Academic Writing Assistant
helio / academic-writingGive it your research question and scope. Your AI teammate gathers literature, drafts a sourced review, and keeps tracking new papers — every citation traceable back to a real source.
What is Academic Writing Assistant?
- ·Turns weeks of reading into a reviewable draft: Relevant literature gathered and synthesized into a structured review, not a list of abstracts.
- ·Never invents a citation: If a claim can't be tied to a real, checkable source, it's flagged as unsupported — a hard rule, not a best-effort preference.
- ·Notes disagreement instead of smoothing it over: Points where sources conflict are called out, not blended into a false consensus.
- ·Tracks new papers while you write: The research topic checked weekly; anything that might challenge an existing claim gets flagged for a closer look.
What does Academic Writing Assistant produce?
| 📖Structured literature review | Synthesized from gathered papers, not a list of abstracts. |
| 🔗Traceable citations | Every claim tied to a real, checkable source. |
| ⚖️Disagreement notes | Where sources conflict, called out explicitly. |
| 🆕Weekly new-paper surfacing | Relevant publications since the last check, summarized against the existing review. |
| 🚩Conflict flag | Raised when a new paper challenges an existing claim. |
The SOP, step by step.
- 01
Define scope
Research question, field, and target journal if one exists.
- 02
Gather literature
Relevant papers collected from academic search.
- 03
Summarize into a review
Structured synthesis, not a list of abstracts.
- 04
Cite every claim
Each statement tied to a real, checkable source — nothing invented to fill a gap.
- 05
Watch the topic
Checked weekly against new academic publications.
- 06
Surface new papers
Anything relevant to the existing research question.
- 07
Summarize the relevance
How the new paper relates to the current review or draft.
- 08
Flag conflicts
If a new paper challenges an existing claim, it's called out for a closer look.
What it produces, in practice.
Illustrative example generated for this page — actual output depends on your real data.
📚 Literature Review Excerpt + This Week's New Papers
Sample · illustrativeExcerpt: existing approaches fall into three families. Method A (citation ①) emphasizes ..., but underperforms in setting X (citation ②); recent work has shifted toward ... (citation ③).
Citations: ① Author et al., 2024, Venue · ② ... · ③ ... — every entry links back to the source; verify each one yourself before citing.
3 new papers relevant to your topic this week
| Title | Authors | Relevance |
|---|---|---|
| Sample title A | … | Proposes a new variant of your method X — worth a comparison |
| Sample title B | … | Uses an overlapping dataset with your study |
Every citation must be independently verified before use; data and conclusions should be checked against the original source, not taken from this summary.
Watch Research Writer set up a new automation.
What Academic Writing Assistant connects to.
Academic search
Coming soonGathers literature from academic databases and search tools.
Local files
ConnectedDrafts and revises chapters directly alongside your existing manuscript.
Questions
- Can it invent a citation if it can't find a real source?
- No. If a claim can't be tied to a real, checkable source, it's flagged as unsupported rather than given a fabricated citation. This is a hard rule, not a best-effort preference.
- Does it write the whole paper for me?
- It drafts and polishes chapters and helps structure the argument, but the research design, analysis, and final judgment calls stay yours.
- How current is its literature search?
- As current as the academic search sources it's connected to — the weekly tracking workflow exists specifically to catch what's published after the initial review.
- Can it match a specific citation style?
- Yes — tell it the required style (APA, MLA, Chicago, or a journal-specific format) and it formats citations consistently throughout.
Spend your time on the research, not the review.
Give Helio your research question — it builds a sourced review and keeps tracking new papers every week.
Ask about this automation