# SciNodes Docs

> SciNodes (by Scholaris Labs) is an AI-assisted research platform for literature review and scientometric analysis.
> Users build a corpus of publications per project, map it as citation, co-citation, bibliographic coupling, co-authorship, keyword or term co-occurrence networks, read and annotate PDFs, collect evidence (Research in Formation), cite in 81 styles and chat with AI research assistants.
> The family also includes SciVerse (free public scholarly search), SciNodes Academy (courses) and SciNodes Support (tickets).

Notes for AI assistants:

- Pages marked (upcoming) describe features that are built but NOT available to users yet. Never tell a user they can use them today.
- Pages marked (partial) are live, with some parts not available yet; the page says which.
- The app is desktop-only (browser window at least 768×500 px). The interface is English only; AI output is available in 20 languages.
- SciNodes calls every scholarly item a "publication".
- App: https://app.scinodes.com · SciVerse: https://sciverse.scinodes.com · Academy: https://academy.scinodes.com · Support: https://support.scinodes.com

## Overview

- [SciNodes documentation](https://docs.scinodes.com/): Learn SciNodes: build a corpus of publications, map research fields, read and annotate PDFs, cite in 81 styles and ask AI research assistants.

## Get started

- [Create your account](https://docs.scinodes.com/getting-started/create-account): Sign up for SciNodes with email, Google or Microsoft, verify your email, sign in and reset a forgotten password. One account covers every SciNodes product.
- [Build your first project in 10 minutes](https://docs.scinodes.com/getting-started/first-project): A guided first run in SciNodes: create a project, let AI suggest publications, read your first research map and ask a research assistant about it.
- [Find your way around the app](https://docs.scinodes.com/getting-started/interface-tour): A tour of the SciNodes app: the sidebar, header, project tabs, notifications, sync status, undo and redo, the help and user menus, and build progress.
- [System requirements](https://docs.scinodes.com/getting-started/system-requirements): What you need to run SciNodes: a desktop browser with WebGL2, enough memory for your map size, a large enough screen, and pop-ups allowed for sign-in.

## Use cases

- [Run a literature review](https://docs.scinodes.com/use-cases/literature-review): A step-by-step literature review workflow in SciNodes: gather publications, map the field, read and annotate, collect evidence and export citations.
- [Map a new research field](https://docs.scinodes.com/use-cases/map-a-new-field): Get oriented in an unfamiliar research field: gather publications, see its main topics as clusters, learn its vocabulary and spot emerging themes.
- [Find influential publications](https://docs.scinodes.com/use-cases/find-influential-publications): Find the most cited, foundational and current publications in a field with citation, co-citation and bibliographic coupling maps in SciNodes.
- [Find authors and collaborators](https://docs.scinodes.com/use-cases/find-authors-and-collaborators): Find key authors, research groups, partner institutions and potential collaborators with co-authorship and citation maps, saved authors and SciVerse.
- [Choose where to publish](https://docs.scinodes.com/use-cases/choose-where-to-publish): Shortlist journals and conferences for your manuscript with venue maps, saved and suggested venues, and SciVerse journal and conference rankings.
- [Bring your reference library](https://docs.scinodes.com/use-cases/bring-your-reference-library): Import your Zotero, Mendeley or EndNote library, or exports from Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, Dimensions or Lens, into a SciNodes project.
- [Read, annotate and collect evidence](https://docs.scinodes.com/use-cases/read-annotate-and-collect-evidence): Read publication PDFs in SciNodes, highlight and comment, and collect evidence into research objects in Research in Formation to build your argument.
- [Write with citations](https://docs.scinodes.com/use-cases/write-with-citations): Draft in Markdown notes, then copy in-text citations and bibliographies in 81 citation styles or download them as .bib, .ris, .rtf or .txt.
- [Ask AI about your research](https://docs.scinodes.com/use-cases/ask-ai-about-your-research): Chat with a SciNodes research assistant about a map, cluster, node or publication: pick an assistant, control what it can see and check its answers.
- [Work with your team](https://docs.scinodes.com/use-cases/work-with-your-team): Share a SciNodes project with co-authors, supervisors or students as Editor or Viewer, follow who changed what, and see what's coming for teams.
- [Explore without an account](https://docs.scinodes.com/use-cases/explore-without-an-account): Search and browse SciVerse and read SciNodes Academy without signing in, then sign in to see every result and add publications to a project.
- [Research in another language](https://docs.scinodes.com/use-cases/research-in-another-language): Get AI replies, term definitions and publication translations in one of 20 languages in SciNodes, while the interface stays in English.
- [Learn bibliometrics](https://docs.scinodes.com/use-cases/learn-bibliometrics): Learn bibliometric and science-mapping methods with SciNodes Academy courses and articles, then practice them on your own corpus in SciNodes.

