldCat is a database connected to over 10,000 libraries, providing access to books, articles, music, videos, and more. Users can search for resources available at local libraries, including digital materials, to find sources for academic research.

The Social Science Research Network (SSRN) offers research papers across 67 social science topics. With over 700,000 abstracts and 600,000 full-text papers, SSRN provides a platform for scholars to share and access valuable research globally.

23. Ref-N-Write

Ref-N-Write is a research tool for beginner writers and non-native English speakers. It serves as a Microsoft Word add-in, enabling users to search and import research papers into their documents for writing inspiration. The tool also offers a database of academic and scientific phrases to enhance writing quality.

24. Jasper

Jasper is an AI-powered writing assistant who helps with various writing tasks, including identifying core arguments, creating outlines, and offering writing suggestions for introductions and conclusions.

25. Margin Note

MarginNote is an advanced reading tool for learners that allows users to organize, study, and manage large volumes of PDFs and EPUBs. It supports highlighting, taking notes, creating mind maps, reviewing flashcards, and syncing information across devices for easy access.

26. Zotero

Zotero is a free tool for collecting, organizing, citing, and sharing research materials. It supports managing bibliographic data and related research materials and offers features like web browser integration, online syncing, in-text citations, and bibliography generation.

27. ProWritingAid

ProWritingAid offers grammar checking and rephrasing tools for writing improvement. With AI-powered grammar checking, the tool helps writers identify and correct complex grammatical issues for professional writing.

28. RefWorks

RefWorks is a web-based reference management software for organizing and sharing bibliographies and citations. Institutions can subscribe to RefWorks for students, faculty, and staff, providing access to reference databases and electronic journal links.

29. Trinka

Trinka is an AI tool for checking English grammar, detecting plagiarism, and enriching language. It helps ensure that writing is clear, concise, and engaging for academic and professional purposes.

30. EndNote

EndNote is a reference management software for publishing and managing bibliographies, citations, and references. It provides ease and control in coordinating research materials across desktop and online platforms.

31. WordTune

WordTune generates rewrite suggestions by analyzing text patterns for improved writing quality. While occasionally offering contextual rewrite suggestions, the tool learns to preserve the meaning of the input text, providing enhanced writing output.

32. Mendeley

Mendeley Desktop is a free academic tool for organizing, sharing research papers, and generating bibliographies with online storage for seamless library synchronization across devices.

33. Readcube

ReadCube is a desktop and browser-based program for managing, annotating, and accessing academic research articles. It syncs entire libraries across desktops, mobile devices, and the web to access research materials easily.

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Complete Step-by-Step Guide On How To Use Unriddle's AI Research Tool

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to use Unriddle. I’ve also copied it below :)

From here, it's pretty simple.

Unriddle helps you read, write and learn faster.

Interact with documents via AI so you can quickly find and understand info.

Then start writing in a new Note and Unriddle will show you relevant content from your library as you type.

Get started by uploading a document.

Or read on for the full rundown.

Interact with documents

When you upload a document, Unriddle generates an AI assistant on top of this data.

Click 'New' in the right sidebar and then select 'Upload' to get started.

Use this assistant to answer specific questions about the text, summarize content and simplify jargon.

The trick is to be super clear about what you want.

If you're summarizing a research paper, for example, instead of saying “Summarize” or “Summarize this research paper”, say something like “Explain this research paper to me in simple terms. What method did the researchers use? What did they find? Why does it matter?”.

The second prompt will produce a much better overview of the paper because we're giving the AI more hints about what we want.

Automatic relations

Unriddle grasps the context behind each Note and Document in your library and automatically links them based on meaning.

Let's say you have a collection of nuclear physics papers in your library.

When you start writing a note about The Manhattan Project, simply mentioning "The Manhattan Project" will prompt Unriddle to find the connection between this note and the nuclear physics papers.

Even if you didn't explicitly mention the research papers, Unriddle's knowledge of Oppenheimer, his work, and the significant relevance of these papers means it understands the connection and automatically links them together.

In short, Unriddle shows you relevant content from your library at the exact moment you need it, even if you haven't explicitly mentioned it.

Citing your sources

Writing is hard when you have a ton of sources to track.

So we made it easy.

Highlight some text, click ‘Cite’ and you’ll see items from your library that contain information related to the selection of text you just highlighted as determined by our AI.

When you select an item Unriddle inserts a link into highlighted text that, when clicked, takes you to the referenced item.

Writing with AI

Click ‘New’ in the sidebar and hit ‘Note’ to open up a new note.

Here you’ll find all the text formatting options you’re used to and more.

Type ‘++’ to generate text based on the context of what’s already written.

Highlight text and click ‘Ask AI’ to open up the AI menu where you’ll find options to improve, expand, summarize and explain.

You can type custom prompts too!

Finally, you can open any note in a pane on the right side of the screen while interacting with documents. Just click the orange pencil icon at the top of the chat window.

Chat Settings

Adjust the model, temperature and response length in the Setting sidebar.

Click the cog icon in the top right corner of the screen and look for "Chat Settings".

These apply across all documents but you can easily flip between them regardless of settings at the time of upload.

Model: the machine learning model used to generate responses.

Temperature: the amount of creative license you give to the AI.

Max length: the maximum number of words generated in a response.

Got feedback or questions? Send us an email and we'll get back to you within a day.

— Naveed

Read Faster & Write Better With Unriddle for Free Today

Regarding academic research software, Unriddle stands out as a game-changer. Unriddle offers a comprehensive suite of features that cater to the needs of researchers, students, and professionals across various disciplines. From simplifying complex topics to generating AI-assisted summaries, Unriddle is a one-stop solution for anyone looking to enhance their research capabilities.

Reading Faster and Writing Better with Unriddle

Unriddle's core promise is to help you read faster and write better. By leveraging the power of AI, Unriddle empowers users to quickly find information in documents, simplify complex topics, take notes, and improve their writing. This streamlined approach saves time and enhances the overall quality of research output.

AI-Assistant for Quick Info Retrieval

One of Unriddle's standout features is its AI assistant, which generates on top of any document, allowing users to find, summarize, and understand information quickly. This feature benefits researchers who need to sift through vast data to extract relevant insights efficiently.

Seamless Integration with Your Existing Work

Unriddle goes a step further by understanding the meaning behind your writing and automatically linking you to relevant things you've read and written about. By highlighting text, Unriddle can show you the most appropriate sources from your library using AI, ensuring you never lose a citation again.

AI-Autocomplete for Enhanced Writing

Generating text with AI autocomplete is another impressive feature offered by Unriddle. By providing suggestions based on the context of your work, Unriddle enables users to improve and expand their writing effortlessly. This tool enhances the quality of your writing and boosts productivity by speeding up the writing process.

Collaborative Workspace for Team Efforts

Lastly, Unriddle facilitates collaboration by offering a workspace where everyone can contribute and chat with the same documents in real time. This feature is especially beneficial for research teams or group projects where seamless communication and document sharing are crucial for success.

Unriddle is a versatile academic research software that offers a wide range of features tailored to enhance research productivity and quality. Whether you are a student, researcher, or professional, Unriddle's AI-powered tools can significantly streamline your research process and take your academic endeavors to the next level. Unriddle for free today and experience the difference for yourself!