Writing & research
Research, notes, and sources
The Sources tab is where you collect source material for a single essay. It has subviews for Sources, Library, Find papers, and Zotero. Research notes live in the separate Notes sidebar tab.
Start in Sources
Open the sidebar, switch to Sources, and use the Sources subview as your working library for this essay. This is where added sources live, where citation counts and source health appear, and where you can insert citations or open the original URL later.
Add what you already have
The add-source flow is flexible. You can paste a DOI, ISBN, URL, or full citation, upload a file, or enter source details by hand. EssayGenius tries to parse the metadata for you, then stores the result as a source record you can edit if anything looks off.
Search for new academic material
Use Find papers when you need fresh research. Search results come from academic data sources rather than model-generated citations. Review titles, abstracts, authors, years, and links before you add anything. Verification helps with existence; it does not decide relevance or peer-review status for you.
Turn sources into usable evidence
Added sources become more useful when you attach notes to them. EssayGenius supports notes like quotes, claims, counters, and questions in the Notes tab. Sources also exposes Citation Map and Citation Review controls so you can inspect citation coverage, source use, and places where your argument may need more support.
Cite from the editor
Once a source is in the essay library, you can cite it from the floating toolbar or with the citation shortcut. The source menu also lets you copy full citations, copy in-text citations, or insert a citation directly from the sidebar.
Using Zotero? Connect it in Settings > Integrations, sync your library, and import items into the current essay when you need them. Sources already added to an essay remain there even if you disconnect later.