2025, Wrapped: Writing the Year Together

Every research article starts somewhere: with a first draft, a half-formed idea, or a deadline that suddenly feels too close. In 2025, you chose to take that journey with Paperpal, along with 3 million other academics, and we are genuinely grateful! 

Whether navigating late-night edits, responding to challenging reviewers’ comments, or polishing a manuscript for a major submission, you turned to us to write with greater speed and confidence. We are honored to have played a role in your research journey, helping you move closer to submission.  

Therefore, it is time to pause, rewind, and relive the moments that shaped the year. This is Paperpal’s 2025 Wrapped: a look back at what you read, what you used, and what we built together. 

Most Widely Read Academic Articles in 2025

1. What is Research Methodology? – Understanding research methodology is the cornerstone of any serious academic project. This guide helps researchers clarify what methodology means and how to approach it systematically. 

2. How to Write a Research Paper Introduction (with Examples) – First impressions matter in writing and nowhere is that truer than in your introduction. This article explains the purpose and outlines the structure of introductions with examples, providing readers with a solid framework for starting their papers. 

3. What is a Literature Review & How to Write it (with Examples) – Literature reviews can be daunting, but this practical and example-rich article became a favorite for its clarity and step-by-step guidance. From organizing sources to identifying gaps, academics find this a trusted companion. 

4. Turnitin Alternatives for Students and Researchers – As discussions around plagiarism tools and ethical writing evolved, this roundup of plagiarism checkers offers clear insights for anyone looking to maintain academic integrity and seeking reliable solutions beyond the most familiar platforms. 

5. What Is the Background of a Study & How to Write It (With Examples) – A strong background section sets the stage for the work that follows, and this guide helped academics do just that. It’s simple explanation of the definition, purpose, and writing tips made it a go-to resource for framing research effectively. 

Top Paperpal Features That Helped You Write Better in 2025

In 2025, Paperpal evolved to better support academics as they write, expanding real-time access across platforms, introducing capabilities that work the way academics think, and enhancing every stage of the academic journey. From smarter AI assistance to collaboration and responsible writing aids, these updates shaped how academic writing got done this year. 

• Comprehensive AI Writing Support
  Paperpal’s AI-powered writing assistance evolved to become intuitive and context-aware, helping students and researchers paraphrase better, build outlines faster, and refine drafts with confidence without losing their academic voice.

• In-Built Tools for Responsible AI Use
  With new features and tools, such as AI Footprint and AI Disclosure templates designed to support ethical AI use, Paperpal helped academics stay transparent, compliant, and submission-ready as guidelines around AI in academia continued to evolve.   As a year-end addition, Paperpal also introduced an AI Detector, offering researchers an extra layer of assurance before submission.

• Write Where You Work
  Paperpal works around your manuscript by integrating directly into the tools researchers already use. After supporting academic writing in Overleaf, Paperpal expanded to Google Docs and then to the web via the Chrome Extension, removing the friction between drafting, editing and research workflows such as note-taking and finding and saving references with citations. In 2025, thousands of academics adopted this native workflow, accessing real-time writing support without ever breaking their focus.

• Better Editing, More Control
  We reimagined the Paperpal editing experience by combining a distraction-free text editor with advanced AI editing modes. These upgrades gave greater control to our users to refine tone, clarity, and depth without losing their unique academic voice.

• Find and Cite References as You Write
  With its powerful reference finder and citation support, academics can instantly search and cite credible sources to strengthen their writing. The citation generator empowered our users to maintain writing flow while ensuring every claim is backed by evidence.

• Research Collaboration Made Simple
  Research can feel like a relay race where one person runs at a time, but Paperpal can now support the whole team. Paperpal Collaborate allows you to work together and co-write, review, and refine drafts in real time. By eliminating email threads and confusing version histories, it streamlines authorship and helps manuscripts move forward faster.

Top Webinars of 2025: Learning, Live

In 2025, Paperpal hosted 8 live webinars on academic writing and responsible AI, attracting over 25,000 registrations from researchers worldwide. These sessions drove strong engagement across formats, from demos to panel discussions. Here are the top 5 webinars with the highest engagement this year. 

