academic-search

What This Skill Does

The academic-search skill transforms your OpenClaw agent into a high-powered research assistant capable of querying, filtering, and synthesizing vast repositories of scholarly data. Developed by calvinxhk, this tool leverages specialized access to arXiv, Google Scholar, and Semantic Scholar to conduct systematic literature reviews. It goes beyond simple keyword searching by analyzing citation networks, comparing methodology across papers, and vetting sources to ensure they meet academic standards. The skill is designed to find the top five most relevant papers for any query within two minutes, providing structured summaries that include bibliographic metadata, venue publication status, and open-access links.

Installation

To integrate this skill into your environment, run the following command in your terminal:

clawhub install openclaw/skills/skills/calvinxhk/botlearn-academic-search

Ensure that your OpenClaw agent has the necessary permissions for external API access to allow the agent to reach the configured scholarly databases.

Use Cases

This skill is indispensable for students, academics, and R&D professionals. Key use cases include:

• Rapidly mapping the state-of-the-art for a new research topic.
• Identifying seminal papers and their modern citations to understand the evolution of a field.
• Verifying the publication status of preprints versus peer-reviewed studies.
• Sourcing open-access versions of high-impact papers hidden behind paywalls.
• Drafting literature reviews for grant proposals or academic manuscripts.

Example Prompts

1. "Perform a literature review on the impact of attention mechanisms in transformer models over the last 3 years, prioritizing open-access papers."
2. "Find the top 5 papers on CRISPR gene editing in agricultural applications, focusing on peer-reviewed studies with high citation velocity."
3. "Explain the current research gaps in solid-state battery electrolyte stability, providing a summary of the most relevant papers retrieved from arXiv."

Tips & Limitations

To get the best results, be specific about your domain and time scope. For instance, including keywords related to specific methodologies (e.g., 'RCT', 'meta-analysis') helps the agent narrow down results effectively. Please note that the skill excludes non-scholarly content like news or blogs; if you receive few results, try broadening your discipline keywords. Always verify the DOI or arXiv ID provided in the output for definitive tracking. While the agent identifies paywalls, it cannot bypass them; it is designed specifically to locate authorized, freely available versions of scholarly work.