Kyoto University has launched “Kagayaku,” a university-wide support system designed to help researchers write, submit, and publish English-language academic papers more efficiently. By integrating AI-powered writing tools, training programs, and mentorship, the initiative aims to reduce time spent on manuscript preparation and strengthen research capabilities. In preliminary trials conducted across the university, over 70–80% of researchers who reported improved work efficiency expressed a desire to continue using the system going ahead.
Overview
Kagayaku is a comprehensive support ecosystem designed to systematically enhance researchers’ ability to communicate the findings of their research to an international audience. The system works by helping researchers produce manuscripts in English language, covering everything from writing to submission and publication. Kagayaku combines the introduction of the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered English writing support tool package Editage Plus with webinars, mentorships, submission support, and more.
This initiative has been implemented with support from the academic year 2025 “Habataku” Next-Generation Researcher Development Program and other initiatives. Through a partnership with Cactus Communications Pvt. Ltd., which has expertise in academic publishing support, a highly effective system that combines institutional infrastructure with expert guidance has been created.
About 70 – 80% of university teaching staff perceive that they have too little time for research, with “writing and publishing papers along with other deliverables” identified as imposing the heaviest load. This highlights a growing need for initiatives that boost research efficiency, including the use of information and communication technology, in addition to other technologies.
Support Provided by “Kagayaku”
This initiative is implemented as part of efforts to strengthen research support functions and aims to realize Kyoto University as an internationally renowned research institution. Kagayaku will contribute to enhanced research capabilities and return results back into society by freeing up more time for research and improving international communication of research outcomes.
The initiative positions English-language paper-writing ability as a key component of basic research capabilities, closely related to “research design,” “logical structuring,” and “data interpretation, and aims to improve research capabilities overall, rather than simply offering writing support.
More concretely, Kagayaku offers the following two support platforms in combination. First, it provides AI-powered writing assistance tools that support the full manuscript preparation process, including drafting, editing, and revision. Second, it provides training programs to strengthen researchers’ skills in aspects involving manuscript writing and publication, such as journal selection, English proofreading, and responding to peer reviewers’ comments. This is delivered through webinars, essay writing courses, on-demand learning, and mentorship.
By combining these two platforms, the system aims to simultaneously achieve “efficiency” and “capability building,” thereby increasing research time and improving the quality of research results.
The Kyoto University Office of Research Acceleration (KURA) has created Kagayaku and has made it available to researchers affiliated with Kyoto University since May 2026. This program made it possible to create a university-wide and systematic support infrastructure to assist in the writing of academic papers in English.
Background
Kyoto University considers training young and mid-career researchers as next-generation leaders as a key strategic issue in enhancing our basic research capabilities. Moreover, researchers from Japan and other non-Anglophone countries are at a disadvantage to native speakers in terms of writing time and rejection rates for English-language papers, which acts as a major barrier especially for young and mid-career researchers.
In consideration of this context, writing papers in English was framed as a key component of basic research capabilities, which motivated the creation of Kagayaku as a university-wide and comprehensive support infrastructure. Kyoto University has previously offered a variety of research support, such as paper-writing seminars and individual support, but going forward, the aim for Kagayaku is to organically link such initiatives and develop them into a university-wide and systematic support infrastructure.
Prior to this initiative, in June 2024, the Institute for the Advancement of Clinical and Translational Science (iACT), an organization that supports clinical research, conducted a trial at the University Hospital to introduce Paperpal™, an AI-powered tool to help users write papers in English. It yielded positive responses from more than 80% of researchers, and it saw an early introduction at the University Hospital in October 2024. The responses included “wanting to continue using the AI-powered tool” and “having contributed to work efficiency.” Subsequently, in July 2025, KURA likewise conducted a university-wide trial of the AI-powered English writing support tool package, Editage Plus, which incorporated Paperpal™, and it also garnered similarly positive responses from over 70% of researchers, thus demonstrating its effectiveness as well as existing high cross-disciplinary demand.
Expected Outcomes
It is expected that Kagayaku, that involves the university-wide introduction of Editage Plus, will greatly shorten the time from writing to submission of papers in English and thereby create more research time. Furthermore, enhancing the ability to communicate research results to an international audience should make it much easier to contribute to society more broadly.