Your first research project

This guide shows you how to create a project, upload a PDF, ask a question about it, check the answer against the PDF, and save what you find in a note.

Create a project

1. Sign in to Atlas.
2. Select the current project name at the top of the left sidebar.
3. In Projects, select New project.
4. In Name, enter a name for your question or topic.
5. Select Create.

Atlas opens the new project.

Upload a PDF

1. In Sources, select Add a source.
2. Select Upload a PDF.
3. Choose the PDF from your computer.
4. In Adding source, wait for the source to report Added.
5. Open the source and confirm that Atlas shows the correct title and readable content.

If Atlas reports that the source could not be added, stop here and use Troubleshoot source processing.

Ask a question

1. In Chats, select Start a chat.
2. In Ask a question, enter a question, such as: "What is the main conclusion, and what evidence supports it?"
3. Select Send.
4. Wait for the answer to finish.

Check the answer against the PDF

1. Find a part of the answer that you want to check.
2. Select the citation badge attached to that part of the answer.
3. Compare the cited passage from the PDF with the answer.

If the passage does not support the answer, return to the chat and ask a more specific question or inspect another citation before you save it.

Save what you found

1. In Notes, select Write a note.
2. Give the note a title that describes what you found.
3. Write what you found in your own words and include the PDF title.
4. Wait for the note to report Saved.

Next step

Your project now contains a PDF, an answer you checked against the PDF, and a saved note. Continue to How Atlas connects your research to learn how these items work together.