Embedding-based Scientific Literature Discovery in a Text Editor Application (2020)

Abstract: Each claim in a research paper requires all relevant prior knowledge to be discovered, assimilated, and appropriately cited. However, despite the availability of powerful search engines and sophisticated text editing software, discovering relevant papers and integrating the knowledge into a manuscript remain complex tasks associated with high cognitive load. To define comprehensive search queries requires strong motivation from authors, irrespective of their familiarity with the research field. Moreover, switching between independent applications for literature discovery, bibliography management, reading papers, and writing text burdens authors further and interrupts their creative process. Here, we present a web application that combines text editing and literature discovery in an interactive user interface. The application is equipped with a search engine that couples Boolean keyword filtering with nearest neighbor search over text embeddings, providing a discovery experience tuned to an author’s manuscript and his interests. Our application aims to take a step towards more enjoyable and effortless academic writing. The demo of the application ( https://SciEditorDemo2020.herokuapp.com ) and a short video tutorial ( https://youtu.be/pkdVU60IcRc ) are available online.

## introduction writing is a complex problem-solving task that burdens authors with a high cognitive load @xcite , which especially applies to inexperienced researchers @xcite . the typical workflow of composing an academic manuscript (be it a proposal, report, or paper) is an iterative process of conceptualizing ideas, formulating search queries, browsing search results, reading papers, eventufigure 1 : the typical workflow of scientific writing is largely based on independent software tools (text processor, reference manager, literature search engine, and paper viewer) that draw on diverse cognitive processes (recalling and citing articles, as well as searching, retrieving, and reading articles, black). our web application focuses on assisting authors in literature discovery and in pinpointing relevant text passages in a paper (red). the current toolbox of scientific writing consists of text editors, search engines, reference managers, and paper viewers. these components are typically independent applications with limited interactivity. consequently, authors are forced to navigate through diverse user interfaces repeatedly and need to link different parts of their workflow manually. we believe that there is a need for technology that makes literature discovery a seamless extension of the writing experience (figure 1 ). implicitly, each scientific statement requires an in-depth search for supporting or conflicting findings in the literature. accordingly, authors must retain a strong motivation to iterate through many combinations of search terms even when the apparent gain from the search becomes sub-optimal @xcite . in addition, the keywords intended for traditional search engines can be in-trinsically biased because authors seek confirmation @xcite or because of gaps in their knowledge @xcite . the use of synonymous terminology, such as with the names of species in botany @xcite or fieldspecific nomenclature @xcite , further complicates formulating comprehensive search queries. last but not least, the exponential increase in the number of scientific publications (larsen and von ins, 2010) makes it increasingly difficult to keep track of the literature and to incorporate new findings into one's work. such challenges call for novel tools to alleviate the obstacles faced by authors. we, therefore, set out to design a workflow that simplifies the exploration of the scientific literature by making use of advances in natural language processing (nlp). we introduce a web application for writing scientific text with integrated literature discovery, paper reading, and bibliography management capabilities. our application allows authors to retrieve papers that are similar to their manuscript (or to some of its parts) by utilizing text embeddings (section 3.2). in addition, the authors can confine the scope of retrieved papers to specific interests by applying keyword-based boolean filters (section 3.1). finally, to guide the authors in skim