As a researcher, you know that scientific writing is an essential part of your work. Whether drafting project proposals, research papers, or grant applications, writing consumes a significant amount of our time and energy. In my research career spanning three to four decades, a significant portion of my time was spent for writing. And for researchers like us from non-English speaking countries, writing in a language that is not our native language can be even more challenging. Many of us have experienced the frustration of having our articles rejected by publishers due to poor language, despite spending significant time and effort on the content.
A poorly written paper can be difficult to understand and therefore may be rejected or misunderstood by readers or readers. Similarly, many of you may have struggled to communicate your research effectively due to language barriers or writing deficiencies. Recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) have made it possible for researchers to save time and improve the quality of their work. In a previous article, I discussed the multiple uses of ChatGPT in scientific research. However, in a recent article published in Nature, John Tregoning discusses how AI-powered writing tools can free up researchers to focus on other important aspects of their research. So, I’d like to discuss in this post how ChatGPT like tools can be used to enhance your scientific writing.
How AI tools help in scientific writing?
From generating ideas to proofreading and editing, AI-powered tools for scientific writing can assist researchers in every step of the writing process. These tools use natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) algorithms to help researchers overcome language barriers, improve the clarity and accuracy of their writing, and even assist with formatting and citation styles. Here is a list of steps in scientific writing wherein AI tools can be of use to you.
- Generating an outline or draft
- Refining the draft
- Suggesting appropriate language, technical terms and concepts
- Identifying knowledge gaps
- Checking for coherence and clarity
- Enhancing readability
- Writing abstract, summary and conclusion
- Checking for plagiarism
What are the available tools?
With the recent launch of Open AI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s BioGPT, an AI language model specifically designed for the biomedical domain, and the availability of several other tools, researchers have a wide range of options to choose from. In my previous post, I have given an exhaustive list of AI tools which are for general purposes. Here, in this article, I would like to focus on tools that may help in scientific writing. These tools can help researchers from non-English speaking countries by offering translation features, scientific vocabulary assistance, and language error identification, ensuring that their research is communicated effectively. Here is a list of tools, which, of course, is not an exhaustive one.
Table 1: List of AI tools useful in scientific writing
| Name of the tool | URL | Purpose | Uses |
| IBM Watson Discovery | https://www.ibm.com/cloud/watson-discovery | Automated Research Assistant | Uses ML algorithms to scan through vast amounts of scientific literature, extracting relevant information and presenting it to the user in a convenient format. |
| Google Scholar | https://scholar.google.com/ | Automated Research Assistant | Allows researchers to search through scientific literature, providing users with a list of relevant papers and articles. The tool can also be customised to filter results based on specific criteria, such as publication date or citation count. |
| Semantic Scholar | https://www.semanticscholar.org/ | Automated Research Assistant | Uses AI to analyse and understand scientific literature, helping researchers find relevant information on a specific topic. |
| Iris.ai | https://iris.ai/ | Automated Research Assistant | A tool to help researchers discover relevant scientific papers for their research topic and to identify key concepts and related works in a given field. |
| Paper Digest | https://www.paperdigest.org/ | Automated Research Assistant | An AI tool to summarise scientific papers and present the key findings in a concise and easy-to-understand format. |
| SciNote | https://scinote.net/ | Automated Research Assistant | An electronic lab notebook that uses AI to automate data capture and to help researchers keep track of their experiments, analyse data, and prepare manuscripts more efficiently. |
| ScienceBox | https://www.sciencebox.io/ | Automated Research Assistant | This tool uses AI to extract relevant data from scientific papers and organize it in a searchable database. It can help researchers save time on literature review and data analysis. |
| GPT-3 | https://openai.com/blog/gpt-3-apps/ | Language Generator | Uses ML algorithms to analyse vast amounts of text, learning to mimic human language patterns and styles. Can be used to write scientific papers, among other things. |
| BioGPT | https://github.com/microsoft/BioGPT | Language Generator | Specifically designed for the biomedical field, can be used to generate complex biomedical language, such as drug names and medical terminology. |
| Scholarcy | https://www.scholarcy.com/ | Language Generator | Uses NLP to summarise and rephrase scientific papers, making it easier for researchers to understand complex technical language. |
| Grammarly | https://www.grammarly.com/ | Language Generator | An AI-powered writing assistant that helps writers improve their grammar, spelling, and style. Can be used to check scientific papers for errors and inconsistencies. |
| Wordtune | https://www.wordtune.com/ | Language Generator | Uses AI to suggest rewrites of sentences and paragraphs, helping writers improve the clarity and coherence of their writing. |
| Writesonic | https://writesonic.com/ | Language Generator | Helps to generate ideas for scientific writing by analysing the input text and providing relevant suggestions like outlines and summaries, as well as proofreading and improving the readability of the final document. |
| Quillbot | https://quillbot.com/ | Language Generator | A paraphrasing tool that uses AI to reword sentences and paragraphs while maintaining the original meaning. |
| Lex Page | https://lex.page/ | Language Generator | An AI-powered tool that provides suggestions for improving the style and tone of the text to improve the clarity and conciseness of the language. |
| Authorea | https://www.authorea.com/ | Collaborative Writing Tool | An online platform that allows researchers to write, edit, and share scientific papers in real-time. Features a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to collaborate on complex technical documents. |
| Overleaf | https://www.overleaf.com/ | Collaborative Writing Tool | A collaborative writing platform that allows multiple users to work on a single LaTeX document. Features a real-time preview function that allows users to see the document as it is being written. |
| Marian | https://marian-nmt.github.io/ | Language Translator | An open-source neural machine translation (NMT) toolkit that can be used to translate scientific papers into different languages. |
Be cautious
While ChatGPT-like tools can be helpful for scientific writing, researchers should be aware of the potential pitfalls and ethical issues associated with their use. First and foremost is that we should not over rely on any of these tools. They use ML algorithms to generate text, which means that they may inadvertently generate text that is similar to previously published work. They may even generate incorrect or biased results if the training data is flawed and we need to be cautious about the output they generate. Finally, these tools are trained on existing data, which may contain implicit biases. Therefore, we should use these tools as a supplement to our own expertise and critical thinking and carefully evaluate the results they generate.
Conclusion
In conclusion, AI tools are transforming the way we approach scientific writing. By using these tools, researchers can save time and energy while producing documents that are more effective, accurate, and well-written. As John Tregoning notes in his article, the “gift of time” that AI-powered writing tools offer can be invaluable for researchers who want to focus on other aspects of their work, such as conducting experiments or analysing data. As these tools continue to develop and improve, they will likely become even more essential to the scientific writing process. Whether you’re a seasoned researcher or a novice writer, AI tools can help you produce high-quality scientific papers more efficiently and effectively than ever before.
Research Rundown 
3 responses to “Writing smarter, not harder: The AI tools to transform scientific writing”
Excellent!
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Good compilaiton of of AI tools useful in scientific writing. It could have been better if you could provide link for the training tutorials for each of these AI tools especially for collaborative writing tools like overleaf and Authorea.
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Sites of each tool contain excellent videos. To master you need to practise.
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