## Features › Projects

- [Creating projects](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/projects/creating-projects): Every option in the SciNodes New Project form: title, research focus, description, and the five ways to gather your first publications.
- [Project gallery](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/projects/project-gallery): Find, search, sort and open your SciNodes projects in My Projects, Shared and Legacy, and use the shortcuts on each project card.
- [Project overview](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/projects/project-overview): What the Overview tab of a SciNodes project shows: name and description, recent maps, notes and chats, library counts, Research in Formation and activity.
- [Project settings](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/projects/project-settings) (partial): Manage a SciNodes project's name, research focus, collaborators and lifecycle: rename it, invite people, archive it as legacy or delete it.
- [Legacy projects](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/projects/legacy-projects): Archive a SciNodes project as legacy to move it out of your active workspace, and restore it to active when you need it again.
- [Recycle bin](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/projects/recycle-bin): Delete a SciNodes project, find it in the Bin, restore it, or remove it for good. Deleted projects show a 60-day countdown.

## Features › Library and corpus

- [Adding publications](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/library/adding-publications): Five ways to add publications to a SciNodes project: upload files, enter one by hand, import from another project, search the catalog, or use SciVerse.
- [Uploading files](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/library/uploading-files): Upload PDFs, RIS, BibTeX, PubMed, EndNote, Web of Science, CSV or Excel exports, ZIPs and whole folders into a SciNodes project, and read each file's status.
- [Manual entry](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/library/manual-entry): Add a single publication to a SciNodes project by DOI or by hand: fetch details from Crossref or OpenAlex, fill in fields and choose where it goes.
- [Discover and Suggest](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/library/discover-and-suggest): Find new publications for a SciNodes project: let AI plan searches from a description (Suggest), or search the catalog yourself with filters (Custom Search).
- [Import from another project](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/library/import-from-another-project): Copy publications from one SciNodes project into another: the entire corpus, a filtered slice, or a slice you describe in your own words.
- [Folders](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/library/folders): Organize a SciNodes library with My references and your own folders: create, rename and delete folders, file publications, and remove or unsave them safely.
- [Saved authors and venues](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/library/saved-authors-and-venues): Keep lists of key authors, journals and conferences in a SciNodes project: save them from maps, let SciNodes save them automatically, or have AI suggest them.
- [Searching, filtering and selecting](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/library/searching-and-filtering): Search and filter the publications in a SciNodes library, select many at once with the mouse or keyboard, and act on a selection: cite, file, copy or remove.
- [Publication details](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/library/publication-details): What the SciNodes publication details panel shows and does: bibliographic fields, PDF actions, alias, translation, retraction warnings, folders, notes and chat.
- [Corpus expansion](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/library/feeders-and-corpus-expansion): Grow a SciNodes corpus for good: re-run the searches that built it, run new searches, or add a publication's cited and citing publications from a map.
- [Corpus slices](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/library/corpus-slices): Narrow which publications a SciNodes map or import uses, by year, type, keyword, author, venue, citations and more, without changing the corpus itself.

