All About Traditional Research + 15 Best Tools For It

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Researching a paper can sound like a daunting task. Just thinking about all the reading, note-taking, citations, and organizing can cause anyone to feel overwhelmed. The good news is that you can improve your research skills and writing with practice. Traditional research is one of the best ways to enhance academic performance and produce quality work.

This guide will define traditional research, explore its significance, and provide helpful tips for executing it efficiently. You'll learn how artificial intelligence can help streamline the process so you can focus on writing an excellent paper. Unriddle’s AI research assistant can help you improve your research skills and produce better writing.

What is Traditional Research?

Traditional research systematically and methodically investigates a specific topic or question using established methods and practices. It typically involves identifying a research problem, reviewing existing literature, designing a study with a transparent methodology, collecting and analyzing data, and drawing conclusions.

The goal is to contribute new knowledge or insights to a particular field by building on or challenging existing theories and findings. Traditional research is often conducted in academic or scientific settings and guided by rigor, objectivity, and reproducibility principles.

Purpose Of Traditional Research

Traditional research is a systematic process for investigating a specific question or problem in a scholarly setting. It provides the evidence that drives academic conversations. When researchers publish traditional research results, they contribute to the body of knowledge within a discipline. This inquiry process allows scholars to validate or challenge existing theories, filling gaps in knowledge and improving our understanding of complex issues.

Traditional Research: A Practical Approach to Problem Solving

Research helps solve real-world problems. By providing evidence-based solutions, it informs policy-making, improves practices in various industries, and enhances the effectiveness of interventions in fields like medicine, education, and social sciences. Researchers aim to produce academically valuable results with practical applications, contributing to societal progress.

Traditional Research: Training the Next Generation of Scholars

Research serves an essential function in training future scholars. It teaches the principles of rigorous inquiry, critical thinking, and methodological precision, which are essential skills in any field. Through the research process, scholars learn to ask meaningful questions, design studies, analyze data, and communicate their findings effectively.

Traditional Research: The Cumulative Nature of Knowledge

Research contributes to the cumulative nature of knowledge. Each study adds a piece to the giant puzzle, building on past research and setting the stage for future investigations. This ongoing dialogue within the academic and scientific community fosters continuous improvement, innovation, and a deeper understanding of the world.

AI for Academic Research

Collaborative Research

Academic Research

Research Team

Research Process

Industry Research

Research Skills

Research Collaboration

Difference Between Action Research and Traditional Research

Conventional research aims to establish conclusions. A theory is first established in a standard approach before statistical analysis is conducted to test hypotheses. In this approach, the researcher does not intervene in the implementation phase of the findings.

Action Research, on the other hand, focuses on improving local organizations and communities through research. Researchers are actively involved with organizations to create knowledge and practical solutions to complex socio-economic problems.

The Scope and Context: Where Do Research Questions Come From?

In traditional research, research questions are derived from theoretical frameworks and the existing literature. Action Research, however, generates research questions from practice and action. These questions often reflect institutional parameters.

Data Collection and Analysis: Rigid vs. Flexible Methodologies

Data collection methodologies in Traditional Research are rigid and largely dependent on statistical analysis. On the contrary, Action Research utilizes a mix of methods with a strong emphasis on qualitative data collection to support the validity of findings.

The Audience: Different Research Goals for Different Audiences

Traditional Research's audience is typically academic, while Action Research aims to serve a broader scope of stakeholders. Action Research audiences include the studied organization, the community, and the researcher.

The Knowledge: Action Research Creates Practical Solutions

Conventional research generates knowledge by testing existing theories. Action Research generates knowledge from practice and seeks to create sustainable solutions that can be implemented to solve real-world problems.

The Researcher Role: Collaborating vs. Authoritative Roles

The researcher's role in Traditional Research is directive and often considered individualistic. In Action Research, the researcher collaborates with the organization throughout the process and facilitates the research project as a practitioner and catalyst for change.

The Learning Methodology: Who is Learning What?

In Traditional Research, learning is primarily disciplinary-oriented. Action Research, in contrast, promotes mutual learning between the researcher and the organization, focusing on integrating disciplines.

Action on Findings: The Impact of Research in the Real World

In Traditional Research, actions on findings are minimal, could occur in isolation, or might not occur at all. In Action Research, actions are integrated within institutional processes and systems.

Ownership of Results: Who Owns Research Findings?

In Traditional Research, the researcher, group of researchers, or academic institution owns the results. In action research, results are shared ownership.

