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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127 tools in Discovery

DBpedia

DBpedia is a community effort to extract structured information from Wikipedia and make it available on the web in the form of Knowledge Graphs.

DiscoveryOPEN SOURCE

Deepdyve

Online rental service for scientific, technical and medical research.

DiscoveryPublishingFREE

Delpher

Provides a valuable source of historical texts in Dutch.

DiscoveryPublishingFREE

Digital Commons Network

Search engine for the content of repositories using BEpress software.

DiscoveryFREE, OPEN SOURCE

Dimensions

Linked scholarly information.

DiscoveryFundingFREE

Direct2experts

Demonstrating interoperability among research-networking platforms.

DiscoveryFREE

Directory of Open Access Journals

A website that hosts a community-curated list of open access journals.

DiscoveryPublishingFREE

DISK

Automate the hypothesize-test-evaluate discovery cycle

AnalysisDiscoveryOPENS SOURCE

EDS (Ebsco Discovery Service)

A single discovery search engine for print and digital library resources.

DiscoveryPublishingPAID
Elicit logo

Elicit

AI Systematic Review and Evidence Extraction

AI Research AssistantDiscoveryFREE, SUBSCRIPTION

EndNote

DiscoveryReference ManagementFREE, SUBSCRIPTION

EurekaMag

An online learning portal that provides articles & textbooks based on natural sciences.

DiscoveryPlanningOPEN SOURCE

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.

Request a listing Or email info@labcritics.com

Missing a tool?

Tell us what your lab runs on. Listing is free and we do not take payment for placement.

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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.