## Features › Research maps

- [Map types](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/maps/map-types): The six SciNodes research map types (citation, co-citation, bibliographic coupling, co-authorship, keyword and term co-occurrence) and when to use each.
- [Create a map from a research question](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/maps/create-from-a-question): Type a research question in the Map queries bar and SciNodes recommends the map that answers it, builds it and opens a chat about it.
- [Query Bank](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/maps/query-bank): Browse SciNodes' built-in catalog of research questions by category and turn any of them, or your own, into a research map.
- [Expert Mode](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/maps/expert-mode): Build a research map by hand in Expert Mode: choose the map type, unit, thresholds, clustering, layout, normalization and weights.
- [Building a map](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/maps/building-a-map): What happens after you plot a research map: build steps, progress, background builds, cancelling, very large maps and what to do when a build fails.
- [Reading a map](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/maps/reading-a-map): How to read a SciNodes research map: nodes, edges, clusters, node size metrics like degree and betweenness, and cluster cohesion and density.
- [Map controls and styling](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/maps/map-controls-and-styling): Zoom, rotate and recenter a research map, then style nodes, edges, clusters and the stage, set display thresholds and reset everything to defaults.
- [Timeline mode and hover effect](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/maps/timeline-mode): Use the timeline slider to see how a research map grew year by year, and turn the hover effect on or off to highlight a node's neighbors.
- [Selecting, merging and excluding nodes](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/maps/selecting-merging-excluding): Click nodes and edges for details, select several, merge duplicate terms, exclude data points, see term definitions and add cited publications to your corpus.
- [Drafts and saving maps](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/maps/drafts-and-saving): Why new maps start as drafts, how to save a map, discard drafts with undo, and what happens when you reach the limit of 32 drafts per project.
- [Map folders and properties](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/maps/map-folders-and-properties): Organize research maps into folders, change folder icons, search and reorder maps, rename maps, edit Map Properties and delete maps or folders.
- [Exporting maps](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/maps/exporting-maps): Export a research map as PNG, JPEG, WEBP, SVG or PDF for manuscripts and slides, with size, resolution up to 600 dpi, theme and transparent background.
- [Empty maps and reference data](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/maps/empty-maps-and-reference-data): Why a research map comes out empty or without links, and how to fix it with Fetch reference data, a wider corpus slice or lower thresholds.
- [Sharing maps](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/maps/sharing-maps) (upcoming): Sharing a single research map by invite or link is coming soon. Today, share the whole project with collaborators or export the map as a file.

## Features › Research assistant

- [Chats with the research assistant](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/research-assistant/chats): Start, find, rename and delete research assistant chats in a project, and open a chat about a publication, map element or whole map.
- [Assistants and credits](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/research-assistant/assistants-and-credits): Choose between the Sage, Vega and Nova research assistants, see what each costs in credits, and track chat spending on the Usage limits page.
- [Attachments and what the assistant sees](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/research-assistant/attachments-and-in-view): Attach publications and files to a chat, check in the About panel what the assistant can read, and learn the formats and limits.
- [Mentions and reply language](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/research-assistant/mentions-and-reply-language): Tag map nodes, clusters and links with @ in a map chat, choose the language the assistant replies in, and learn how sending works.
- [Quick Chat](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/research-assistant/quick-chat): Chat with the research assistant outside any project, then file the conversation under a project when it belongs there.

## Features › PDFs

- [PDF viewer](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/pdfs/pdf-viewer): Read a publication's PDF inside SciNodes: page through, zoom, download it with your highlights, open the original and see your annotations.
- [Fetching and uploading PDFs](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/pdfs/fetching-and-uploading-pdfs): Get the full text of a publication into SciNodes: fetch an open-access PDF, upload your own copy, or replace and remove a PDF.
- [Highlights and comments](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/pdfs/highlights-and-comments): Highlight and comment on PDF text in SciNodes, choose colors, send passages to Research in Formation, and find them saved as project notes.
- [SmarterPDF](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/pdfs/smarterpdf) (upcoming): SmarterPDF will turn a publication's PDF into clean, page-by-page text and tables for reading, annotating and chatting. Coming soon.

