What is Connected Papers?

Connected Papers is a visual research tool developed in Tel Aviv that helps researchers and applied scientists discover relevant academic literature through an interactive similarity graph. Users enter a single paper title, DOI, or keywords, and Connected Papers generates a visual graph where each node represents a related paper and the proximity of nodes indicates how closely related they are. Unlike citation-based tools, Connected Papers uses algorithmic similarity to connect papers that share ideas even without direct citations, often surfacing important work that would be missed in a standard search. The tool also identifies Prior Works (papers that influenced your seed paper) and Derivative Works (papers that built upon it), giving researchers a clear view of a field's evolution. With over 2 million researchers using the platform and graphs being generated at over 50 per minute, it is one of the most widely used academic discovery tools available.

Key Features

Visual Similarity GraphPrior Works IdentificationDerivative Works MappingMulti-Origin GraphsPaper Clustering by RelatednessNode Hover Paper DetailsDOI and PMID SearchGraph HistorySaved Papers CollectionScholarly Database IntegrationInteractive Graph NavigationYear and Citation Count DisplayOne-Click Graph RebuildingUnlimited Graphs (paid)Group Admin PlanOpen Access Link DisplayField-Agnostic Coverage

How to Use Connected Papers

1Go to connectedpapers.com

2Enter a paper title, DOI, PMID, or keywords in the search bar

3Select the target paper and click Build a Graph

4Explore the visual graph of related papers, click nodes for details

5Save papers of interest and generate additional graphs from related nodes

✅ Best For

Researchers entering a new field who want to quickly understand the citation landscape around a foundational paper without spending days on database searches.
Applied scientists and R&D professionals who need to find relevant academic work outside their immediate specialty and want a visual, non-keyword approach to discovery.
Literature review teams who want to visually demonstrate the evolution of a research field to collaborators or in academic presentations.

❌ Not For

Researchers who need a multi-seed discovery tool with unlimited graphs on the free tier, as Connected Papers limits free users to 5 graphs per month and builds graphs from a single seed at a time (multi-origin available on paid plans).
Users requiring AI-generated summaries, annotation tools, or systematic review workflows alongside their paper discovery, as Connected Papers focuses exclusively on the visual mapping experience.

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Pricing

Free$0

✓5 graphs/month
✓all features included

Academic$5/mo (quarterly)

✓Unlimited graphs
✓all features
✓for academics and non-profits

Business$15/mo (quarterly)

✓Unlimited graphs
✓all features
✓for commercial use

Academic Group$5/seat/mo

✓Team access with admin seat management

Business Group$15/seat/mo

✓Commercial team access with admin controls

Prompts to Try

Build a graph from this paper on transformer language models

Find papers related to this seed paper on urban heat island mitigation

Show me the prior and derivative works for this foundational gene editing study

Use Cases

A climate scientist enters a landmark 2019 paper on methane flux as her seed and immediately sees a cluster of 15 related studies from soil science she had never encountered, reshaping her literature review in under an hour.

A startup CTO uses Connected Papers to map the research landscape around a core paper on distributed consensus algorithms, identifying three prior theoretical works his team's patent filing had overlooked.

A graduate student in economics uses the Multi-Origin graph feature with three seed papers on behavioral nudging to find a dense cluster of related work that becomes the foundation of his dissertation literature review.

A science educator builds a Connected Papers graph from a classic physics paper for her advanced class, using the visual timeline of derivative works to show students how scientific ideas build on each other over decades.

A researcher realizes a paper she has been repeatedly citing has a contrasting derivative work from 2023, discovered through Connected Papers, prompting her to revise an argument in her manuscript before peer review.

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