Research & Publishing Tools
Tools for the work around the analysis: framing a research question, searching and screening the literature, designing a survey or an experiment, getting ethics paperwork right, preparing a manuscript for submission, and applying for the next position. Free, no sign-up.
Research & Publishing
55 tools · free, no sign-up
Research Question Generator
Generate focused research questions from your topic. Get questions suitable for qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research across any academic discipline.
Hypothesis Generator
Build testable research hypotheses from your variables — if/then, directional, and null formats — with guided frames for science fairs and research methods.
Survey Question Generator
Build survey questions from templates — Likert scales, multiple choice, demographics, and open-ended formats — with wording tips that avoid bias.
Likert Scale Analyzer
Paste survey responses for each Likert item's median, mode, mean, SD and % agree, a diverging stacked bar chart, and composite scores with reverse-coded items.
Reverse Scoring Calculator
Reverse-code Likert and rating-scale items with (min + max) − score: convert one value, see the full conversion table, or reverse chosen columns of pasted data.
Content Validity Index (CVI) Calculator
Paste expert relevance ratings for each item's I-CVI and modified kappa, the scale's S-CVI/Ave and S-CVI/UA, and Lynn's minimum I-CVI for your panel size.
Item Analysis Calculator
Score multiple-choice answers against a key for each item's difficulty, discrimination index, corrected point-biserial and distractor analysis, plus KR-20.
Stratified Sample Size Calculator
Split a total sample across strata by proportional, equal or Neyman (optimal) allocation, with exact whole-number sizes, sampling fractions and design weights.
Random Assignment Generator
Assign participants to conditions by simple, permuted-block or stratified block randomization, drawn from a recorded seed so the list can be reproduced and audited.
Latin Square Counterbalancing Generator
Build a balanced Latin square (Williams design) or a cyclic square for any number of conditions, check carryover balance, and assign participants to orders.
Decision Matrix Calculator
Score options against weighted criteria to rank them, with the margin of victory and a sensitivity check that shows how far any one weight can move before the winner changes.
PRISMA Flow Diagram Generator
Enter your search and screening counts and get the PRISMA 2020 flow diagram for a new systematic review, with the other-methods column and checks that the numbers add up.
CRediT Author Statement Generator
Tick the 14 CRediT contributor roles (ANSI/NISO Z39.104-2022) for each author — with optional lead, equal or supporting — and copy the statement by author or by role.
Data Availability Statement Generator
Draft data and code availability statements for open, restricted, on-request or no data — with DOIs formatted and placeholders for missing repository details.
Conflict of Interest Statement Generator
Record each author's funding, employment, consulting fees, stock, patents or personal relationships and copy a competing interests statement in Nature or Elsevier wording.
Funding Statement Generator
Turn funders, grant numbers and award recipients into a funding statement in Elsevier's pattern or PLOS's narrative format, with a funder-role sentence.
Ethics Approval Statement Generator
Write ethics approval and informed consent statements for human, animal or exempt studies — committee, reference number, date, consent type, Helsinki and ARRIVE.
Plain Language Summary Generator
Draft a lay summary from four guided prompts — problem, methods, findings, importance — and check its length, Flesch–Kincaid grade, sentence length and jargon.
Research Highlights Checker
Check research highlights against Elsevier (3–5) or Cell Press (3–4) rules of 85 characters each, with characters left per bullet and citation and abbreviation warnings.
Author & Affiliation Formatter
Format a manuscript's author line with superscript affiliation numbers, equal-contribution and corresponding-author marks and ORCID iDs — as rich text, plain text, HTML or LaTeX.
Email to Professor Generator
Draft a polite email to a professor about an extension, absence, question, meeting, recommendation, grade, or research role, with subject lines and the right title.
Journal Cover Letter Generator
Write a journal submission cover letter from your findings and the journal's scope, with the standard declarations and optional suggested or excluded reviewers.
Response to Reviewers Generator
Paste peer-review comments, split them into numbered points by reviewer, choose a stance for each, and get a point-by-point response letter with a summary of changes.
Thesis Acknowledgements Generator
Thank supervisors, examiners, funders, participants, colleagues, and family in the conventional order, formal or warm, with three phrasings and an optional dedication.
Academic Bio Generator
Turn your position, research interests, and achievements into conference, journal, profile-page, and social media bios of about 50, 100, or 150 words.
Informed Consent Form Generator
Draft a research consent form that covers every basic element of the U.S. Common Rule (45 CFR 46.116), with key information first and a signature block.
Debriefing Form Generator
Write a participant debriefing statement: the study's true purpose, any deception and why it was needed, how to withdraw data, support services, and contacts.