reading, similar sentences can be automatically highlighted in the retrieved papers. with these features, we aim to make the processes of literature discovery and scientific writing more efficient and enjoyable. ## literature discovery the pipeline for literature discovery in our application consists of two steps (figure 2 ). first, the search engine retrieves a subset of the papers from our database that match a user-defined keywordbased filter. second, the search engine ranks the filtered papers according to their similarity to the manuscript using document embeddings. we describe each of the two steps in detail below. our database contains 2.7m papers from the pubmed central open-access subset (pmc-oa) foot_2 . lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. aenean massa. cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. nulla consequat massa quis enim. donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. in enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. integer tincidunt. cras dapibus. vivamus elementum semper nisi. aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus. phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet. quisque rutrum. aenean imperdiet. etiam ultricies nisi vel augue. curabitur ullamcorper ultricies nisi. nam eget dui. etiam rhoncus. maecenas tempus, tellus eget condimentum rhoncus, sem quam semper libero, sit amet adipiscing sem neque sed ipsum. nam quam nunc, blandit vel, luctus pulvinar, hendrerit id, lorem. maecenas nec odio et ante tincidunt tempus. donec vitae sapien ut libero venenatis faucibus. nullam quis ante. etiam sit amet orci eget eros faucibus tincidunt. duis leo. sed fringilla mauris sit amet nibh. donec sodales sagittis magna. sed consequat, leo eget bibendum sodales, augue velit cursus nunc, quis gravida magna mi a libero. fusce vulputate eleifend sapien. vestibulum purus quam, scelerisque ut, mollis sed, nonummy id, metus. nullam accumsan lorem in dui. cras ultricies mi eu turpis hendrerit fringilla. vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae; in ac dui quis mi consectetuer lacinia. nam pretium turpis et arcu. duis arcu tortor, suscipit eget, imperdiet nec, imperdiet iaculis, ipsum. sed aliquam ultrices mauris. integer ante arcu, accumsan a, consectetuer eget, posuere ut, mauris. praesent adipiscing. phasellus ullamcorper ipsum rutrum nunc. nunc nonummy metus. vestibulum volutpat pretium libero. cras id dui. aenean ut eros et nisl sagittis vestibulum. nullam nulla eros, ultricies sit amet, nonummy id, imperdiet feugiat, pede. sed lectus. lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. aenean massa. cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. nulla consequat massa quis enim. donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. in enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. integer tincidunt. cras dapibus. vivamus elementum semper nisi. aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus. phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet. quisque rutrum. aenean imperdiet. etiam ultricies nisi vel augue. curabitur ullamcorper ultricies nisi. nam eget dui. etiam rhoncus. maecenas tempus, tellus eget condimentum rhoncus, sem quam semper libero, sit amet adipiscing sem neque sed ipsum. nam quam nunc, blandit vel, luctus pulvinar, hendrerit id, lorem. maecenas nec odio et ante tincidunt tempus. donec vitae sapien ut libero venenatis faucibus. nullam quis ante. etiam sit amet orci eget eros faucibus tincidunt. duis leo. sed fringilla mauris sit amet nibh. donec sodales sagittis magna. sed consequat, leo eget bibendum sodales, augue velit cursus nunc, quis gravida magna mi a libero. fusce vulputate eleifend sapien. vestibulum purus quam, scelerisque ut, mollis sed, nonummy id, metus. nullam accumsan lorem in dui. cras ultricies mi eu turpis hendrerit fringilla. vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae; in ac dui quis mi consectetuer lacinia. nam pretium turpis et arcu. duis arcu tortor, suscipit eget, imperdiet nec, imperdiet iaculis, ipsum. sed aliquam ultrices mauris. integer ante arcu, accumsan a, consectetuer eget, posuere ut, mauris. praesent adipiscing. phasellus ullamcorper ipsum rutrum nunc. nunc nonummy metus. vestibulum volutpat pretium libero. cras id dui. aenean ut eros et nisl sagittis vestibulum. nullam nulla eros, ultricies sit