Consensus (Sponsor) Consensus is one of the most advanced AI literature search tools utilising both the reference network and AI semantic similarity to find relevant papers and summarise their findings. I've used Consensus almost daily while writing my PhD. » Try Consensus Discount Codes:effortlessacademic (25% off) The most minimal knowledge management system for beginners (+ video walkthrough) Dear Reader, I recently introduced a colleague to Obsidian and have pitched it to our lab many...
12 days ago • 2 min read
Paperpal (Sponsor) For researchers juggling multiple tools to check grammar, plagiarism, and AI detection, Paperpal now brings everything together in one place. With the new full paper check, you can upload your draft and run all three checks at once, helping you catch issues early and move to submission with greater confidence.» Try Paperpal Document Check Discount Codes:ILYAPRIME30 (30% off) What are AI skills, and how to use them well? Dear Reader, In the early days of AI (...long...
19 days ago • 2 min read
SciSpace (Sponsor) For researchers working on a systematic literature review, SciSpace released an AI agent, which runs a PRISMA-compliant systematic review across 3000+ papers in under 60 minutes. Type "SLR" into the chat bar to get started.» Try out the new SLA agent Discount Codes:AOIL40 (40% off annual)AOIL20 (20% off monthly) Claude Code + Obsidian Dear Scholar, If you have opened social media in the last couple of weeks, you probably could not escape the countless "Claude + Obsidian"...
26 days ago • 4 min read
Tool Review: Consensus 2026 for Lit Reviews & Writing Phase Dear Reader, Academics who use AI for academic writing typically fall into two camps: Those who try to do too much at once, generating whole paragraphs, and those who only occasionally ask for small corrections. One is ethically questionable and produces poor-quality output, while the other leaves a lot of potential on the table. Both require a lot of manual editing and don't make you all that much more productive. Having tried both...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Tool Review: Consensus 2026 for Lit Reviews & Writing Phase Dear Reader, I am wrapping up writing my PhD thesis and am currently 3 months ahead of schedule, with two papers accepted and two more in review. This feels good, especially as I will be able to dedicate much more time to the EffortlessAcademic. I think most students could do this if they master what almost nobody does: The combination of digital notes + AI. Here is why: A digital note-taking system, helps learning and remembering...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
New Effortless Writing with AI WebinarApril 11, 2026 (+ Recording) Dear Reader, It seems easy to "write with AI", but fairly quickly, you realise 99% of AI-written text doesn't actually meet academic standards. Typically, the text is vague, overly verbose, or just plain wrong. Maybe you've been there? I've had this experience as well, which prompted me to push AI to its limits, to build a system that is ethical, personal, fact-checked, and produces writing tailored to academic needs. My main...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Notion vs Obsidian for Academics Dear Reader, Notion and Obsidian are two very popular note-taking tools used by thousands of researchers, students, and academics worldwide. If you are a long-time reader of the EffortlessAcademic, you probably know my preference for Obsidian, but this has practical reasons. Notion has a few strengths that Obsidian can't match, and for your use case, it might even be better suited. Sharing notes, for example, or AI and calendar integration are superb in...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Jenni.ai (Sponsor) Jenni is a writing workspace that allows researchers to write, cite, and edit with ease. Built to be a co-pilot that keeps you in control while letting you reap the benefits of efficient AI use in research. Discount Codes:EA20 (20% off) Organising Meetings & Attendees In Obsidian Dear Scholar, The Note-Taking Mastermind just finished (what a ride!), and one topic most participants were interested in was organising meetings in Obsidian. In this week's article, I want to give...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Manage Research Projects using Liner Scholar Dear Reader, If you're like me, you juggle a lot of research tools. Even with great integrations and streamlined workflows, it can still feel tedious to jump between apps to find papers, keep track of work, and build out each part of a new research project. Why do we bother? Because using specialised tools often gets the best results. However, there's a new option now: we can build out a research project and accomplish several steps from one place:...
2 months ago • 2 min read