Connected Papers
Visual research tool that maps related academic papers in an interactive graph using citation and co-citation analysis, covering 200M+ papers via Semantic Scholar.
Connected Papers is a free research discovery tool launched in 2020 that generates a visual graph of related academic work from a single seed paper. Unlike keyword search, it uses citation and co-citation similarity to surface papers that share intellectual context - even if they do not directly cite each other. The tool splits results into prior works (foundational research) and derivative works (what built on the paper), giving researchers a before-and-after picture of any topic. Connected Papers indexes 200M+ papers via Semantic Scholar and has been adopted by PhD programmes and researchers at hundreds of universities worldwide for systematic literature reviews.
Key Features
- Visual paper graph - displays semantic similarity and citation relationships as an interactive network
- Prior works view - traces the intellectual lineage of a paper back through foundational research
- Derivative works view - shows what research has been built on top of a paper since publication
- One-click export of the full paper list for import into citation management tools
- Powered by Semantic Scholar's 200M+ paper index for broad cross-discipline academic coverage
- No account required to build graphs - immediate use for any indexed public paper
Use Cases
- PhD students conducting systematic literature reviews to map an unfamiliar research area quickly
- Researchers discovering seminal papers they would miss with keyword search alone
- Scientists checking if a topic has been thoroughly covered before starting a new project
- Science journalists tracing the origin of a research claim back to its foundational sources
Pros
- Visual graph format reveals conceptual clusters and relationships that keyword search completely misses
- Free to use without an account - zero friction for one-off literature discovery sessions
- Prior/derivative works split gives a clear temporal view of a paper's full academic context
Cons
- Coverage gaps exist in some fields like law and humanities that are under-represented in Semantic Scholar
- Free plan limits the number of graph builds per month - heavy users require a paid subscription
- Does not provide full-text access or PDF downloads - requires separate tools for reading papers
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Scite
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