Dear Scholar,

When I do a literature review, one of my biggest struggles is to keep papers organised. However, just collecting papers with a reference manager (e.g. Zotero) always overwhelms and frustrates me. After a while, the list becomes endless, and many papers are already irrelevant. I often call Zotero my paper dump for that reason.

So, what is a good way to organize papers, then? Recently, I started using a "Reading Map": A large canvas of papers and their context. This map stores not only the papers, but also relations between them, the order I want to read them in, the topics they adhere to and the questions they will likely answer in my mind.

The strategy is simple, but very powerful. I am effortlessly juggling dozens of papers. And most of all, it is a tool for synthesis. Because once I read a paper, I turn it into a dedicated note, and the reading map becomes a way to synthesize and store notes on my research. I added an AI assistant that transforms a screenshot of the paper headers into a card for the canvas, so I don't have to type up titles, abstracts or authors manually. It's very convenient!

​

Academic Knowledge Management Webinar

Last week, I announced the Academic Knowledge Management Webinar 2.0 on May 3rd. This webinar is one of my favourite topics because it combines everything important to be a successful academic: Note-taking to remember and master your domain, and project management to funnel this knowledge into excellent papers and year-long research projects. As one person puts it, the goal is "To automate my brain".

Here's what this webinar will cover in detail:

► How to take academic notes that scale: Source-Topic-Argument System​
► How to organise your notes – folders, tags, aliases
► Using AI plugins for discovering hidden/forgotten connections
► Organising long academic projects: Task-Progress-Result System​
► Capture & Collect ideas around your ongoing research project
► Synthesise information with Obsidian Canvas
► Remember every step and decision of yearlong research projects
► Keeping track of relevant papers for your research project

​

Free webinar ticket with course bundle

Those who decide to go all-in and get the Essential Course Bundle will, receive a free webinar ticket. This bundle includes the three most popular and important courses on note-taking, lit reviews and academic writing.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend,
​
Ilya Shabanov, The Effortless Academic​

​

Don't want to receive emails like this: Unsubscribe from newsletter only .
Want to unsubscribe from all future emails? Unsubscribe from everything.
Your Preferences.