Guide

The core loop, start to finish.

1

Search for a seed paper

Type into the search box (or use the mic icon to dictate) — results are merged and de-duplicated across OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, and Crossref, including spelling variants (e.g. "tumour"/"tumor").

2

Pick a result to seed your map

Click a card, or its "Map citations" button — the graph loads that paper's one-hop neighborhood: what it cites (backward) and what cites it (forward), clustered by discipline.

3

Expand nodes

Click any node to open its detail panel — abstract, summary, publisher link — then use "Expand references" or "Expand citing papers" to grow the map from that node.

4

Filter and switch views

Use the filter bar to narrow by year, minimum citations, discipline, or abstract availability — applies to the graph (dims non-matching nodes) and the list/timeline views.

5

Find citation gaps

Click "Citation gaps" to surface papers cited by two or more papers already on your map that aren't in it yet — a strong signal you're missing something relevant.

6

Save your map

Click "Save" to keep the map on your account and come back to it later.

7

Compare across sources or fields

Select two or more disciplines in the filter bar, then click "Compare" — the same query splits into side-by-side columns per field (or per source, if none are selected), each with its own summary card.

8

Write a draft, with citations linked to real papers

Select papers from search results or citation-gap cards and use "Add to draft" — they land in a full-page document editor with a real citation link, not a deep-link buried in the text. Pick a citation style and insert it at your cursor from the sidebar.

9

Bring your own AI

Connect a model in AI settings — a local model like Ollama or LM Studio, or any OpenAI-compatible API. Ask it questions from the floating dock (about whatever's on your map) or right inside a draft (about that draft's cited papers) — every answer is checked against the source text before it's shown, and blocked rather than shown if it doesn't hold up.

10

Use the floating dock

A draggable dock (bottom-right, on every page once signed in) gives quick access without leaving what you're doing: a quick note bound to your active draft, "Ask AI" over your current map, and a standalone "Check AI text" tool for pasting in any text to check.

11

Upload a paper or recording

Got a scan, preprint, or audio file the live sources don't have? Upload it — a PDF/scan is OCR'd and its references extracted onto your map; audio is transcribed and saved as a draft; a .bib file is imported straight into your most recent draft as citations.

12

Check a document for AI-generated text or fabricated citations

From an uploaded document's page, run "Check for AI-generated text" (several independent signals, advisory only) or "Verify citations" (checks each reference against OpenAlex/Semantic Scholar/Crossref, with a web-search fallback) — both explained in plain language, not raw scores.

13

Connect Zotero

From your profile, connect your Zotero library with a personal API key — push a paper from your map straight into it, or pull your library in as seed candidates for a new map.