amet, nonummy id, imperdiet feugiat, pede. sed lectus. lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. aenean massa. cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. nulla consequat massa quis enim. donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. in enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. integer tincidunt. cras dapibus. vivamus elementum semper nisi. aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus. phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet. quisque rutrum. aenean imperdiet. etiam ultricies nisi vel augue. curabitur ullamcorper ultricies nisi. nam eget dui. etiam rhoncus. maecenas tempus, tellus eget condimentum rhoncus, sem quam semper libero, sit amet adipiscing sem neque sed ipsum. nam quam nunc, blandit vel, luctus pulvinar, hendrerit id, lorem. maecenas nec odio et ante tincidunt tempus. donec vitae sapien ut libero venenatis faucibus. nullam quis ante. etiam sit amet orci eget eros faucibus tincidunt. duis leo. sed fringilla mauris sit amet nibh. donec sodales sagittis magna. sed consequat, leo eget bibendum sodales, augue velit cursus nunc, quis gravida magna mi a libero. fusce vulputate eleifend sapien. vestibulum purus quam, scelerisque ut, mollis sed, nonummy id, metus. nullam accumsan lorem in dui. cras ultricies mi eu turpis hendrerit fringilla. vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae; in ac dui quis mi consectetuer lacinia. nam pretium turpis et arcu. duis arcu tortor, suscipit eget, imperdiet nec, imperdiet iaculis, ipsum. sed aliquam ultrices mauris. integer ante arcu, accumsan a, consectetuer eget, posuere ut, mauris. praesent adipiscing. phasellus ullamcorper ipsum rutrum nunc. nunc nonummy metus. vestibulum volutpat pretium libero. cras id dui. aenean ut eros et nisl sagittis vestibulum. nullam nulla eros, ultricies sit amet, nonummy id, imperdiet feugiat, pede. sed lectus. lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. aenean massa. cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. nulla consequat massa quis enim. donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. in enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. integer tincidunt. cras dapibus. vivamus elementum semper nisi. aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus. phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet. quisque rutrum. aenean imperdiet. etiam ultricies nisi vel augue. curabitur ullamcorper ultricies nisi. nam eget dui. etiam rhoncus. maecenas tempus, tellus eget condimentum rhoncus, sem quam semper libero, sit amet adipiscing sem neque sed ipsum. nam quam nunc, blandit vel, luctus pulvinar, hendrerit id, lorem. maecenas nec odio et ante tincidunt tempus. donec vitae sapien ut libero venenatis faucibus. nullam quis ante. etiam sit amet orci eget eros faucibus tincidunt. duis leo. sed fringilla mauris sit amet nibh. donec sodales sagittis magna. sed consequat, leo eget bibendum sodales, augue velit cursus nunc, quis gravida magna mi a libero. fusce vulputate eleifend sapien. vestibulum purus quam, scelerisque ut, mollis sed, nonummy id, metus. nullam accumsan lorem in dui. cras ultricies mi eu turpis hendrerit fringilla. vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae; in ac dui quis mi consectetuer lacinia. nam pretium turpis et arcu. duis arcu tortor, suscipit eget, imperdiet nec, imperdiet iaculis, ipsum. sed aliquam ultrices mauris. integer ante arcu, accumsan a, consectetuer eget, posuere ut, mauris. praesent adipiscing. phasellus ullamcorper ipsum rutrum nunc. nunc nonummy metus. vestibulum volutpat pretium libero. cras id dui. aenean ut eros et nisl sagittis vestibulum. nullam nulla eros, ultricies sit amet, nonummy id, imperdiet feugiat, pede. sed lectus. lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. aenean massa. cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. nulla consequat massa quis enim. donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. in enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. integer tincidunt. cras dapibus. vivamus elementum semper nisi. aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus. phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet. quisque rutrum. aenean imperdiet. etiam ultricies nisi vel augue. curabitur ullamcorper ultricies nisi. nam eget dui. etiam rhoncus. maecenas tempus, tellus eget