Academic Workflow of an Education Researcher

As an academic researcher, I use a number of software and hardware tools in concert. To illustrate my academic workflow, I created the diagram below [Click on image to enlarge].

Academic Workflow Diagram

"Input" includes the tools I use to collect and organize documents. I distinguish between different document types and input sources. My two favorite tools to organize documents are DevonThink and PersonalBrain. DevonThink allows organizing documents into a hierarchical folder structure. The in-built AI supports storting out new documents into matching folders. PersonalBrain is a dynamic 3D mindmap that allows annotating and tagging weblinks and documents. I currently have over 8000 weblinks organized in PersonalBrain.

"Output" includes the tools I use to write and publish documents. To write academic publications, I use Scrivener to create an outline of the documents and work on drafts. I enter reference tags from Sente into Scrivener. Once I reach a final draft, I export the text from Scrivener to Word and use Sente to generate a bibliography.