Interview Guide Generator
Build a structured or semi-structured interview guide: introduction script, consent reminder, warm-up, main questions with probes and follow-ups, and a closing.
Data Management Plan Generator
Draft a data management plan once and lay it out as a generic DCC-style plan, NSF's Research.gov DMSP sections, a classic two-page plan, or the Horizon Europe template.
PICO Question Generator
Turn Population, Intervention, Comparison and Outcome (plus Time or Study design) into clinical questions for therapy, diagnosis, prognosis, harm, prevention and meaning.
Boolean Search String Builder
Turn concepts and their synonyms into a correctly bracketed Boolean search, with ready-to-paste versions for Google Scholar, PubMed, EBSCOhost, ProQuest, Web of Science and Scopus.
CRAAP Test Evaluator
Rate a source on Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy and Purpose with guided questions, get scores out of 10 and 50 with a verdict, and print the worksheet.
Literature Review Matrix Generator
Build a literature review synthesis matrix in your browser: sources as rows, your own columns, theme tags, sorting and filtering, with CSV, Markdown and Word-ready export.
H-Index Calculator
Calculate the h-index, g-index, i10-index, total and mean citations and the m-quotient from per-paper citation counts, with the h-core listed and a chart of the h line.
Impact Factor Calculator
Reproduce the Journal Impact Factor, the five-year JIF and Scopus CiteScore from citation and item counts, with every step of the arithmetic shown.
PRISMA 2020 Checklist
The full 27-item PRISMA 2020 checklist for systematic reviews, plus the 12-item abstract checklist, with a field for where each item is reported. Print it or copy it as a table.
SIFT Method Worksheet
A guided, printable worksheet for Mike Caulfield's SIFT method: Stop, Investigate the source, Find better coverage, and Trace claims, quotes and media to the original context.
Abstract Screening Tool
Load RIS, CSV, .nbib or EndNote XML records and screen titles and abstracts as include, maybe or exclude with keyboard shortcuts, exclusion reasons and highlight words, then export.
SPIDER Question Generator
Frame a qualitative, scoping or service-evaluation question with SPIDER, SPICE, PEO, PCC or ECLIPSE: a draft question, an element list and a Boolean search string.
Academic CV Generator
Build an academic CV from standard sections: education, appointments, publications you type in, grants, teaching and talks, newest first, as Word-compatible HTML, Markdown or LaTeX.
Academic Job Cover Letter Generator
Draft a faculty or postdoc cover letter from your own research, teaching and fit, in US or UK convention, with a page estimate against the usual one-to-two-page range.
Teaching Philosophy Statement Generator
Write a teaching philosophy statement in five guided paragraphs: your central belief, methods, evidence, assessment and growth, with a one-to-two-page length target.
Research Statement Outline
Outline a research statement for a faculty application: overview, past, current and future work, impact, funding plans and people, with a word target for each section.
Specific Aims Page Generator
Draft an NIH-style one-page Specific Aims structure — hook, gap, objective, aims, payoff — from your own sentences, with a page-length word meter and a checklist.
Three Minute Thesis Planner
Plan a Three Minute Thesis script in five beats with a speaking-time meter at your pace, word targets for each beat, and a checklist for the single slide.
Research Poster Size Calculator
Exact A0–A3 and US poster dimensions, font sizes for your viewing distance, a word budget, and the design size and print enlargement for PowerPoint.
Peer Review Report Generator
Structure a journal referee report: summary, strengths, numbered major and minor comments, recommendation, and confidential notes to the editor, with checks for consistency.
Grant Budget Calculator
Build a multi-year research grant budget: personnel with fringe, equipment, travel and subawards, indirect costs on MTDC or TDC at your rate, and salary escalation.
Survey Response Rate Calculator
Calculate AAPOR response rates RR1–RR6 plus cooperation, refusal and contact rates from final disposition counts, with each formula, an estimate of e, and a reporting sentence.
Delphi Consensus Calculator
Paste each Delphi round's panel ratings for the median, IQR and percent agreement per item, tested against consensus rules you choose, with change across rounds.
Survey Length Estimator
Estimate questionnaire completion time from question counts by type and reading load, for typical and slower respondents, with every timing assumption adjustable.
Participant ID Generator
Generate unique, random, non-identifying participant codes with a prefix and an optional Luhn or Damm check digit, check typed IDs, and download a CSV key file.
Codebook Generator
Turn variable names, labels, types, value labels and missing codes into a codebook table plus SPSS and R syntax, with Markdown and CSV export and SPSS limit checks.
Text Anonymizer
Replace names, emails, phone numbers, dates and places in a transcript with consistent pseudonyms, and download the key file separately. Runs in your browser.
Qualitative Coding Tool
Highlight passages in interview transcripts, apply nested codes, see code counts and excerpts by code, and export CSV or Markdown. Saved only in your browser.
