Personalised Research Digests: Using AI to Support Literature Discovery

Keeping up with new research takes time. The AI Learning Centre (AILC) is now trialling an automated workflow that delivers personalised email digests of recent academic papers aligned with each lecturer’s research interests.

At its core is a self-updating faculty research database. Using ORCID and Google Scholar identifiers, the system builds individual research profiles based on each lecturer’s publications over the past seven years. These profiles guide the discovery of relevant new literature.

Approximately once a month, the workflow searches OpenAlex for papers published in the previous 30 days that match each researcher’s topics. It removes duplicates and the researcher’s own publications, then selects up to five relevant papers.

For each recommendation, OpenAI generates a concise summary and a “why it matters” note explaining how the paper relates to the lecturer’s research profile. The digest includes links to the papers and is delivered automatically through Microsoft Outlook.

The workflow brings together Supabase/Postgres for researcher data, OpenAlex for publication searches, OpenAI for summaries and relevance notes, and Outlook for delivery. Through this trial, AILC aims to explore how personalised digests can reduce the time colleagues spend searching for literature and support their ongoing research.

Explore example digests:

• Mental Health and Neuropsychology: https://workflowlab24.com/workflows/mental-health-and-neuropsychology/
• Relationships and Personality: https://workflowlab24.com/workflows/relationships-and-personality/
• Trauma and Social Behaviour: https://workflowlab24.com/workflows/trauma-and-social-behaviour/