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Academic Paper Finder

Monitor arXiv and Semantic Scholar for relevant papers, summarize them, and track research topics

🤖 00 ↓  |  👤 00
intermediate35 minutes🔄 7 swappable alternatives

🧂 Ingredients

🔌 APIs

academic_paper_search_citations_and_metadata

🔄 Alternatives:

Crossref Broader publication metadataOpenalex Free, comprehensive academic data

fetch_paper_abstracts_and_content_from_arxiv

🔄 Alternatives:

Scrapingbee Handles JS renderingBrowserless Full browser for scraping

paper_library_with_tags_summaries_and_reading_status

🔄 Alternatives:

Airtable Better for structured databasesCoda More powerful automationsObsidian Local-first, markdown-based

📋 Step-by-Step Build Guide

STEP 1

1. Define your research interests: topics, keywords, specific authors, and journ

1. Define your research interests: topics, keywords, specific authors, and journals to follow

Define your research interests: topics, keywords, specific authors, and journals to follow

Steps:
1. Validate all required inputs are available
2. Execute the operation described above
3. Verify the result meets expected output format
4. Handle errors gracefully — retry transient failures, log and alert on persistent ones
5. Return structured output with status and any relevant data

If any required data is missing, request it from the user before proceeding.
STEP 2

2. Daily: search Semantic Scholar and arXiv for new papers matching your keyword

2. Daily: search Semantic Scholar and arXiv for new papers matching your keywords (published in last 7 days)

Daily: search Semantic Scholar and arXiv for new papers matching your keywords (published in last 7 days)

Steps:
1. Validate all required inputs are available
2. Execute the operation described above
3. Verify the result meets expected output format
4. Handle errors gracefully — retry transient failures, log and alert on persistent ones
5. Return structured output with status and any relevant data

If any required data is missing, request it from the user before proceeding.
STEP 3

3. For each relevant paper: extract title, authors, abstract, publication venue,

3. For each relevant paper: extract title, authors, abstract, publication venue, citation count

For each relevant paper: extract title, authors, abstract, publication venue, citation count

Steps:
1. Validate all required inputs are available
2. Execute the operation described above
3. Verify the result meets expected output format
4. Handle errors gracefully — retry transient failures, log and alert on persistent ones
5. Return structured output with status and any relevant data

If any required data is missing, request it from the user before proceeding.
STEP 4

4. Generate a plain-English summary: what problem it solves, methodology, key fi

4. Generate a plain-English summary: what problem it solves, methodology, key findings, and why it matters

Compile the gathered data into a structured report.

Format as clean Markdown with:
- Title/date header
- Executive summary (2-3 sentences)
- Key metrics section with actual numbers
- Detailed sections with bullet points
- Action items or recommendations at the end

Keep it scannable — busy people read reports in 30 seconds.
Use emoji sparingly for visual anchors (📊 metrics, ✅ wins, ⚠️ concerns, 📋 action items).
Include data comparisons: "X this period vs Y last period (↑Z%)"

If any data source was unavailable, note it clearly: "⚠️ [Source] data unavailable — excluded from this report."
STEP 5

5. Score relevance based on keyword match, author reputation, citation velocity,

5. Score relevance based on keyword match, author reputation, citation velocity, and venue quality

Analyze the input and classify it into the defined categories.

Classification approach:
1. Extract key signals from the content (keywords, sender, urgency markers, topic)
2. Match against category definitions
3. Assign confidence score (high/medium/low)
4. For ambiguous cases, classify as the more important/urgent category (err on the side of caution)

Output for each item: { category, priority, confidence, reasoning }

If an item could belong to multiple categories, pick the primary one and note the secondary.
STEP 6

6. Store papers in your reading list database with status: New, Reading, Read, I

6. Store papers in your reading list database with status: New, Reading, Read, Important

Persist the data to the configured storage.

Data structure:
- Include timestamp (ISO 8601) with every record
- Use consistent field names across entries
- Store raw values (not formatted) for future analysis
- Add a source/origin field for audit trail

Storage operation:
1. Validate the data before writing
2. Check for duplicates (by timestamp + unique key)
3. Append to existing records — never overwrite
4. Verify the write succeeded
5. Return the stored record ID/reference
STEP 7

7. Weekly: research digest — top 5-10 new papers with summaries, organized by to

7. Weekly: research digest — top 5-10 new papers with summaries, organized by topic

Weekly: research digest — top 5-10 new papers with summaries, organized by topic

Steps:
1. Validate all required inputs are available
2. Execute the operation described above
3. Verify the result meets expected output format
4. Handle errors gracefully — retry transient failures, log and alert on persistent ones
5. Return structured output with status and any relevant data

If any required data is missing, request it from the user before proceeding.
STEP 8

8. Monthly: topic trends — which areas are gaining attention, most cited recent

8. Monthly: topic trends — which areas are gaining attention, most cited recent papers, emerging research directions

Monthly: topic trends — which areas are gaining attention, most cited recent papers, emerging research directions

Steps:
1. Validate all required inputs are available
2. Execute the operation described above
3. Verify the result meets expected output format
4. Handle errors gracefully — retry transient failures, log and alert on persistent ones
5. Return structured output with status and any relevant data

If any required data is missing, request it from the user before proceeding.

🤖 Example Agent Prompt

Define your research interests: topics, keywords, specific authors, and journals to follow

Steps:
1. Validate all required inputs are available
2. Execute the operation described above
3. Verify the result meets expected output format
4. Handle errors gracefully — retry transient failures, log and alert on persistent ones
5. Return structured output with status and any relevant data

If any required data is missing, request it from the user before proceeding.

Copy this prompt into your agent to get started.