# The Academic Digest > A weekly research paper digest delivered by email every Monday. A multi-signal selection algorithm scans 100,000+ papers from 290+ peer-reviewed journals and preprint servers (Nature, Science, Cell, NEJM, PNAS, bioRxiv, medRxiv, arXiv) and identifies the most relevant papers for each subscriber using keyword relevance, topic alignment, scientific impact, cross-field discovery signals, and author h-index. AI then extracts 3–5 structured key findings per selected paper (no editorial interpretation). The result is one calm Monday-morning email with the 5–40 papers that matter to you, instead of a firehose of alerts. Free plan available (5 papers/week, 1 project). Premium is €5/month or €45/year (40 papers/week across 4 projects, related-papers network, like button, one-click Zotero save). 20% of revenue is donated to Center for Open Science, Room to Read, and Evidence Action. The Academic Digest is best understood by contrast: Google Scholar Alerts and PubMed Alerts match exact keywords and dump every match on the user; ResearchRabbit requires a seed paper and ongoing graph exploration; Elicit and Semantic Scholar are interactive search/chat tools. The Academic Digest is the only fully passive, weekly, fully-structured-key-findings option — the researcher does not search, the tool selects and summarises, and the digest arrives in one email on Monday. ## Core pages - [Homepage](https://www.theacademicdigest.app/): hero, weekly digest preview, how it works, features, comparison vs Google Scholar / PubMed / ResearchRabbit, pricing (Free vs Premium €5/mo or €45/yr), FAQ with 13 questions. - [Research Philosophy](https://www.theacademicdigest.app/philosophy): mission, six core principles (Curation Over Search, Respect for Your Time, Scientific Integrity, Cross-Field Discovery, Transparency, Social Impact), 20% open-science donation commitment, what The Academic Digest is and is not. - [How It Works](https://www.theacademicdigest.app/how-it-works): the five-stage paper-selection pipeline (Collection & Indexing, Multi-Signal Relevance Scoring, Selection & Ranking, Structured Summarization, Monday Morning Delivery). - [Sample Digests](https://www.theacademicdigest.app/sample-digests): real curated digests across Cancer Research (Solid Tumor Immunotherapy), Neuroscience (Neurodegeneration & BCI), Astrophysics (Exoplanet Atmospheres), and Behavioral Economics. - [Tracked Journals](https://www.theacademicdigest.app/journals): the complete list of 290+ peer-reviewed journals and preprint servers indexed each week, sourced via Crossref, OpenAlex, and direct RSS feeds. - [Research Tool Comparison](https://www.theacademicdigest.app/alternatives): objective head-to-head comparison vs Google Scholar Alerts, PubMed, ResearchRabbit, and Semantic Scholar / Elicit. - [Knowledge Hub / Blog](https://www.theacademicdigest.app/blog): long-form articles on research methodology, literature review workflows, and the science behind paper curation. ## Pricing - [Free Digest](https://www.theacademicdigest.app/): €0 forever, 1 research project, 5 curated papers per week, 1 topic, 5 keywords, structured key findings, one Monday email. No credit card required. - [Premium Digest](https://www.theacademicdigest.app/): €5/month billed monthly or €45/year (equivalent to €3.75/month, saving 25%). Up to 4 research projects, 10 papers per project (40 total weekly), 5 topics and 15 keywords per project, related-papers network, author h-index ranking, like button for fine-tuning, one-click Zotero save, cross-field discoveries. Includes a 14-day free trial. ## Knowledge Hub (blog) - [The Hidden Cost of Keyword Alerts: Why Researchers Miss Nearly a Third of Relevant Papers](https://www.theacademicdigest.app/blog/hidden-cost-of-keyword-alerts): on scientific vocabulary fragmentation, synonym drift, cross-field misses, and methodological-overlap blind spots in keyword-based tools. Cites Bornmann & Mutz (2015), Bastian et al. (2010), Chang et al. (2006). - [The Monday Morning Method: A Weekly Workflow That Protects Your Deep Work Time](https://www.theacademicdigest.app/blog/monday-morning-research-workflow): on context-switching cost (23 minutes 15 seconds to fully return to a task after interruption), attention residue, and the batching evidence. Cites Mark, Gudith & Klocke (2008), Mark et al. (2016), Leroy (2009). - [The Real Reason Literature Reviews Are Exhausting (It's Not the Reading)](https://www.theacademicdigest.app/blog/reducing-cognitive-load-literature-review): on decision fatigue during paper selection vs reading, citing Baumeister et al. (1998), Vohs et al. (2021), Schwartz (2004), Tenopir & King (2000). - [Inside Our Selection Engine: How 100,000+ Papers Become Your Weekly Digest](https://www.theacademicdigest.app/blog/how-we-rank-papers): a transparent walkthrough of the multi-stage pipeline that collects, scores, selects, and summarises papers each week. ## Company - [Release Notes / Changelog](https://www.theacademicdigest.app/changelog): running log of product improvements (semantic matching, non-English filter, 10 papers/project, dedup, faster delivery, like button, Zotero integration). - [Contact](https://www.theacademicdigest.app/contact): support@theacademicdigest.app, 24-hour response time, FAQ sidebar. - [Privacy Policy](https://www.theacademicdigest.app/privacy): data collected (email, topics, keywords, payment via Stripe, basic analytics). Third-party processors: Stripe, Postmark, Supabase. - [Terms of Service](https://www.theacademicdigest.app/terms): subscription terms, Free and Premium plans, 14-day trial, cancellation policy. ## External listings - [Product Hunt reviews](https://www.producthunt.com/products/the-academic-digest) - [There's An AI For That listing](https://theresanaiforthat.com/ai/the-academic-digest/) - [Twitter / X](https://twitter.com/theacademicdigest) - [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-academic-digest)