Welcome to Fosthera Lúmen
Lúmen searches the literature across the main academic databases, keeps your references in a library of your own and helps you write well-grounded text — with your review always in charge. This guide walks you through the whole path, from start to finish.
1Log in to your account
Go to lumen.fosthera.com.br and sign in with the email and password you received, or use the Sign in with Google button (use the same email as your registration). Forgot your password? Click Reset password on the login screen — we’ll send a link to your email.
2The tools
In the left sidebar you choose what you want to do:
- Generate paper — starting from a topic, Lúmen searches the literature and writes the text.
- Search literature — just the search: it finds and displays the articles.
- Generate summary — paste your own text and get a structured summary (+ abstract and keywords).
- Summarize PDF — attach a PDF and ask for a summary or ask questions about it.
- Library — your collection of saved references.
The New work button starts a fresh conversation at any time.
3Search the literature
- Choose Search literature (or Generate paper).
- In the central field, type the keywords for your topic (e.g. health literacy and treatment adherence).
- Click Filters to refine: period (year), language, study type (reviews, meta-analyses, trials, guidelines…), With abstract and Open access. There are also advanced filters (age, sex, MEDLINE, preprints).
- Submit. Lúmen queries several databases at once (OpenAlex, PubMed, Crossref, Europe PMC, Semantic Scholar, SciELO, DOAJ) and shows the results with title, authors, year and link. When an item is Open access, that is flagged.
Mini-guide: how to write good search keywords
A descriptor is the keyword you type. Their quality decides the quality of your results — it pays off more to get these right than anything else. The recipe:
- Think in concepts, not questions. Lúmen searches by terms, it does not interpret long sentences. Instead of “what are the effects of exercise on depression in the elderly?”, use physical exercise depression elderly.
- 2 to 4 core concepts. Combine the essentials of the topic — usually population + intervention/exposure + outcome. E.g. health literacy · treatment adherence · chronic disease.
- Use the technical term. Prefer the scientific over the everyday: hypertension (not “high blood pressure”), type 2 diabetes mellitus (not just “diabetes”).
- Add English terms. Most of the literature is in English; including the English term brings far more results. E.g. letramento em saúde health literacy.
- Start broad and refine with Filters. Search the core concepts; to narrow down, use the Filters (year, language, study type, open access) and Prioritize evidence — don’t overload the keywords.
- Try synonyms. If a term has common variants, test them: idoso · pessoa idosa · elderly · older adults.
Examples — from weak to strong:
- ❌ “I want to know the benefits of breastfeeding for the baby”
✅ amamentação saúde infantil breastfeeding infant health - ❌ “treatment of type 2 diabetes with diet and exercise”
✅ diabetes mellitus tipo 2 dieta exercício lifestyle type 2 diabetes - ❌ “burnout in nurses in Brazil”
✅ burnout enfermagem nursing burnout (+ a language/year filter, if you like)
4Save to the Library
Liked a result? Click ★ Save to Library. It becomes part of your collection and gets the ✓ in Library badge in later searches, so you don’t save duplicates. In the Library tab you can search by title, author or keyword (leave it empty to see the most recent).
5Organize by project
Group references by Project (a book, an article, an expert opinion). In the Library, create projects and filter by Project to see only what matters to that piece of work. Your base grows and stays yours, ready to reuse.
6Generate a paper
- Choose Generate paper.
- Select the type: article, case report, undergraduate thesis, master’s dissertation, doctoral thesis, review or project.
- Choose the citation style: ABNT (Brazilian standard), APA or Vancouver.
- Type the keywords (for a case report, describe the clinical case) and submit.
- Lúmen searches the literature and writes the well-grounded text, references included.
7Summaries and PDFs
Generate summary: paste the text of your article/chapter and get a structured summary, the abstract in English and keywords. Summarize PDF: attach a PDF and ask for the summary or ask questions about its content.
8Export
Take your references wherever you need them. From the search results and the Library you can export in:
- BibTeX and RIS — for reference managers (Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote);
- Word — a reference list ready to paste;
- CSV — spreadsheet;
- Summaries — a readable document with title, authors, year and abstract;
- Report — an organized overview of your collection.
You choose to export all items or only the selected ones.
9Your subscription
Access is by subscription. On the Author plan you get unlimited search, library, projects, AI writing and export. If your access shows as pending, it means the subscription hasn’t been activated yet — just contact Fosthera to enable it. You can cancel whenever you want.
10Account and privacy
At the top of the app, under account, you can see your data and delete your account and all your data at any time (a permanent action). Your data is isolated: no one but you can access your library. Details in Terms and Privacy.
11Help and support
Have a question or something didn’t work? Get in touch — we reply quickly.