Transcription
The AI tool most researchers are using today is actually the worst one for academic work. Not because it's not powerful, but because it doesn't understand academic context.
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It doesn't know your research topic, your papers, or your argument. But today, there's an AI tool that's genuinely changing the way how researchers work, and that's [music] Claude. Hi, welcome back. I'm Neha Agarwal. I'm the founder of Wizep and in this video today, I'm going to show you how to use Claude step-by-step for your research. If you've never used Claude before, don't worry because here we're going to cover the full picture. How Claude is structured, how to connect it to real academic databases, how to use skills for more repeatable tasks, and lastly, a feature that has taken the world by a storm, Claude co-work.
So, first, let me give you a quick overview of how Claude is built because this will help you understand how it's different from other tools like ChatGPT. So, within Claude, there are a total of three spaces. First is chat, then you have projects, and then you have co-work, which is the Claude desktop app, and they all function differently.
So, first, let's talk about chat, and this is where almost everyone starts. So, all you need to do is go on the Claude website and type a question. For example, here I'm asking, "What are the most effective methods to remove microplastics from water?" And what Claude will do is go through the entire web to find the answer for you. Now, you [snorts] would think that this feature is very similar to ChatGPT, and you're right. Both Claude and ChatGPT do not understand academic context. When you type a question, it actually goes through the entire internet to search the answer for you. It treats a research paper like any other webpage. It does not understand impact factor, what quality journal means, and therefore, the result that it might surface might not always be accurate.
So, to solve this problem, Claude has something called as connectors. A connector is an external app or a tool that you can connect to Claude. For research purpose, it could be a literature search platform like Consensus or an academic database like PubMed. And now to find the answer, instead of going through the internet, Claude is going to use the help of the connector to pull the relevant answer for you. So, let me show you how it works. Here, I'm going to connect Claude with Consensus, which is an AI-powered academic search engine with over 250 [snorts] million plus papers. So, to connect Claude with Consensus, simply go to the Claude website, click on this plus icon, go over to connectors, and then click on add connector. Here, you can search for the relevant connector or even scroll through it. I'm going to type Consensus, and then simply click on connect. So, here you need to have at least a free account on Consensus to connect it with Claude, or you can directly sign up here. And once it's done, you will see on the top right corner it says connected. Now, what I can do is type the same research question, "What are the most effective methods to remove microplastics from water?" Ensure that Claude is going to use my connector Consensus. So, if you see, it's switched on. And now, if I hit search, Claude is actually going to run the search query through Consensus, and then pull out the most relevant answer for me. And now I know that this answer is not hallucinated, but 100% research-backed.
Now, apart from Consensus, there are many other connectors that are available for researchers like PubMed, BioRender, Notion, which you can connect easily and utilize them for your work. By the way, if you want to learn the complete workflow of how to write and publish a research paper right from performing your literature review all the way to journal submission with the help of research AI tools, then you can join me for one of my courses, A to Z of research paper writing and presentation, or master AI tools for research. I've put the link and discount coupon in the description below for you.
Now, chat with connectors is powerful, but the problem is it starts fresh every single time. It doesn't hold any memory of your last session, no knowledge of your research topic, unless you tell it again. And if you're working on a long research project, you know how frustrating that can get. Now, to solve this problem, the second space in Claude comes in, which is projects. A project is like a living workspace. You create it once by simply going to the left sidebar, clicking on projects, and then going to a new project, you type the name of your project, you describe what you're working on. For example, here I'm going to say research proposal on sustainable packaging, and I'm going to describe I need to prepare a research proposal for university application on the use of agricultural waste for sustainable packaging, and I click on create project. After that, I will upload some research papers on biodegradable polymers that I have downloaded, some case studies on existing packaging materials, and also instructions on how the research proposal needs to be drafted, which has been shared by my university. And after this, I am also going to write a custom set of instructions for Claude, which it is always going to refer to whenever I have a new chat within this project. So, here I'm writing, I am working on a research proposal focused on biodegradable packaging from agricultural waste. Act as a material science professor and PhD admissions committee member. Guide me in crafting a proposal that is academically rigorous, clearly identifies research gaps, presents a compelling problem statement, and meets top university standards.
Now, this is where it gets interesting. Once it's set up, I don't have to repeat again and again about my research topic or my requirements. Every conversation that I have here, Claude is going to look at it from the lens of a university professor and an admissions committee member and give me feedback, give me suggestions accordingly. So, for example, now I can chat with Claude and ask "Based on the uploaded literature, what are the most critical research gaps in biodegradable packaging derived from agricultural waste? Or can you suggest a robust methodology to evaluate the mechanical strength biodegradability of my proposed material? Or review my proposal draft and identify weaknesses from a PhD admissions or reviewer perspective." And Claude, now with the consensus connector in place, responds in the context of my research proposal, the sources that I've uploaded, and my research direction, and does not behave like a generic chatbot.
Now, this workflow in itself is quite powerful and you can do all of these things for free. But, where it gets even more impressive is when you combine it with skills. A skill is a saved workflow or a set of instructions written in plain English. You describe the process once, save it, and then trigger it whenever you need to use it. So, for example, if you see on my screen right now, this is a peer reviewer skill, which by the way, I have built from scratch. It is basically a set of instructions which tells Claude how to review a manuscript like a journal editor or a peer reviewer. And give custom feedback to the user based on the journal they are going to submit their paper to. So, now for those of you who have actually watched this video till now, here's a surprise gift for you. This peer reviewer skill, which has actually taken me a long time to build, I've put it down in the description below for you. So, you can download it for free, link it to Claude, and then get a detailed feedback on your manuscript before you submit it to a journal. Trust me, it's going to be super helpful.