AI Tools for Academic Research

Research Tips

How to Organize Research Papers

Research Collaboration Software

How to Read Academic Papers

Academic Collaboration

Research Lab Management

Best Apps for Grad Students

Research Collaborations

What are The Three Traditional Methods of Research?

Research methods are the strategies or techniques used to collect and analyze data. They form the backbone of any research project. The methods chosen for a study depend on the research aims and the nature of the subject being investigated. Research methods fall into two broad categories: qualitative and quantitative.

Qualitative methods collect non-numerical data about human behavior and interactions, while quantitative methods gather numerical data that can be quantified and analyzed using statistical techniques. Both qualitative and quantitative methods often provide a more comprehensive overview of a research topic.

15 Best Tools For Efficient Traditional Research

1. Unriddle AI: Transforming Research with AI-Powered Document Assistance

Unriddle AI allows users to read faster and write better. Quickly find information in documents, simplify complex topics, take notes, and write with the power of AI. Unriddle is trusted by thousands of researchers and students, from the classroom to the boardroom.

Unriddle generates an AI assistant on top of any document so you can quickly find, summarize, and understand information. 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 relevant sources from your library using AI. Never lose a citation again.

Generate text with AI autocomplete to improve and expand your writing. All suggestions are based on the context of what you're working on. Step into a collaborative workspace where everyone can contribute, chat with the same documents in real time, and much more!

Read faster & write better — try Unriddle for free today.

2. Bit AI: Collaborative Document Creation with AI Assistance

Bit AI is an AI program designed to help teams collaborate on documents, wikis, and knowledge bases. It goes beyond just text and images, allowing users to create interactive documents containing videos, cloud files, and audio. It works much like Google Drive, allowing for real-time collaboration on documents. Multiple people can work on documents simultaneously and chat with one another within the interface.

Pros

Built-In AI Writing Assistant

AI Genius is the perfect tool for generating documents, wikis, and other information based on a text prompt.

Multiple Use Cases

Bit AI is great for researchers, marketers, product management, startups, and Human Resources due to its document development features.

Collaboration Tools

Bit.ai allows multiple users to collaborate on documents, notes, wikis, and other real-time content.

Wide Range of Integrations

Bit AI integrates with many third-party tools, including YouTube, Google Sheets, Figma, and GitHub.

Cons

Limited Customizations

Bit AI would be better if it had text formatting or options to customize the appearance of documents, such as matching company branding.

3. Semantic Scholar: AI-Powered Research Literature Search Engine

Semantic Scholar is one of the top AI research tools, widely used by computer science, biomedical science, and neuroscience students. It uses natural language processing to analyze academic papers and find relevant literature.

Moreover, Semantic Scholar offers detailed overviews of research topics and can identify the most critical parts of a paper, making it a valuable AI tool for research.

Pros

Refine search results for greater efficiency and relevance.

Continuously improves the tool based on user feedback and provides a personalized user experience.

Cons

The summary has accuracy issues and AI-generated citations.

It only gives you access to the full text of some papers.

4. Scite: Research Tool for Smart Citations

Scite is one of the most popular AI-powered academic research tools. It improves any academic research in one go. Its natural language processing and machine learning help users do better research on scholarly articles and analyze citations.

Moreover, Scite allows researchers like you to assess the dependability of references in any particular context. It helps in evaluating the quality and impact of the research. It also provides better visualizations and metrics to understand the citation landscape of a particular paper or a topic. If you have missed out on using this tool, try it today.

Pros

Smart Citations

Scite analyzes how an article is referenced in other research. It can tell if the citing article supports, contradicts, or mentions the original article.

Citation Context

Scite shows you how different sections of an article are being cited in other research, which helps you to understand how the original research is being used and interpreted by other researchers.

Citation Reports

It generates reports that show citation patterns and trends, which helps users identify articles and authors in a related field.

Large Dataset

Scite was trained on more than 187 million articles, books, preprints, and other datasets, making it a solid choice for researchers.

Cons

Not All Articles Cited Are Accessible

Although Scite offers full-text access for most articles cited, some publishers have not.

5. Google Scholar: The Research Tool of the People

Google Scholar is a beacon for academic research, offering a straightforward platform akin to its browser counterpart. It’s a treasure trove of recent articles, research papers, and scholarly literature, simplifying the quest for up-to-date information with easy-to-identify tags for quick access.

Pros

Use natural language searching to find academic and literature topics.

