Introducing the researcher toolbox – browser-based tools

Introducing the researcher toolbox – browser-based tools
Photo by Stavan Macwan / Unsplash

As a researcher, I often need to perform simple tasks like converting files, checking text, or generating a simple QR code, that shouldn’t require opening bulky software or signing up for yet another online service. To save time, I’ve put together a simple collection of tools I use regularly via the browser. You can now access them all in one place:

This is a free, ad-free, and no-login set of tools designed to make common research tasks fast and all in the browser. It’s open to everyone, no fuss. I use this Toolbox often, so thought I’d share it with others. I have created it to be no-frills, and easy to use.

🧰 What’s Inside?

Here are the current browser tools available:

  • QR Generator – Turn a URL into a scannable, high-resolution QR code.
  • Date Calculator – Add or subtract days, weeks and months from a chosen date.
  • Date Difference – Get the difference between two dates.
  • Percentage Calculator – Quickly solve: “What is X % of Y?”, “X is what % of Y?”, and percentage change from one value to another.
  • Effect-size Calculator – Provides summary statistics into Cohen’s d, Hedges’ g, and odds/risk ratios.
  • Number Needed to Treat – Treatment and control event counts into absolute risk reduction and NNT/NNH.
  • Plain Language Checker – Scores text with Flesch, SMOG, and Gunning Fog and colour-codes sentences by reading level.
  • JSON Viewer – Paste any JSON and explore it through an interactive, expandable tree view.
  • Word & Character Counter – Paste any text and get the word and character count.
  • Tiny Text Detector – Detect text below font size 2pt.
  • PDF Merge – Merge multiple PDFs.

Feel free to share this with others; and drop me a line for any additions you’d like to see (they need to be deployable in the browser). Enjoy!