Skimle for academic researchers
Replace NVivo's slow & expensive workflow — without sacrificing methodological rigour
Skimle reads every interview systematically, produces a theme hierarchy with verbatim quotes attached, and gives you a full audit trail that satisfies peer reviewers. Initial coding that takes weeks manually takes hours.
Built by Professor Henri Schildt (Aalto University, published in AMJ & Organization Science) · used by 30+ universities
Every theme traces back to a verbatim quote
Click any theme → read the quotes. Click any document → see what was coded and what was not. Nothing disappears into a black box.
What Skimle does for your research
- Automated initial coding
Upload transcripts, set your research question, get a structured theme hierarchy with every quote attached. Works in 100+ languages.
- Full two-way audit trail
Navigate from any theme to its supporting quotes, and from any document to the codes applied. Your methods section documents itself.
- Your codebook, your control
Merge, split, rename, and reorganise categories freely as your theoretical model develops. Skimle follows your interpretation.
- REFI-QDA export
Export your coded project as open-standard .qdpx and continue in NVivo, ATLAS.ti, or MAXQDA if your institution requires it.
- Secure, GDPR-compliant
Data stays on EU-hosted infrastructure. Audio files are securely deleted after transcription. DPAs available for ethics requirements.
Common questions
- Will peer reviewers accept AI-assisted analysis?
- Increasingly yes, with proper documentation. Skimle's audit trail gives you exactly what reviewers expect: a documented, systematic coding process where every theme traces to specific quotes. We also provide suggested methods section language on request.
- How does it compare to NVivo or MAXQDA?
- NVivo and MAXQDA are built for manual coding — powerful, but the learning curve runs to days and the analysis still takes weeks. Skimle automates the initial coding pass without sacrificing the systematic, transparent methodology those tools enforce. Many researchers use both: Skimle for the first pass, NVivo for mixed-methods work. And Skimle exports to REFI-QDA (.qdpx) so you can move between them freely.
- How do I get the 50% academic discount?
- Use code ACADEMIA at checkout with a valid institutional email address. If you need a team licence for a research group or lab, get in touch and we will work something out.
- Is my research data secure?
- All data is stored on EU-hosted infrastructure and never used to train AI models. We provide Data Processing Agreements for institutional ethics requirements.
Built by academics who got tired of NVivo
Co-founder Professor Henri Schildt spent two decades doing qualitative research the hard way before building the tool he wished had existed. Try it on your own data — free, no card required.