Research management: keeping track of literature and building knowledge
An example of applying a task-based innovation process to research management workflow.
Bruno Amaral wrote in his Substack newsletter recently about research and knowledge management systems and the fragile process of building new knowledge. It immediately caught my attention.
Almost two years into my doctoral studies, I have found it increasingly difficult to keep track of all the material I’ve reviewed related to my research studies. It’s partly age but mainly the sheer volume of material.
My reference management system is creaking. Applications such as EndNote, Mendeley and Zotero are static libraries of records rather than relational or knowledge-based systems that can be used to build knowledge. I recently took this photo of academic papers spread over the kitchen floor during a writing-up session.
Bruno has been kind enough to help me build a solution. Over a couple of sessions, we’ve deconstructed an academic researcher's process to review sources and record notes.
Find relevant books and research papers via the internet, library searches, and by harvesting links from other books and papers
Review the synopsis and record the metadata in a reference management system and data extraction table
Analyse and write notes about the literature review, study methodology, findings and conclusion
File a physical copy of the book or paper for future reference to support ongoing study or the write-up of a dissertation or paper
The gap between this activity and building an argument can be months or years, so capturing as much information as possible is important.
Bruno suggested using a low-cost tool called Notion. We built a Kanban board to mimic the process of sourcing, reviewing and recording a paper.
Each book or research paper has its own record. This includes a synopsis and summary of the research method and key arguments. We’ve also linked to the paper, uploaded a copy for future reference and extracted metadata.
So far, so good. But how does this help build new knowledge beyond discovery? Notion adds a useful summary based on your notes. Filters and search tools are already enabling me to spot patterns, extract themes and search for information.
There may be a legacy application beyond the lifetime of the project. Using Notion, I can publish a wiki of my bibliography and research notes, although copyright laws may mean this isn’t possible. At minimum, it’s a neat way to build and share a data extraction table.
A future task is figuring out how to link the data in Notion to a reference management system for when I’m writing up a dissertation or paper. Alternatively, is there a way to use the references stored in Notion to generate a bibliography? Please let me know if you’ve any information about the integration between Mendeley and Notion.
This is a practical example of workflow innovation: approaching a problem by breaking it down into tasks and then figuring out how tools can support your work is far more likely to be successful than jumping on the latest shiny solution looking for a problem.
There are tens of new AI tools launched every day at the moment. It’s overwhelming and impossible to get your head around even a fraction of them (unless you’re as driven and exceptional as Andrew Bruce Smith) and their work potential.
Antony Mayfield described an innovation process of breaking down your existing processes and workflow and figuring out how to use tools to help you work more effectively or efficiently. He demonstrated the process by applying it to the task of a family shop.
We did a similar exercise recently at Wadds Inc. to figure out how AI could help write press releases and media pitches. You may find it useful.
Finally, here are some recommendations for further reading.
Antony is the CEO of Brilliant Noise. He writes about culture, leadership and work in the age of uncertainty.
Bruno is a digital strategist at the Lisbon Collective. Each week he shares notes about the projects that he’s working on and the people that he meets. I always learn something new.
Andrew is a founder and director of Escherman and chair of the AI in PR panel. He’s generous in sharing information via LinkedIn and Twitter.