## Features › Notes

- [Notes](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/notes/): Write and organize Markdown notes in a SciNodes project: sticky notes and graph views, folders, colors, what each note is attached to, and who sees it.
- [Note editor](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/notes/note-editor): Write notes in Markdown: switch between Editor and MD views, use the Format bar, check grammar with AI, indent lists and download a .md file.
- [Quick notes](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/notes/quick-notes): Jot down Markdown notes that don't belong to a project yet, find them in Quick Notes, and move a note into a project when it's ready.

## Features

- [Research in Formation](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/research-in-formation): Collect evidence from PDFs, maps, chats and your library into research objects, arrange them by importance, link them and write Working Notes.
- [Citations and reference styles](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/citations-and-reference-styles): Cite publications in 81 citation styles, copy in-text citations and reference lists, download .txt, .rtf, .bib or .ris, and set your default style.
- [Translation and languages](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/translation): Translate a publication's title and abstract, read term definitions and map explanations in your language, and set the assistant's reply language.
- [Share a project with collaborators](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/collaboration): Invite colleagues to a SciNodes project as Editor or Viewer, change roles, remove people or leave, and see what collaborators can and can't see.
- [Relevance and recency](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/relevance-and-recency) (upcoming): How SciNodes will score each publication in a project by team engagement (relevance) and by how recently anyone used it (recency). Coming soon.
- [Lab spaces](https://docs.scinodes.com/features/lab) (upcoming): Lab spaces will give a research group a shared home in SciNodes, with a lab profile, its projects and its members. Coming soon.

## SciVerse

- [SciVerse: free search for publications and authors](https://docs.scinodes.com/sciverse/overview): SciVerse is a free public search engine for publications, authors, organizations, journals and conferences, built on OpenAlex. No account needed.
- [Search publications, authors and venues in SciVerse](https://docs.scinodes.com/sciverse/searching): Search SciVerse for publications, authors, organizations, journals, conferences and topics, switch result types, sort by citations and keep searches open.
- [Filter and sort SciVerse results](https://docs.scinodes.com/sciverse/filters-and-sorting): Narrow SciVerse publication results by year, open access, author, organization, topic, journal or conference, and sort by relevance, newest or most cited.
- [Find most-cited authors, organizations and journals](https://docs.scinodes.com/sciverse/browsing-authors-organizations-venues): Browse free ranked lists of the most-cited authors and research organizations and active journals and conferences in SciVerse, and open any profile page.
- [Browse popular research keywords](https://docs.scinodes.com/sciverse/keywords): Browse the most-cited research keywords in SciVerse for free and open any keyword to see the publications tagged with it.
- [Use SciVerse as a guest or signed in](https://docs.scinodes.com/sciverse/guest-vs-signed-in): What you can do in SciVerse without an account, what signing in adds, how signed-in searches use your weekly SciNodes credits, and how to change the theme.
- [Add SciVerse publications to a SciNodes project](https://docs.scinodes.com/sciverse/add-to-scinodes): Save a publication you find in SciVerse straight into a SciNodes project with Add to SciNodes. It lands in the project's corpus and My references folder.
- [Coming to SciVerse: publication, topic and SDG pages](https://docs.scinodes.com/sciverse/upcoming-pages) (upcoming): SciVerse pages that aren't available yet: publication and topic pages, funding organizations, open access, datasets and Sustainable Development Goals.

## Academy

- [SciNodes Academy: free bibliometrics courses](https://docs.scinodes.com/academy/overview): SciNodes Academy offers free courses and articles on bibliometrics, research mapping and network science. Read without an account; sign in to track progress.
- [Courses and lessons](https://docs.scinodes.com/academy/courses-and-lessons): Find a SciNodes Academy course by track or name, start or continue its lessons, mark lessons complete and save courses for later.
- [My learning and saved courses](https://docs.scinodes.com/academy/my-learning-and-saved): Track your SciNodes Academy progress in My learning, pick up where you left off, and keep a list of courses saved for later.
- [Read Academy articles](https://docs.scinodes.com/academy/articles): Browse and search SciNodes Academy articles: short notes, methods and arguments from the SciNodes team, filterable by tag and free to read.
- [Academy profile and settings](https://docs.scinodes.com/academy/academy-settings) (partial): Open your SciNodes Academy profile, switch between light, dark and system themes, and choose which Academy emails you want.

