Research papers remain the mainstay of communication and information dissemination in the scholarly community.1 Journal publication is often the last milestone in research, and unpublished work is essentially considered incomplete. The lack of scholarly publication deprives researchers of the deserved exposure and merit in today’s competitive world of “publish or perish.” Although seemingly forthright, writing a manuscript can be daunting, especially for researchers with no or limited exposure to academic writing. AI writing assistants and/or grammar error correction tools address this problem and can aid researchers considerably in drafting and improving their manuscripts.
However, an important caveat requires mention: academic writing differs considerably from general writing. Academic writing primarily aims to communicate ideas, information, and research largely within niche academic communities.2 Moreover, academic writing is evidence-based and deductively organized, well-reasoned and detailed, cautious and self-critical, and formal in tone and prose.3 While there are no uniform guidelines for academic prose and diction, the conventions and style differ based on disciplines (Social Sciences, Natural Sciences, etc.), academic genres (journal articles, books, conference proceedings, etc.), journal-specific guidelines, etc.4 These caveats limit the applicability of general purpose writing assistants in academic writing.
Paperpal: A specialist AI academic writing tool for researchers
AI writing assistants for scholarly writing, therefore, ought to be highly specialized. In the present-day red ocean of writing tools, many of which claim to be powered by artificial intelligence and deep learning technologies, perhaps only a select few are truly suited for and specific to academic writing. And Paperpal is one of them: a truly AI-based tool trained exclusively on published academic literature, made for researchers. Contrary to general-purpose writing assistants, Paperpal’s proprietary state-of-the-art AI algorithm is trained on millions of high-quality academic articles, including those with editorial corrections. The AI model can “understand” academic language and context, identify complex writing errors, and suggest improvements to polish manuscripts within minutes. And this ability encompasses more than 1,300 subject areas.
Comprehensive manuscript analysis with over 30 technical and language checks
Tailormade for the academic community, Paperpal has a suite of technical and language/grammar checks to ensure a submission-ready document.5 Broadly, the Paperpal for Manuscript checks can be categorized as follows:
1. Disclosures
Paperpal checks for funding, ethics statement, conflict of interests, etc. within a manuscript. These sections are required by all journals.
2. Metadata
Manuscript metadata, such as keywords, author names, author information, and corresponding author information, are checked for under this category.
3. Format
While every journal has specific formatting guidelines, there are certain formats that are largely consistent across journals.
4. Language
Various aspects of academic language and English grammar are checked, including tone, academic word choices, sentence structure, etc.
5. Tables/Figures
Paperpal scans manuscripts to identify instances of tables, figures, and their legends. It then checks whether the tables and figures are cited within the main text, and also whether the tables and figures have appropriate captions.
6. Word count
Most journals have strict word count requirements for various manuscript sections. In adherence to this requirement, Paperpal scans the document and checks whether a word count section is present in the manuscript.
7. Other/Miscellaneous
These checks include the presence of citations in abstract, correct abbreviation usage, identification of document type (whether a clinical trial or a meta-analysis), etc.
Paperpal is therefore truly a tool made for researchers. The user uploads the file, and the tool scans it comprehensively to flag for missing information and other language issues. No other AI writing assistant comes close in terms of solving academic problems for researchers. So, go ahead and upload your first manuscript today to ensure that you get valuable inputs that enhance your manuscript for submission!
References
1. Sengupta, S., Shukla, D., Ramulu, P., Natarajan, S., Biswas, J. Publish or perish: The art of scientific writing. Indian Journal of Ophthalmology: November 2014 – Volume 62 – Issue 11 – p 1089-1093. doi: 10.4103/0301-4738.146760
2. Academic writing, EAP Foundation [Accessed Nov 17, 2022] https://www.eapfoundation.com/writing/what/
3. Moxley, J.M. Academic Writing – Academic Prose Style. Writing Commons. [Accessed Nov 17, 2022] https://writingcommons.org/section/style/styles-of-writing/academic-prose-style/
4. Academic Writing: Genres in academic writing. Using English for Academic Purposes [Accessed Nov 17, 2022] http://www.uefap.com/writing/genre/genrefram.htm
5. Nair, S. Manuscript submission: Get your pre-submission checks right with Paperpal! Paperpal Blog, August 19, 2022. https://www.paperpal.com/blog/news-updates/product-updates/manuscript-submission-check/
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