1. AI for Academic Writing: Separating Fact from Fiction  
A multi-expert panel discussion with Christopher Leonard, Christopher Ostro, Joris van Rossum, Hong Zhou examining common myths, real-world use cases, and evolving publisher expectations around AI-assisted academic writing. 
🎥 Watch the Recap: https://youtu.be/PPofyJIk66w 

2. How to Avoid AI Hallucinations in Your Research Writing 
This session focused on identifying and mitigating AI hallucinations, helping researchers maintain accuracy, credibility, and trust in AI-assisted writing. 
🎥 Watch the Recap: https://youtu.be/PPofyJIk66w 

3. Understanding AI Disclosures: Why, When, and How to Disclose AI Use 
Led by industry expert, Tina Austin, this webinar clarified emerging AI disclosure requirements and offered practical guidance on transparent reporting. 
🎥 Watch the Recap: https://youtu.be/6QXyh8iAOZ0 

4. How to Transform Your Thesis into a Research Paper 
This highly attended session led by Dr. Faheem Ullah walked researchers through the process of reshaping a thesis into a concise, journal-ready manuscript, covering structure, scope refinement, and common pitfalls during submission. 
🎥 Watch the Recap: https://youtu.be/X6cIb1hQIRg 

5. How to Simplify Your Literature Review Writing with Paperpal 
This session, led by Dr. Sowmiya Rani focused on breaking down the literature review process into manageable steps, helping researchers organize sources, synthesize findings, and write clearer, more structured reviews using Paperpal. 
🎥 Watch the Recap: https://youtu.be/38Ggcs24Qyw 

Missed a session or want to explore more? Watch all Paperpal webinars on our YouTube playlist:

In the News: Paperpal Highlights in 2025

In 2025, Paperpal continued to deepen its presence across the global research and publishing ecosystem through partnerships, global engagement, and a strong focus on accessibility. 

Expanding Global Partnerships 

• CACTUS strengthened collaborations with the American Physical Society, Emerald Publishing and Chronoshub, and Universitas Hasanuddin to support researchers, institutions, and publishers across regions and disciplines.

• CACTUS Communications partnered with Silverchair to integrate Paperpal Preflight for Editorial Desk into ScholarOne’s editorial workflow. This collaboration helps publishers and editorial teams assess research integrity, technical compliance, and language quality more efficiently using AI-enhanced checks tailored to journal requirements.

Awards & Recognition 

• Paperpal was recognized with a Silver Award in the Author Tools category at the Society for Scholarly Publishing’s EPIC Awards, celebrating innovation and real-world impact on scholarly publishing tools. This recognition underscores Paperpal’s role in advancing responsible, user-centric AI for academic writing.

Leadership and Branding 

• In 2025, Paperpal unveiled its “AI that brings out the best in you” brand strategy, positioning its all-in-one AI research and writing solutions as trusted partners for students, researchers, and institutions while emphasizing responsible and human-centered AI use.

Global Presence and Engagement 

• Paperpal showcased its AI-powered academic writing solutions at the China Publishing Expo, engaging with publishers and researchers from around the world.

• Paperpal crossed a significant adoption milestone, reaching more than 3 million users globally, reinforcing its trusted role in academic writing and research workflows across continents and disciplines.

• Team CACTUS represented Paperpal at SSP 2025, connecting with publishers and research leaders, presenting sessions on responsible AI governance, and reinforcing the message that integrity and collaboration are central to scholarly communication.

Accessibility and Inclusivity 

• Paperpal achieved EAA and WCAG compliance, reinforcing its commitment to inclusive and accessible research writing support.

As we look ahead to 2026, our focus remains the same: building tools, resources, and learning experiences that support researchers at every stage of their journey. Thank you for writing with Paperpal this year, and here’s wishing you a happy, productive, and inspiring New Year ahead! 

Paperpal is a comprehensive AI writing toolkit that helps students and researchers achieve 2x the writing in half the time. It leverages 23+ years of STM experience and insights from millions of research articles to provide in-depth academic writing, language editing, and submission readiness support to help you write better, faster. 

Get accurate academic translations, rewriting support, grammar checks, vocabulary suggestions, and generative AI assistance that delivers human precision at machine speed. Try for free or upgrade to Paperpal Prime starting at US$25 a month to access premium features, including consistency, plagiarism, and 30+ submission readiness checks to help you succeed. 

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