Frame the Question and Design the Study
- Framing the question. The Research Question Generator and Hypothesis Generator; for clinical questions the PICO Question Generator, and for qualitative or mixed-methods work the SPIDER Question Generator.
- Surveys. The Survey Question Generator drafts items, the Survey Length Estimator predicts completion time, and the Survey Response Rate Calculator reports the rate afterwards. For the responses, the Likert Scale Analyzer, Reverse Scoring Calculator, Item Analysis Calculator and Content Validity Index Calculator check a scale; the Delphi Consensus Calculator summarizes expert panels round by round.
- Experiments and samples. The Random Assignment Generator, Latin Square Counterbalancing Generator and Stratified Sample Size Calculator. The Participant ID Generator and Codebook Generator keep the resulting dataset tidy.
- Qualitative work. The Interview Guide Generator, the Qualitative Coding Tool for highlighting transcripts and applying nested codes, and the Text Anonymizer for replacing names and places with consistent pseudonyms.
- Choices and budgets. The Decision Matrix Calculator weighs options against criteria and the Grant Budget Calculator builds a multi-year budget with indirect costs.
Search, Screen and Evaluate the Literature
| Task | Tool |
|---|---|
| Write one search for several databases | Boolean Search String Builder |
| Decide whether a source is trustworthy | CRAAP Test Evaluator for scholarly sources, SIFT Method Worksheet for claims found online |
| Screen titles and abstracts for a review | Abstract Screening Tool, which reads RIS or CSV records |
| Report a systematic review | PRISMA Flow Diagram Generator and PRISMA 2020 Checklist |
| Organize what you have read | Literature Review Matrix Generator |
| Measure an author or a journal | H-Index Calculator, Impact Factor Calculator |
The references themselves are on the Citation Generators and Citation & Reference Tools shelves, and the analysis on the Statistics Calculators shelf.
Ethics, Data and Getting Published
- Ethics and data. The Informed Consent Form Generator, Debriefing Form Generator, Ethics Approval Statement Generator and Data Management Plan Generator.
- Manuscript statements. CRediT author contributions, data availability, conflict of interest and funding, plus the Author & Affiliation Formatter, Plain Language Summary Generator and Research Highlights Checker.
- Submission and review. The Journal Cover Letter Generator, Response to Reviewers Generator and, for reviewers, the Peer Review Report Generator.
- Presenting. The Research Poster Size Calculator and Three Minute Thesis Planner, and the Thesis Acknowledgements Generator.
- Applications and career. The Academic CV Generator, Academic Job Cover Letter, Teaching Philosophy Statement, Research Statement Outline, Specific Aims Page, Academic Bio and Email to Professor generators.
Templates, Not Rulings
The form and statement generators follow published requirements — the U.S. Common Rule's elements of informed consent (45 CFR 46.116), the PRISMA 2020 flow diagram, the CRediT taxonomy (ANSI/NISO Z39.104-2022) — and say so on their pages. They draft documents; they do not approve them. Your ethics committee, funder and target journal have the final word, and many publish their own templates that take precedence.
The generators are honest templates with no AI: what comes out is built from what you enter, so check every name, number and date before you submit. The guides on how to write a research proposal and the peer review process cover the thinking behind them.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What makes a good research question?
- A good research question is specific enough to answer with the time and data you have, open enough that the answer is not obvious, and phrased so it points to a method. "How does sleep affect students?" is a topic; "Is self-reported sleep duration associated with first-year GPA?" is a question you can design a study around.
- How do I build a Boolean search for a literature review?
- List each concept with its synonyms, join synonyms with OR inside brackets, and join the concepts with AND. The Boolean Search String Builder does the bracketing and gives versions formatted for Google Scholar, PubMed and other databases, whose syntax differs.
- How is the h-index calculated?
- Sort an author's papers by citations, highest first. The h-index is the largest number h such that h papers each have at least h citations. Papers cited 10, 8, 5, 4 and 3 times give an h-index of 4. It rewards sustained impact over one famous paper but varies by field, so compare only within a discipline.
- Is a generated consent form ready to use?
- It is a draft. The Informed Consent Form Generator covers the basic elements the U.S. Common Rule requires, but your institution's review board decides what your form must say and may require its own template. Submit it for review like any consent document.
- What is a CRediT author statement?
- CRediT is a standard set of 14 contributor roles — conceptualization, methodology, writing (original draft) and so on — that many journals ask authors to declare. The CRediT Author Statement Generator turns ticked roles into the statement in the usual format.
- Is the information I enter stored anywhere?
- No. These tools run in your browser and do not save what you type on a server. Copy or download your result before you close the page.