Guide
Notes and team collaboration for literature reviews
Private notes on every paper, a shared workspace for the team, and nothing that leaves your library when you share it.
A literature review produces two kinds of thinking: the private kind — your own marginalia on a paper before you've made up your mind — and the shared kind, where a record needs a second reader or a decision needs a trail. Most tools give you one or the other: a notes app that knows nothing about the papers, or a shared spreadsheet where every thought is public by default.
Symmathy keeps both, in the same place the papers already live. Notes attach to the record they describe, and teams get a workspace of their own — so the reasoning stays next to the evidence instead of in a separate document nobody can find six months later.
Private notes, attached to the paper
Every record in your library — a search result you saved, a PDF you scanned, an abstract — has its own notes field. Open the record and write whatever you would normally scribble in a margin: why the population doesn't quite match your question, a number to double-check, a reminder about the follow-up trial.
The note travels with the record. It is still there when the paper goes into a folder, when you send it to Compare, and when you share it with a team. And it is yours — private notes are visible only to you, even after the paper itself is shared.
A shared workspace for the team
Teams in Symmathy are shared workspaces built for review groups, journal clubs, and research units. The owner invites members by email, and everyone gets their own account — no shared logins, no forwarded PDFs.
- Share papers and collections — send a record, a folder, or a saved AI insight into the team space. Sharing copies it; your library original, including your private notes, is untouched.
- Team notes with @mentions — post a note to the team and mention a teammate to flag a record that needs their eyes. Mentions carry an unread indicator so nothing gets missed.
- Comments on shared items — discuss a shared paper where it lives, instead of in an email thread detached from the record.
- Roles that match the work — owners and admins manage membership; members read, share, and discuss.
What this looks like in a review
- Run the question as a federated search and save the candidates to your library.
- Screen privately: notes on each record, keep or discard, at your own pace.
- Share the shortlist into the team workspace for the second screen.
- Post a team note per borderline paper and @mention the second reviewer.
- Resolve conflicts in the comments on the shared record, where the abstract is one click away.
Because Symmathy does not grade or rank papers, the notes and discussions stay decision-neutral: the record says what the paper states, and the judgement calls are yours — documented in your own words, next to the evidence.
Questions people ask
How do I keep notes on papers in Symmathy?
Every record in your library has its own notes field. Open the paper, write your note, and it is saved against that record — the note stays attached whether the paper sits in a folder, gets sent to Compare, or is shared with a team.
How do teams work in Symmathy?
A team is a shared workspace. The owner invites members by email, and members can share papers, collections, and AI insights into the team space, post team notes, and mention each other to draw attention to a specific record.
Can I mention a teammate on a note?
Yes. Team notes support @mentions. The mentioned teammate gets an unread indicator so the note surfaces for them, and they can mark mentions as read once seen.
Does sharing a paper with my team remove it from my library?
No. Sharing creates a copy in the team space. Your own library record, including your private notes, stays untouched.
Who can see my private notes?
Only you. Notes on your own library records are private. Team notes live in the team workspace and are visible to team members — the two are separate.