15 writing & research tools for academic writers

15 writing & research tools for academic writers

Regardless of whether you write an essay, thesis, or article, your writing and research skills will set the foundation for the future experience of readers. Digital tools provide multiple opportunities to enhance style and writing skills. Today, we will look into some of them to find something that will lend a helping hand in your writing journey. 

1. Grammarly

Grammarly is one of the most widely used cross-platform assistance that helps in proofreading and editing. It serves as a tool for correcting typos or changing the structure of sentences – everything to make your writing clearer and more enjoyable. You can register for free on their website to get it on the first try and upgrade to Premium if you like it.

2. Hemingway

Have you ever written something and afterward could not understand what exactly did you mean? Hemingway will assist you when it comes to clear and stylistically sound sentences that ensure readers understand your ideas and thoughts correctly. It is free writing assistance, so do not hesitate to find out for yourself how clarity changes your writing.

3. LibreOffice

It is a free counterpart of Microsoft Word, which has similar features and supports regular file types. LibreOffice refers to a user-friendly word processor that can be used on multiple operating systems and provides a safe environment for working on your texts.

4. Evernote

When it comes to structuring your writing ideas, Evernote can be of great benefit. It is a comprehensive tool for students who want to arrange and structure their narratives in an accurate order. Evernote helps quickly fix your thoughts into a meaningful text, record audio, and save notes on various devices.

5. Plagiarism checkers

Plagiarism checkers will demonstrate whether your essay or article has plagiarism. They can help avoid any issues with ethical aspects of writing in the future. You can find various platforms online or use Grammarly Premium to check your text for plagiarism.

6. Owl Purdue

Academic writing formats, including MLA, APA, or Harvard, are often challenging for students. Owl Purdue is a platform that contains comprehensive and accurate guidelines for setting your writing in a format of your choice. It helps save time and find accurate information about all the complexity of formatting.

7. Notion

Notion is a cross-platform tool for both writing and research that helps to keep your plans, texts, articles, and research ideas in one space. This tool allows creating one place for every step of your research, starting from compiling reading lists to setting deadlines. Here, you can track your progress and keep other participants updated on your achievements and plans. You can work with multiple files, create your databases, and set goals and tasks for future research. Notion will be especially helpful for writing grand projects such as a thesis.

8. Google Scholar

Writing credible and valid research means that you did a great job and acquired a comprehensive understanding of the topic. Google Scholar is a classic search engine for finding sources for your research, where you can find the latest articles in academic journals or books. The area of your interest does not matter – Google Scholar is a database that provides access to the academic world regardless of your specific task. A hint: you can also automatically generate a citation for the future paper here according to the chosen formatting.

9. JSTOR

Do you conduct research in social sciences or humanities? JSTOR is a digital library with which you can access thousands of academic journals and books on topics in sociology, art, psychology, history, or literature. However, access to JSTOR requires a minimum of a regular subscription that costs $19.50 per month, with which you can access an extensive number of materials and greatly advance your research.

10. Miro

When you conduct research, the organization of your thoughts and ideas is a crucial contributor to success. Miro is a platform that helps structure your plan with notes, create dashboards and set tasks for the future. At the same time, Miro is a platform that can benefit teamwork as it helps brainstorm and cooperate communication within a group of people. If your research requires cooperation, Miro is a great tool to sparkle discussion and track progress.

11. ThoughtCo

Are you looking for a credible reference that will strengthen your research? ThoughtCo is a top educational platform with content on science, tech, math, humanities, languages, and other resources for students, educators, and adult learners. Here, you can find articles starting from the critical evaluation of biofuels to the information on the history of the Olympic Games. Short, accurate, and analytical – material on ThoughCo can serve as a foundation for your future research and contribute to your expertise in the chosen topic. The platform also has a user-friendly, easy-to-navigate website. You can also browse the Language section to expand your knowledge of foreign languages and expand cultural sensitivity.

12. Open Culture

Open Culture is a cultural and educational media that provides free access to multiple materials, starting from books, lectures, films, courses, podcasts, or language lessons. You can find here thousands of sources on art, design, philosophy, literature, or cinema studies. You can also give a try to free textbooks on biology, business, management, classics, or computer science. Open Culture makes research easier and more accessible.

13. Project Gutenberg

Created in the 1970s, Project Gutenberg was supposed to make digital archives of cultural works more accessible and popular. Today, the platform is the oldest digital library that provides access to more than 60 000 eBooks which you can download or read online for free. You can browse this library by author, title, language, or popularity, making your research more profound and comprehensive. Project Gutenberg is a simple in-use resource that can immerse you in reading for hours.

14. Google Books

Powered by Google, Google Books is one of the largest digital databases of books and magazines. The chances are, you already used it for your research, but it’s never too late to look for something interesting in the classical digital library that is continuously improved and filled with new books.

15. TED Talks

Books, academic journals, magazines… What about visual materials that will strengthen your understanding of the topic? TED Talks provide an opportunity to thousands of videos from experts in various fields, from business to archaeology. If you like videos for one bite, you have a lot of food to chew on here.

The use of these tools can bring you a great result in your writing. Good luck!