OpenSynthia

Introduction to OpenSynthia

OpenSynthia is an AI-assisted research workspace designed to help researchers, students, and analysts locate, evaluate, and synthesize scholarly literature in one place. It runs multiple search strategies in parallel across a large corpus (250M+ works via OpenAlex), consolidating results into a clean, deduplicated paper set with enriched metadata and traceable citations.

The platform supports end-to-end workflows: multi-query discovery, evidence inspection with citation and author context, and synthesis with verifiable references. Outputs include numbered citations that link back to DOIs and exports to APA, BibTeX, and Markdown. Integrations include individual and batch Zotero saves and optional reading-list sync to Notion. Recent searches are stored locally for quick recall.

Key Takeaways

• Multi-query engine extracts 5–10 keyword strategies per prompt and runs them in parallel
• Approximately 20 papers fetched per strategy via OpenAlex, with automatic deduplication and merge (~100 unique per search)
• Rich evaluation tools: citation and recency sorting, open access and peer-review filters, inline topic and citation stats
• Interactive exploration: citation networks, related papers, and author profiles/graphs
• AI literature review generator with numbered, verifiable citations linking back to DOIs
• Exports to APA, BibTeX, and Markdown; individual and batch Zotero saves with a collection picker
• Search history (10 recent queries) stored locally; shareable search URLs for collaboration
• Optional reading-list sync to Notion; designed to support a unified research workflow

How OpenSynthia Works

OpenSynthia begins by analyzing a research prompt or context to extract entities, hypotheses, and constraints. It then generates 5–10 parallel keyword strategies and runs each against OpenAlex, fetching up to 20 papers per query. The system deduplicates results, enriches metadata, and merges everything into a single, manageable paper set with year-range filters and local search history recall.

For evaluation, papers are scored with blended relevance, novelty, and credibility signals. Users can sort and filter by citations, recency, open access, and peer review; inspect paper cards with inline stats; review author profiles; and explore related works via an interactive citation network. Retractions and DOI chains are surfaced to support quality checks.

Synthesis tools allow users to select key papers and generate literature reviews with numbered, traceable citations. References can be copied in APA, exported as BibTeX or Markdown, and sent to Zotero (individually or in batch). Searches can be shared via URL, and recent queries can be reopened to continue or refine the analysis.

Core Benefits and Applications

• Grant and proposal preparation: Surface precedent, contested areas, and gaps; justify methodologies with cited evidence.
• New field onboarding: Generate curated reading plans with summaries and connection maps; identify seminal vs. derivative work and influential labs.
• Peer review and due diligence: Audit claims against the broader corpus, trace every assertion back to a DOI, and flag retractions or weak venues.
• Literature survey and related work: Organize multi-query discovery, triage by credibility and novelty, and produce structured summaries with verifiable citations.
• Reference management: Export citations in standard formats and maintain collections via batch or individual Zotero saves, with optional Notion sync for reading lists.