Help & FAQs

A DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is a permanent, unique identifier for a published paper. It always starts with 10. followed by a publisher prefix and suffix.

Example: 10.1038/s41586-021-03819-2

• 📄On the journal's paper page — usually near the top or in the citation section
• 📑In the PDF itself — often in the first page header or footer
• 🔍Google Scholar — click the title, then look for "DOI" in the article details
• 🏥PubMed — search the paper and find the DOI in the citation box on the right
• 🧠Semantic Scholar — shown in the paper detail page under identifiers

arXiv is a free preprint server for physics, math, CS, biology and more. Each paper gets a numeric ID like 2310.07820. A version suffix like v2 is optional.

• 🌐Go to arxiv.org and search — the ID is in the URL: arxiv.org/abs/2310.07820
• 📋The abstract page shows it at the top: arXiv:2310.07820
• 🔗Many journal papers link to their arXiv preprint in the supplemental info

OpenAlex is a free, open catalogue of 200M+ academic works. Every paper has a Work ID starting with W followed by digits — for example W2741809807.

• 🔎Search on openalex.org — the Work ID appears in the URL and paper details
• ⚡Via API: api.openalex.org/works?filter=doi:10.xxxx/xxx
• 🃏MapleScholar paper cards list the OpenAlex ID in their identifiers

Yes. If no DOI, arXiv ID, or OpenAlex ID is detected, MapleScholar searches across multiple academic databases using the title text. Exact or near-exact titles give the best results.

• ✅Use the exact title as it appears in the journal or abstract
• ✅Longer, specific titles are easier to match than short generic ones
• 💡If title search fails, look up the DOI or arXiv ID first — it's more accurate
• 🌍Titles in languages other than English are supported

Any paper with a publicly accessible open-access PDF. MapleScholar queries 8+ sources — including arXiv, PubMed Central, MDPI, Semantic Scholar, CORE, Unpaywall, and direct publisher links.

An orange indicator confirms the PDF was located. Press Start Chatting to open the AI interface where you can ask questions, request summaries, and explore concepts in the paper.

MapleScholar+ includes one free AI message so you can try the feature. To continue the conversation, you'll be prompted to sign up — this keeps the service running and saves your chat history.

• 🔑Use the DOI instead of the title — it's more reliable
• 🔓Verify the paper has an open-access version — many are paywalled
• 📐Search for a preprint on arXiv — often freely available before journal publication
• 📬Contact us if you believe the paper should be findable

Browsing, discovering, and reading papers is completely free. AI chat includes one free trial message per paper; extended access is available through MapleScholar+.

We query OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar, arXiv, PubMed Central, CORE, MDPI, Unpaywall, and direct publisher sources. Priority is given to sources with a confirmed open-access PDF.

Papers are categorized as Trending, Hidden Gems, or Breakthroughs based on citation impact, FWCI score, recency, and field-normalized metrics. The feed is refreshed regularly.

Yes — use the Submit Your Research card in the Featured Research section on the Plus page, or reach out directly. We accept all STEM disciplines and all languages.

The interface is in English, but paper discovery and chat work with papers in any language. Title search supports non-English titles.