Overview: How GrokStudies Works
This page is the big picture — how the pieces fit together.
Each screen also has its own Help link in the header for step-by-step details on that page only.
In one sentence:
Experts curate real studies into projects; the public can read that work for free.
Building and managing a project is the paid, login side of the site.
1. Free public site vs paid curator site
GrokStudies has two layers. Most visitors only need the free layer.
Researchers and project owners use the paid layer (username + password) to build collections.
Free for everyone — no login
The public can view every project that curators have built and that has been activated — free, with no account.
Use the project dropdown on Browse Studies, Browse Studies by Keyword, or Questions to switch among all public curated projects on the site
(not just one author’s collection).
Anyone can use these without creating an account:
- Browse Studies (index.php) — Front door. Read-only table of approved studies for a project: filters (search term, API source, author, journal, years, study flags), summaries, conclusions, and links. No login required.
- Browse Studies by Keyword (browse_keyword.php) — Keyword / A–Z browse of approved studies: letters, keyword pills, titles, plain-language summaries, conclusions, and links. Optional Shop button when a project has affiliate links.
- Questions (Questions / Evidence Briefs) — Read published evidence briefs built from that project’s approved studies, with source studies listed underneath.
- Crossword (when offered) — A public keyword puzzle for a project; no account required for the public page.
- About, Contact, Terms — Site information and support.
What you see publicly is only what a curator has already approved for each project.
Visitors do not search PubMed themselves or edit the library — they explore finished work across all public projects.
Paid curator side — login required
To create and run a project you register, sign in with a username and password,
and pay the one-time project fee (currently $199 per project — first project and each additional).
After login you get the curator tools:
- Admin Dashboard — Jumping-off point for project tools.
- Manage Projects — Focus description, payment/activation, affiliates, flags, refer-back URL.
- Manage Search Terms — What to search for in scientific databases and YouTube.
- New Studies — Add papers/videos from PubMed, Europe PMC, OpenAlex, PLOS, YouTube.
- Review Studies — Approve or reject candidates; Grok helps with summaries and keywords.
- Admin Questions — Build evidence briefs from your curated studies for the Questions page.
- Users / roles — Project Admin can invite curators and approvers (they also log in; they do not get full admin screens unless assigned).
Bottom line: Free = read curated science. Paid + login = build and maintain the library the public reads.
See also About GrokStudies and Register.
2. The main pieces (curator vocabulary)
- Project — A topic area you manage (for example a nutrient, condition, or product line). Each project has its own focus, search terms, users, and approved studies.
- Project Focus — The plain-language description of what belongs in this project. This is the main filter for “is this relevant?”
- Search Terms — Queries used to find papers/videos. They point searches to the right area; focus and inclusions/exclusions refine the results.
- New Studies — Where you search sources (PubMed, Europe PMC, OpenAlex, PLOS, YouTube) and pull candidates into review.
- Review Studies — Where curators/approvers accept, reject, or flag studies before they count as “curated.”
- Questions — Ask a plain-English question; the system uses curated studies to help build an evidence-style answer you can publish.
- Refer-Back URL — The public link that opens your project’s home page (for sharing from a shop or site).
3. Typical flow (from empty project to answers)
Create project
→ write a clear Project Focus
→ add Search Terms
→ run New Studies
→ decide in Review Studies
→ ask Questions using what you approved
→ share your Refer-Back URL when ready
- Create the project (Add New Project). You become Project Admin for it.
- Activate / pay when required (or site admin activates). Until then the project stays pending.
- Tune the focus on Manage Projects (Edit Project Focus). Good focus text = better filtering.
- Add search terms on Manage Search Terms. Optional inclusions/exclusions fine-tune results after the focus check.
- Find studies on New Studies. Preview conclusions carefully; use Direct Lookup when you already know a paper (PMID / DOI / title).
- Review on Review Studies so only solid, on-topic items become curated.
- Ask questions on Admin Questions / the Questions path for your project.
4. Who can do what (simple roles — paid / login side)
- Anyone (no login) — Browse Studies, Browse Studies by Keyword, Questions, About, Contact, Terms. Read-only.
- Project Admin — Manages that project: focus, search terms, users for the project, flags/links, questions setup. Sees Manage Projects for their projects. Requires login and an activated/paid project.
- Curator / Approver — Log in and work mainly in New Studies and Review Studies (exact permissions depend on role). No full admin screens.
5. How relevance is decided (keep this mental model)
- Project Focus first — Is this roughly in the project’s ballpark?
- Search terms — Point the hunt to the right section of the literature.
- Inclusions / exclusions — Fine seats: keep or drop based on extra rules (exclusions can drop a hit if a phrase appears in title/abstract/conclusion).
You do not need giant manual lists if the focus description is clear and specific.
6. Page-by-page Help (details live here)
Use the header Help link on each screen, or jump in from below:
Public / free
Paid / login (curators)
7. When you’re stuck
Start with this Overview, then open the Help for the page you’re on.
If something still doesn’t work, use Contact Support.
← Browse Studies
|
About
|
Admin Dashboard
(login required)