Allow your search for gray literature for systematic reviews.

Cons

The content you find will not be reviewed thoroughly, and there are concerns about source credibility.

Missed to show significant literature topics.

6. PDFGear Copilot: AI Assistant for PDF Documents

PDFgear Copilot is an AI-powered assistant that extracts and summarizes information in PDF documents. It utilizes OpenAI’s ChatGPT language model to help users locate important information in documents while conducting research. It lets you chat with a document, ask questions about its contents, and quickly summarize entire PDFs.

Pros

Interact With PDFs

Summarize, analyze, and interact with PDF content through natural language processing.

ChatGPT Integration

Find critical information and get answers by using built-in ChatGPT functionality.

Streamline PDF Workflows

Complete tasks such as converting, printing, and saving PDFs with natural language processing.

Support for Multiple Languages

PDFgear Copilot supports over 100 languages, making it accessible to many users.

Cons

No Dark Mode

PDFgear doesn’t have an option to switch to dark mode, potentially alienating those who prefer it.

7. Consensus: AI Tool for Science Research

Consensus is an AI tool for research that gathers information from published material and peer-reviewed articles. The tool is helpful for those who want to understand scientific subjects thoroughly. It helps users understand scientific subjects thoroughly by scanning for trustworthy and accurate research articles. This tool is handy for students and researchers in STEM and business fields.

Pros

Natural language processing is used to analyze data and verify the source.

Generate a summary of research queries and help get information for the early research stage.

Cons

Favor only for STEM and business fields, not humanities and fine arts.

Not suitable for rigorous and reproducible research works.

8. Trinka: AI Writing Assistant for Academic Users

It is one of the most commonly used AI tools for scholars and students. It helps with grammar and language correction for academic and technical writing. It has 3000+ grammar checks and tone and style enhancements, which help scholars write better theses and projects without errors.

Trinka helps you document scientific findings and makes you effortlessly use a more technical tone and style. Therefore, Trinka is the most promising tool for academic research, as it improves the documentation of research papers and white papers.

Pros

Save time in checking grammar while doing academic writing.

Let you check grammar and correct spelling and offer context suggestions based on your writing style.

Cons

The response time of the tool could be faster, which would cause a hindrance to quick feedback needs.

It may be challenging to understand the technical jargon.

9. Connected Papers: Visualize Research Paper Connections

Connected Papers is an innovative research tool that helps scientists and scholars efficiently explore relevant literature by providing a visual, similarity-based mapping of related academic papers. It uses circles to represent different papers. The size of the circle corresponds to the frequency of citations by other researchers.

Papers that closely resemble the original paper you provided are positioned closer together and connected by lines. The thickness of the line indicates the strength of the relationship between the documents. By following the connections between papers, you can use Connected Papers to explore new research areas within your field.

Pros

Similarity Graphs

Connected Papers produces a visual graph displaying related papers. However, unlike a traditional citation tree, it emphasizes semantic similarity, meaning that papers with shared citations and references are more connected.

Prior and Derivative Works

Connected Papers identifies influential prior works that have shaped the current research landscape. Additionally, it can reveal derivative works that build upon the original paper’s ideas.

Multi-Origin Graphs

You can enter multiple papers as a starting point so that CP can create a combined graph highlighting the relationships between them.

Save Papers and Graphs

Save papers and graphs to revisit and explore topics further.

Cons

Limited Citation View

Unlike citation trees, Connected Papers doesn’t directly show how papers cite each other.

10. Mendeley: Manage Research Papers with Ease

Mendeley is a user-friendly AI tool for organizing, sharing, and citing your research papers properly in one place. It also helps you quickly organize PDFs, create better bibliographies, and annotate documents.

Moreover, this tool enables researchers to collaborate on projects and discover relevant articles based on their interests. Mendeley’s powerful features and integration into academic workflows make it a practical tool. It helps streamline your management and enhance collaboration within the scholarly community.

Pros

Offer citation styles for journals and boost citation efficiency.

Organize and share references for collaborative research.

Cons

Do not make PDF annotations as expected.

Users commonly face server downtime and syncing errors.

11. Litmaps: Literature Mapping Tool

Litmaps is a literature mapping tool that helps researchers discover new and relevant research papers, visualize the relationships between papers, and share their research. It works by using connectedness theory, which allows researchers to quickly scan Litmap’s network of academic papers around the documents they know, discovering vital related papers they may not know about. Litmaps can also generate reading lists and notify users when relevant newspapers are published, making it easier to stay up-to-date on the latest research.