So, now to install the skill, simply click on the plus icon, hover over to skill, and then click on manage skills. Here, you can click on plus, and within create skill, you can choose upload a skill. So, here I'm going to upload my peer reviewer skill, and if you see on the right hand side, this is where the entire instruction for the peer reviewer skill is given. Now, once uploaded, simply go here, type your skill name, which is the peer reviewer skill, upload your manuscript, and hit enter. After that, Claude is going to ask you a couple of questions like which journal are you submitting your paper to, what level of review you want from Claude. You answer those, you choose your options, and then within a few minutes, Claude will prepare a detailed peer review report for you, which looks like this. So, here if you see on my screen right now, this is the peer review report on a research paper that I had written and decided to submit it to Wiley Advanced Materials Interfaces, and first it gives me the summary of the manuscript. So, what exactly does my manuscript cover? After that, it gives me the overall assessment in terms of strengths of my paper, some central concerns, and the overall recommendation. After this comes major comments, which is where Claude is explaining to me in detail some of the main concerns in my paper and how I should improve it before submitting it to a journal. Then, you have some minor comments, which could be about your writing, about some papers that you have cited, but still quite relevant. And then here, it also shows me a reporting standard that it has followed in assessing my paper. So, here these are the dimensions that it has referred to like design fit, reproducibility, etc. After that, it also gives me a literature audit. Now, I've designed this peer reviewer skill in such a way that whenever it needs to pull out literature, whenever it needs to refer to research, it actually goes back to the Consensus app, so that I know it's not hallucinating, and all the feedback that it's giving me is all 100% research-backed. And if you see here, it is also pointing out some citation gaps. And the best part is that it is now also giving me journal-specific assessment. So, based on the journal you are planning to submit your work to, whatever is the requirement, everything has been matched here, calibrated here, and then it is giving me feedback. So, simple things like an abstract for this journal is supposed to be less than 200 words, but mine is at 220 words. Or, say for example, I don't have an AI disclosure statement, or my supplementary information is missing. All these feedback the report is giving me. And honestly, if I fix all the recommendations that have been given by Claude, I can literally take my paper from a four out of 10 to at least an eight out of 10, and manage to publish it in a much better journal, or increase my chances of publication in that journal, as well.
Now, this was just an example of what one skill can help you achieve. Similarly, there are few skills that have been created by Consensus, as well, such as the curriculum development skill, literature review helper skill, and the grant research skill. There are also skills that are available for free on GitHub, which has been created by the research community. So, all you need to do is download these skills, install it on Claude, and start using it. Or, if you need some custom skill, then you can create one on your own, as well, with the help of skill create option under Claude. I've actually created a detailed video on this, which I'm going to link it here, so that you can refer to it.
So, now we've understood about chats, projects, connectors, skills, and all of them you can utilize for free. But at the end of the day, these are all conversations. You ask Claude to do something, Claude gives you the output either in the form of [clears throat] a summary, chart, table, a Word document. You take that output, and you use it for your research. So, you are still the bridge between Claude and your actual work. And to overcome this problem comes the third space and Claude co-work. Co-work lives in the desktop app of Claude. And now, instead of having a conversation, you give it access to a particular folder, you inform it what needs to be done, and then Claude works silently on your actual files, and then parks the output in the same folder itself. You don't need to be there, also.
So, now let me show you how powerful this can get with the help of an example. So, say I have downloaded 50 papers on my research area, and now I want a structured summary of each one, including the research question, methodology, key findings, limitations, and all of it should be shown in the same format, and neatly documented in the form of a literature review table on Excel. So, all I need to do is select the folder on my computer where all these papers are present. Instead of uploading all these papers on Claude, describe what I want, and now what Claude will do is apply that instruction across every file, and it will park a literature review table in the same folder for me. So, now here, if you see on my screen, this is the literature review table. It is created on Excel, and it is perfectly complete with all my papers listed down, with research question, methodology, key findings, limitations, and all within the same format. Now, with the help of this literature review table, I can use it to identify research gaps, to refine my research topic, or even perform systematic reviews or meta-analysis. The best part, I did not even have to be present while this was running. All I had to do is keep my computer switched on. I went away, and Claude performed all this manual work for me. It was like hiring a personal research assistant.
So, now what I want you to do is tell me in the comments below one crazy idea how you will use Claude CoWork for your research. And let's all of us vote with the thumbs up. Let's like that comment and see which idea wins.
Now, before you run off to install CoWork, let me tell you that while chats and projects are free, CoWork comes under the paid plan. [music] You need to have either the Pro or Max subscription to use CoWork. Also, because CoWork is still in the testing phase, I would recommend that you do not give it access to folders where a lot of sensitive research data is parked till it comes out of that review stage.
Now, this is not all. Recently, Claude has launched its plugin with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, which means now you can use Claude for drafting manuscripts, preparing presentations, and even performing complex data analysis. So, if you want to know more about this, comment new Claude video and if I have more than 50 comments, I will make a new video on it.
Now, if you like the way I explained this tool to you, then you should definitely check out my courses. First is A to Z of research writing and presentation where I teach you from scratch how to choose a research topic, how to write each and every section of your research paper, how to avoid plagiarism, and how to make your paper ready for submission in a top impact factor journal. And second course is mastering AI tools for research where I share with you over 30 plus AI tools designed specifically for researchers, help you understand which AI tools to work with based on your research needs and your budget, and teach you step-by-step through live demos how to utilize them in your daily research workflows. So, to know more about these courses, I've put the link and discount coupon in the description below for you. And now, to try out Consensus, I've also put the link and discount coupon in the description below. Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you in the next one. >> [music]