Getting Started

This guide walks you through creating your Alfred Scholar account, exploring your dashboard, and uploading your first research paper.

#Creating your account

1. Visit the Alfred Scholar website and click the Get Started button in the top right corner.

2. Fill in your first name, last name, email address, and choose a password.

3. Click Create Account.

4. Check your email inbox for a verification email from Alfred Scholar.

5. Click the verification link in the email. This confirms your email address and activates your account.

Tip: If you do not see the verification email, check your spam or junk folder. You can also request a new verification email from the verification page.

#Signing in

After verifying your email, you can sign in using:

• Email and password - Enter your credentials on the login page.
• Passkey - Use a device passkey (fingerprint, Face ID, or hardware key) for passwordless sign-in. You can register a passkey from your account security settings after signing in.

#Your dashboard

After signing in, you land on the Dashboard. This is your home base with a quick overview of everything in your workspace.

The dashboard shows:

• Statistics cards - The total number of documents, manuscripts, citations, and peer reviews in your workspace with quick-action links to each section.
• Recent manuscripts - Your most recently updated manuscripts with their word count and status (draft or final).
• Recent documents - Your latest uploaded papers showing processing status.
• Quick actions - Buttons to upload a document or create a new manuscript.

#Navigating the sidebar

The left sidebar is your primary navigation. It is organized into sections that follow the natural research workflow:

At the bottom of the sidebar, you will find links to Settings and Trash.

#Switching between workspaces

If you belong to multiple workspaces, you can switch between them using the workspace selector at the top of the sidebar. Click on your current workspace name to see a dropdown of all workspaces you are a member of.

#Your first upload

Upload your first research paper to see how Alfred Scholar works:

1. Click My Documents in the sidebar or the Upload Document quick action on the dashboard.
2. Click the Upload button, or simply drag and drop a PDF file into the window.
3. Alfred Scholar immediately begins processing your document.

After uploading, Alfred Scholar processes your document through several stages:

1. Text Extraction - The full text is extracted from the PDF.
2. Metadata Detection - Title, authors, journal, abstract, and publication details are automatically identified.
3. Citation Extraction - References in the paper are parsed and added to your citation library.

You can track the processing status on the document card. Once complete, the document is ready for reading, annotation, and chatting with Alfred.

Note: Uploading a document costs credits. Check Credits & Usage for details on credit costs.

#Recommended next steps

Now that your account is set up and you have uploaded your first paper, here is what to explore next:

1. Set up your workspace - Name your workspace and invite collaborators.
2. Organize your library - Create folders to keep your papers organized by project or topic.
3. Chat with your documents - Ask Alfred questions about the paper you just uploaded.
4. Manage your citations - Review the citations automatically extracted from your upload.
5. Write a manuscript - Start drafting with the built-in editor.
6. Secure your account - Set up two-factor authentication and passkeys.