## Account and billing

- [Sign in and manage your password](https://docs.scinodes.com/account/sign-in-and-passwords): How to sign in to SciNodes with email, Google or Microsoft, reset a forgotten password, change or add a password, and fix sign-in errors.
- [Your profile](https://docs.scinodes.com/account/profile): View and edit your SciNodes profile: display name, email verification, sign-in methods, organization and password.
- [Preferences](https://docs.scinodes.com/account/preferences): Every SciNodes user preference explained: font, AI languages, reference style, date format, autosave rules, model providers and device check.
- [Credits and usage](https://docs.scinodes.com/account/credits-and-usage): How the SciNodes weekly AI credit budget works, what uses credits, how to read the Usage limits page, and what happens when the budget is spent.
- [Plans and billing](https://docs.scinodes.com/account/plans-and-billing) (upcoming): SciNodes paid plans (Free, Economy, Base, Power) and their weekly AI credit allowances, plus how upgrades, downgrades and cancellation will work.
- [Privacy and your data](https://docs.scinodes.com/account/privacy-and-your-data) (partial): What SciNodes stores about you, who can see your projects and uploads, what AI providers receive, where data is kept, and how to request deletion or export.
- [Single sign-on across SciNodes products](https://docs.scinodes.com/account/single-sign-on) (upcoming): Single sign-on will let you sign in once for the SciNodes app, SciVerse, Academy and Support. Until it launches, sign in to each with the same account.

## Help

- [Contact Support](https://docs.scinodes.com/help/contact-support) (partial): How to file a SciNodes support ticket at support.scinodes.com, choose a category and priority, attach files, and track your ticket's status.
- [Troubleshooting](https://docs.scinodes.com/help/troubleshooting): Fix common SciNodes problems by symptom: sign-in failures, blocked pop-ups, failed uploads, empty maps, missing PDFs, spent budget and stuck builds.
- [Frequently asked questions](https://docs.scinodes.com/help/faq): Short answers to common questions about SciNodes, SciVerse and Academy: cost, mobile, languages, uploads, maps, AI credits, PDFs, privacy and plans.

## Reference

- [Glossary](https://docs.scinodes.com/reference/glossary): Plain-language definitions of SciNodes terms: corpus, corpus slice, research map, cluster, node weightage, RIF, research object, credits and more.
- [Keyboard shortcuts](https://docs.scinodes.com/reference/keyboard-shortcuts): Every SciNodes keyboard and mouse shortcut: map zoom and selection, library selection, chat send and new line, note indenting, and dialogs.
- [File formats and limits](https://docs.scinodes.com/reference/file-formats-and-limits): All SciNodes file formats and limits in one place: upload formats, ZIP and PDF sizes, search caps, map drafts, chat attachments, credits and SciVerse.
- [Error messages](https://docs.scinodes.com/reference/error-messages): A to Z list of SciNodes, SciVerse, Academy and Support messages, with what each one means and what to do next.
- [What's coming](https://docs.scinodes.com/reference/whats-coming): SciNodes features that are built but not yet available: paid plans, SmarterPDF, map share links, lab spaces, relevance scores, single sign-on and more.
- [For AI assistants](https://docs.scinodes.com/reference/for-ai-assistants): How AI assistants and agents should read the SciNodes docs: llms.txt, llms-full.txt, docs-index.json, page status and rules for answering users.

## Machine-readable

- [Full text of every page](https://docs.scinodes.com/llms-full.txt): all pages as Markdown in one file
- [JSON index](https://docs.scinodes.com/docs-index.json): url, title, description, keywords, status, headings and text per page