Draft a dissertation lit review from uploaded sources
A doctoral writer used NotebookLM, which cites only uploaded sources, to handle citations and draft a literature review without invented references.
Done with a custom-built or unnamed agent
- What they did
- After ChatGPT invented citations, the writer switched to NotebookLM so the model could cite only papers they had uploaded. They renamed files before uploading and gave one standing instruction for citation format, which changed NotebookLM’s bare numbered references into author-year citations; they then used a broader workflow to vet sources, organize them, get synthesis, and manually audit citations before export.
- How it went
- It cut down a lot of manual cross-checking and helped them draft dissertation literature review chapters without made-up references. It still was not for doing the actual analysis, and they say they had previously lost time rewriting work after false citations slipped through.
- Worth knowing
- The biggest catch was time: they say they had to rebuild work when bad citations got through, losing progress 60% into their dissertation timeline.
Try it yourself with Claude
I'm writing a literature review on [your topic] for my [dissertation or paper]. I'll upload [number] sources. Draft a structured review of about [word count] words grouped by theme, citing only the uploaded sources in [citation style], and mark any claim you cannot support from them instead of guessing. Finish with a list of gaps in the literature and any sources you could not use.
Want help getting this working? Join the Vibe Coding Academy ↗ Run by Alex Finn, who also runs this site.
Source: Reddit · Aug 1, 2026
Related use cases
Find connections across 100 non-fiction books
Claude Code browses a personal library with CLI tools and surfaces trails of related excerpts across books.
Research AI training case studies and build a summary deck
A team had Agent Mode research case studies from McKinsey, PwC and similar firms and make a slide deck in 32 minutes, with some image and overlapping text issues.
Run first-pass topic research, then verify references
A commenter uses Manus for first-pass research, then has Genspark double-check every reference and flag problems.
Research content from Slack and draft Notion guide ideas
A team DM'd Lindy in Slack to summarize a year of guides and research a model, and it created a Notion guide idea after asking for approval.
Research a person and write a bio
An Inc. writer had Muse research them via its browser and write a bio, but objected that it accessed private messages unasked.
Produce a sourced research document with parallel agents
Grok coordinated 16 specialized agents that searched and parsed 896 sources, debated and peer reviewed, and delivered a complete research document in one minute.
Get 5 like this every morning
The best things people got an AI agent to do, each with the prompt to try it.