Frequently asked questions

A structured, 9-phase apprenticeship that takes a medical student from zero research experience to a submitted systematic review / meta-analysis and an international conference abstract, in about 100 focused hours. It combines about 16 hours of visual lessons, the textbook, 18 playbooks and templates for every phase, and senior-mentor help at exactly the points where students stall. See how it works.

MBBS students in any year, interns, recent graduates, and IMGs building toward the Match, PLAB/AMC routes, or a stronger academic CV. No prior research experience is required. The protocol is designed from absolute zero: if you can read a paper, we can take you to writing one.

Because they're the one form of publishable, top-of-the-evidence-pyramid research a medical student can execute without a lab, patients, funding, or an institution's permission. Everything you need is a laptop, database access strategies (which we teach), and a rigorous method, which is exactly what the protocol installs.

Courses teach about research; the protocol makes you produce it. Every phase ends in a real deliverable (a validated question, a registered protocol, a completed extraction, a manuscript), and when you hit a wall a senior mentor looks at your specific problem, via Doubt Tokens and, on higher plans, cohort deadlines and 1:1 calls. The output isn't a certificate; it's a submitted paper.

No. We teach the exact search strategies for open-access databases (PubMed) and gated ones (Embase). We strictly do not provide institutional login credentials or software licences. Everything the protocol requires can be done legitimately without them.

The whole system: the textbook (The 100-Hour Meta), 18 playbooks, the 9-phase course (110+ short visual lessons, about 16 hours) and every tool and template, plus Doubt Tokens for the walls the playbooks don't clear. Higher plans add people, not content: a cohort in Accelerator, a senior mentor in Mastery. See everything you get. Every plan also comes with Studio Basic, our review software, and you can add Studio Premium's AI features to finish each review faster.

Mastery students do: the textbook and all 18 playbooks come as printed books. On Foundations and Accelerator, the playbooks and templates are digital files you download and keep, and the textbook is read online in your dashboard, chapter by chapter.

When you hit a wall on your own project (a search string returns nothing, an R script won't run), you send the specific problem and a senior mentor sends back the exact fix, usually within 24 to 48 hours. Every plan comes with some (32 on Mastery, 8 on Accelerator, 3 on Foundations), and you can buy more anytime inside the platform.

Foundations includes 6 months of platform access; Accelerator includes 12. The templates and playbooks you download during your program are yours to keep. The system you install stays installed. (Rotations or exams? You can pause for up to two months, and every paused day is added back.)

Our meta-analysis software, built on the 100-Hour Protocol: import, screening, full texts, extraction, risk of bias, the analysis in R and the write-up pack, in one workspace, with guardrails at every step. Studio Premium adds AI features that do the slow reading with you. See what Studio does.

Yes: every Tau Square student gets Studio Basic with their course, at no extra cost: the whole workspace, with every step done by hand. Studio Premium (Plus, Pro or Pro Max) adds AI features that do the slow parts with you, so you finish faster. It is sold separately: add it at checkout when you join, or later from your dashboard.

Yes. The method is the same on both plans, and so are the skills you learn: choosing what to extract, judging risk of bias and making sense of the results. Studio Premium just takes the slow parts off your plate, with up to 90% less time spent on them and automated checks on every number. Every decision is still yours. Want to do it all by hand first? Studio Basic has every step and comes with your course, and you can add Premium later from your dashboard. See one step done both ways.

No. Studio is only for Tau Square students. It's built on the Tau Square Academy method, and it stays that way.

Tau Intelligence is everything inside Studio: the checks, the guardrails and the features. Studio Basic comes with your course, and Studio Premium adds AI features that do the slow reading of your review with you, so you finish faster. And yes, you can use them for published research. Nothing enters your data until you confirm it, every value leads back to its page in the paper, and Studio writes the AI-use statement journals ask for.

Your own reviews are kept in a folder you choose on your computer, with a working copy in your browser. A review you run with a team is also shared through Tau Square's servers, so everyone on it stays in step: each person gets only what they may see, and full texts go to your team only if you choose. Studio runs in Chrome or Edge on a laptop or desktop.

You and one co-lead, who must be a Tau Square student too. Your co-lead screens and extracts alongside you, with the AI features too on Studio Premium, but can't start reviews of their own. You can also invite other people to screen, extract and assess risk of bias in your review, without the AI features: up to 4 people on a review, you included, on every plan.

AI features come with Studio Premium: 300 credits a month on Plus, 900 on Pro and 1,500 on Pro Max. Studio Basic has no AI features, so it has no credits. AI features use credits as they read your papers: usually one credit for a paper of up to about 30 pages, and more for a longer one. A paper uses its credits once a month, however many times it is read.

Your course doesn't: it's a one-time payment. In India, Studio Plus and Pro by the month renew until you cancel, and a 12-month or 2-year plan carries on month by month when it ends, once you approve renewal (₹5, which Razorpay refunds). Pro Max, and every plan outside India, doesn't renew by itself yet: you add it again from your dashboard when it ends. Cancel any time from your dashboard: you keep the time you've paid for, and then your reviews carry on in Studio Basic.