Pros

Search Academic Papers

Litmaps allows you to search a vast database of over 260 million academic papers to find relevant articles.

Mind Mapping

Litmaps lets you visualize your research by creating a map of interconnected articles and annotating them for better understanding.

Explore Research From Various Angles

Dynamic Exploration allows users to explore research from different angles by rearranging how papers are positioned on the map.

Collaboration Features

The platform allows you to share your research maps with colleagues, students, or advisors to facilitate collaboration.

Cons

Limited Free Plan

Some features, like unlimited searches, are only available on paid plans.

12. Scholarcy: AI Assistant for Research Papers

Scholarcy is an AI tool that improves academic research by automating the process of reading, summarizing, and extracting information. It can help you recognize figures, tables, and references in articles and grasp the main concepts.

Additionally, this tool has citation extraction features that allow users to organize and cite the sources used in the research. It also provides a literature review process, which enables users to save valuable time and effort.

Pros

Summarize the topics of research papers to save time and effort.

Offer links to the cited resources to access the research material.

Cons

The essay summary may need to be more precise, which may result in plagiarism.

The AI-generated summary will only cover some of the critical points of the research paper.

13. Jenni: AI Tool for Academic Writing

The following AI tool for research on our list is Jenni. It’s an AI-powered writing assistant designed to help students and researchers with academic writing tasks. It uses machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) to provide content suggestions, writing feedback, and research assistance. It’s beneficial for writing essays, research papers, literature reviews, and more. Jenni can also help with citations and references and check for plagiarism.

Pros

Ask Jenni

Use an AI research assistant who can help answer research questions and provide document-related clarifications.

Citation and Reference Assistance

Jenni can properly format citations and references in styles like APA, MLA, and Chicago.

AI Commands

Jenni can perform tasks like paraphrasing, rewriting, and simplifying existing text.

AI Autocompletion

Jenni can suggest and complete sentences to help you write faster.

Cons

Limited Content Types

Compared to other AI writing tools like Copy.ai and Jasper, Jenni.ai only offers limited content types such as blogs, essays, emails, and free-flow writing.

14. Knewton: Adaptive Learning for Personalized Education

Using artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, Knewton allows users to deliver personalized educational content. You can tailor the tool for educational content according to individual needs and learning styles. This is a one-stop and easy-to-use tool in the academic learning phase.

Knewton also allows users to analyze student performance data, strengths, weaknesses, and progress. By leveraging AI's benefits, Knewton seeks to improve engagement, making it one of the best online learning platforms.

Pros

Provide you with a personalized learning experience with the help of adaptive learning.

Offer student interaction to keep cheating at bay by offering different questions to each student.

Cons

The problems in the tool are generic and need to align with the curriculum.

Offer feedback and flexible assessment options that impact students’ learning.

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.

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

Traditional Research Examples

Regarding research methods, traditional approaches have stood the test of time for a reason. These approaches are often rigorous, methodical, and practical for generating reliable data. Here are some traditional research examples.

Experiments in Chemistry

Researchers conduct experiments in controlled environments to test hypotheses. For instance, they might study the reaction rates of different chemicals under varying temperatures and pressures to understand the underlying principles of chemical kinetics.

Longitudinal Studies in Biology

A study that follows a group of individuals over a long period to observe changes in health, behavior, or other variables. An example could be the Framingham Heart Study, which has tracked cardiovascular health in participants for decades.

Surveys and Questionnaires in Sociology

Researchers use surveys to collect data on social behaviors, attitudes, and opinions. For instance, a survey might be conducted to understand public opinion on a political issue or social trend.

Read faster & write better — try Unriddle for free today.

Read Faster & Write Better With Unriddle for Free Today

Unriddle transform research. It speeds up reading and improves writing. The program helps you quickly find information in documents, simplify complex topics, take notes, and write with the power of AI. Unriddle generates an AI assistant on top of any document so you can quickly find, summarize, and understand information.

Unriddle AI understands the meaning behind your writing and automatically links you to relevant things you've read and written about. Highlight text, and Unriddle uses AI to show you the most relevant sources from your library. Never lose a citation again.

Generate text with AI autocomplete to improve and expand your writing. All suggestions are based on the context of what you're working on. Step into a collaborative workspace where everyone can contribute and chat with the same documents in real time and much more!

Read faster & write better — try Unriddle for free today.