# Research by UNMS

> AI-assisted reference manager and note-taking app for papers and notes

Research is a desktop knowledge management application designed for reading, organising, and understanding academic papers and notes. It combines collection management, dedicated notebooks, visual node canvases, and AI explanations into a unified offline-first workspace.

Website: https://un.ms/research

## What it is for

- Organise academic papers and reading materials into topic-based collections
- Synthesise concepts using dedicated notebooks and visual node canvases
- Explain dense paper sections and get plain-language summaries using AI models

## Features

- Category-based library organisation with paper metadata and author tags
- Integrated notebooks for topic-specific notes and synthesis
- Infinite visual canvases for mapping concepts into node graphs
- Offline-first desktop experience with optional cloud features
- Bring-your-own-key or credit-based AI assistance for paper comprehension
- Audio summaries and scholarly search discovery feed

## Pricing

Freemium. Free for personal use with offline features; Pro plan is $20/month, or buy 500 AI credits for $10

## Details

- Type: Web app
- Category: [Productivity](https://xiry.app/topics/productivity.md)
- Open source: no
- Platforms: macOS, Windows, Linux
- For: Researchers, academics, students, and analysts managing scientific literature
- Alternative to: Zotero, Mendeley, Obsidian, Heptabase
- Tags: research, reference manager, academic, notes, canvas, ai assistant

## Why it was saved

- [@TGUPJ, 5 August 2025](https://x.com/TGUPJ/status/1952783876251582872): A polished reference manager with categories, notebooks and canvases; useful to try and relevant to the user's own library-building product.

## Compare

- [Alternatives to Obsidian](https://xiry.app/alternatives/obsidian.md)

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Updated 10 October 2026. Page: https://xiry.app/resources/research-by-unms

Make your own library: Xiry takes your saved reels, tweets, Reddit bookmarks and Watch Later videos, makes them searchable and pulls the useful stuff out, like this library. It's invite-only for now; join the waitlist at https://xiry.app/#waitlist.