When Studio Premium ends, your reviews carry on in Studio Basic, without the AI features. Your reviews always stay in your folder, and you can open and export them.

Plan for 4 to 5 focused hours a week. The protocol is built for a medical student's calendar: structured sessions you can schedule around rotations and classes, not an open-ended time sink. The 100 hours is the total engineered budget from zero to submission.

Yes, on every plan: that's the Clinical Grace Period. Rotations, board exams, health or family: ask for a pause from your dashboard, for anything from a week to two months in total, and we usually reply within 2 business days. Your course is locked while you're away and the clock stops: every paused day is added back to your access, and on Accelerator your live-class weeks move with you. Back sooner? Resume any time, and the days you didn't use go back into your two months.

Pause your course: on every plan you can pause for up to two months, and every paused day is added back to your access (how pausing works). On Accelerator, if you still need time when your cohort ends, the Accelerator Carryover takes you into the next cohort free.

Cohorts open on fixed dates, and the next one is shown with the plans on the pricing page. Foundations never waits: it's self-paced and starts the moment you enrol.

Foundations is self-paced and available anytime, no cohort needed. The Accelerator cohort opens every 8 weeks, so if you miss this intake, the next one opens shortly after.

The Accelerator Carryover applies: you carry into the next cohort at no additional charge, and your remaining Doubt Tokens carry with you. The deadline is there to pull you forward, not to punish you.

Every plan includes the whole system: the textbook, 18 playbooks, the 9-phase course and every template. Mastery ($6,000, by application): everything in Accelerator, plus a senior mentor who co-writes every manuscript with you, weekly 1:1 calls, line-by-line editorial review and a plan for several papers, with 32 Doubt Tokens. Accelerator ($1,500): everything in Foundations, plus an 8-week cohort with weekly calls and a deadline that carries you to submission, with 8 Doubt Tokens and 12 months of access. Foundations ($600): the system on its own, self-paced, with 3 Doubt Tokens and 6 months of access. See how they stack up on the pricing page.

Yes. Genuinely free, no card required. Phase 0 is a 14-lesson introduction, about 2 hours. Enter your email and WhatsApp and every lesson opens straight away.

Start with Foundations without fear of choosing wrong. If you realize you need cohort structure, your full $600 applies toward an Accelerator upgrade within 4 months. You pay only the $900 difference, directly inside the platform, and receive the cohort, 8 fresh Doubt Tokens, and 12 months of access.

Mastery seats are limited by mentor bandwidth and granted by application, not checkout. Send a short note about your goals to admin@tausquareacademy.com (details on the application page).

Yes. In India, you pay in rupees through Razorpay by UPI, card or netbanking, with EMI on eligible credit cards, and you see the full amount with 18% GST before you pay. Outside India, you pay in US dollars by card.

Absolutely. Every program is delivered fully online, and the method is built around international conference and journal targets. International students pay in US dollars by card or PayPal at checkout, and receive an export invoice. Your price is shown on the pricing page.

All sales are final once program access begins. The entire methodology and every template is proprietary and downloadable, so a refund would mean handing the complete system over for free. That's why evaluation happens before payment: Phase 0 is free, and so is the 15-minute strategy call. Cancellations before access, duplicate charges, and failed transactions are refunded in full (details in the Refund Policy).

Payments are processed by Razorpay under PCI-DSS compliance. Your card, UPI, and banking details go directly to the payment gateway. We never see or store them. Every checkout is bound to a server-created order, so amounts can't be tampered with.

No, and any program that promises publication is lying to you. Acceptance is decided by independent journal editors and peer reviewers. What we guarantee is the process: a rigorous, submission-ready manuscript built with methodology that survives review, mentor oversight at every friction point, and Phase 9 covering submission strategy and reviewer rebuttals. Conference abstracts, realistically, come faster than journal acceptance. Most scholars present internationally first.

Research built with this method has been presented at international meetings including ACC, ASCO, DDW, ASBrS, NANS, and Spine Summit. The method is built to produce conference-grade abstracts on the way to the full manuscript. See the letters and the stories.

Please do. That's what the free 15-minute Research Strategy Call is for: a doctor who has walked this route maps your specific timeline and next three steps, whether or not you join. Or just message us on WhatsApp.

Any time, two ways: in the mobile app via Account → Danger Zone → Delete My Account (immediate), or by emailing privacy@tausquareacademy.com from your account email (actioned within 7 days). Full details in the Privacy Policy.

By method, it's secondary research: it pools studies other people ran. But many of the rules that score applications count it as research. UK Internal Medicine Training scores it as original research, and India's NMC lists it as a research publication for faculty posts. The full answer, with sources.

Increasingly, yes. With Step 1 pass/fail, program directors lean harder on the rest of the application, and documented research output (publications, presentations) is one of the clearest differentiators, especially for IMGs competing without a home-institution network. A first-author systematic review plus an international presentation changes how your application reads. Our guide on how to publish research as a medical student goes further.