Tools of the Trade

A curated directory of the software researchers actually use - from literature discovery and reference managers to electronic lab notebooks, analysis pipelines, imaging and the new generation of AI research tools. Every entry is written by hand, and every outbound link is checked.

  • 254 tools listed
  • 20 categories
  • 214 free or open source
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85 tools in Publishing

Bibliogo

Free reference management and collaboration tool that allows users to search an online catalog of millions of documents.

FundingPlanningFREE

BibSonomy

Online social sharing of bookmarks & lists of literature in a collaborative way

DiscoveryPublishingFREE

Biocompare

An online review resource of lab equipment for the world's scientific community.

DiscoveryPublishingFREE

bioRxiv

bioRxiv is an open access preprint repository for the biological sciences

PublishingWritingFREE

Biostars

Focus on bioinformatics, computational genomics, and biological data analysis.

DiscoveryPublishingFREE

ChemRxiv

ChemRxiv is a repository for the free submission and distribution of preprints in chemistry and related areas.

PublishingFREE

Chemspider

A web-based database of small molecules, with associated data and links.

DiscoveryPublishingOpen Source

Cite This For Me

Cite This For Me is one of the most popular citation tools today.

DiscoveryPublishingFREE

CiteSeer(X)

Public search engine and digital library for scientific and academic papers.

DiscoveryPublishingOPEN SOURCE

Colaboratory

A data analysis tool that combines text, code, and code outputs into a single doc

CodePublishingFREE

CORE

Aggregator of open access research papers for researchers and repositories.

DiscoveryPublishingOPEN SOURCE

Crossmark

Quick and easy access to the current status of an item of content. 

PublishingFREE

Built something researchers should know about?

We add tools on reader suggestions, and we list open-source projects and one-person side projects on the same terms as funded platforms. Listing is free, there is no paid placement, and we write the entry ourselves after trying the tool.

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Missing a tool?

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How entries are chosen

  • It has to be alive. Links are verified, and tools that die or get acquired into irrelevance are retired rather than left to rot.
  • Researchers have to actually use it. Adoption in real labs matters more than a polished launch page.
  • Cost is stated plainly. Free, open source, freemium or paid - including when "free for academics" comes with conditions.
  • No paid placement. Nobody buys their way onto this list, and there are no affiliate links.
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What is in here

The directory covers the whole research workflow: planning and funding, literature discovery, reference management, lab notebooks and inventory, analysis and computation, figures and visualisation, writing, publishing, and data sharing. Alongside the long-established tools you would expect, it tracks the AI workbenches and foundation models now reshaping how computational research gets done.