condimentum rhoncus, sem quam semper libero, sit amet adipiscing sem neque sed ipsum. nam quam nunc, blandit vel, luctus pulvinar, hendrerit id, lorem. maecenas nec odio et ante tincidunt tempus. donec vitae sapien ut libero venenatis faucibus. nullam quis ante. etiam sit amet orci eget eros faucibus tincidunt. duis leo. sed fringilla mauris sit amet nibh. donec sodales sagittis magna. sed consequat, leo eget bibendum sodales, augue velit cursus nunc, quis gravida magna mi a libero. fusce vulputate eleifend sapien. vestibulum purus quam, scelerisque ut, mollis sed, nonummy id, metus. nullam accumsan lorem in dui. cras ultricies mi eu turpis hendrerit fringilla. vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae; in ac dui quis mi consectetuer lacinia. nam pretium turpis et arcu. duis arcu tortor, suscipit eget, imperdiet nec, imperdiet iaculis, ipsum. sed aliquam ultrices mauris. integer ante arcu, accumsan a, consectetuer eget, posuere ut, mauris. praesent adipiscing. phasellus ullamcorper ipsum rutrum nunc. nunc nonummy metus. vestibulum volutpat pretium libero. cras id dui. aenean ut eros et nisl sagittis vestibulum. nullam nulla eros, ultricies sit amet, nonummy id, imperdiet feugiat, pede. sed lectus. lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. aenean massa. cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. nulla consequat massa quis enim. donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. in enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. integer tincidunt. cras dapibus. vivamus elementum semper nisi. aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus. phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet. quisque rutrum. aenean imperdiet. etiam ultricies nisi vel augue. curabitur ullamcorper ultricies nisi. nam eget dui. etiam rhoncus. maecenas tempus, tellus eget condimentum rhoncus, sem quam semper libero, sit amet adipiscing sem neque sed ipsum. nam quam nunc, blandit vel, luctus pulvinar, hendrerit id, lorem. maecenas nec odio et ante tincidunt tempus. donec vitae sapien ut libero venenatis faucibus. nullam quis ante. etiam sit amet orci eget eros faucibus tincidunt. duis leo. sed fringilla mauris sit amet nibh. donec sodales sagittis magna. sed consequat, leo eget bibendum sodales, augue velit cursus nunc, quis gravida magna mi a libero. fusce vulputate eleifend sapien. vestibulum purus quam, scelerisque ut, mollis sed, nonummy id, metus. nullam accumsan lorem in dui. cras ultricies mi eu turpis hendrerit fringilla. vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae; in ac dui quis mi consectetuer lacinia. nam pretium turpis et arcu. duis arcu tortor, suscipit eget, imperdiet nec, imperdiet iaculis, ipsum. sed aliquam ultrices mauris. integer ante arcu, accumsan a, consectetuer eget, posuere ut, mauris. praesent adipiscing. phasellus ullamcorper ipsum rutrum nunc. nunc nonummy metus. vestibulum volutpat pretium libero. cras id dui. aenean ut eros et nisl sagittis vestibulum. nullam nulla eros, ultricies sit amet, nonummy id, imperdiet feugiat, pede. sed lectus. lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. aenean massa. cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. nulla consequat massa quis enim. donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. in enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. integer tincidunt. cras dapibus. vivamus elementum semper nisi. aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus. phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet. quisque rutrum. aenean imperdiet. etiam ultricies nisi vel augue. curabitur ullamcorper ultricies nisi. nam eget dui. etiam rhoncus. maecenas tempus, tellus eget condimentum rhoncus, sem quam semper libero, sit amet adipiscing sem neque sed ipsum. nam quam nunc, blandit vel, luctus pulvinar, hendrerit id, lorem. maecenas nec odio et ante tincidunt tempus. donec vitae sapien ut libero venenatis faucibus. nullam quis ante. etiam sit amet orci eget eros faucibus tincidunt. duis leo. sed fringilla mauris sit amet nibh. donec sodales sagittis magna. sed consequat, leo eget bibendum sodales, augue velit cursus nunc, quis gravida magna mi a libero. fusce vulputate eleifend sapien. vestibulum purus quam, scelerisque ut, mollis sed, nonummy id, metus. nullam accumsan lorem in dui. cras ultricies mi eu turpis hendrerit fringilla. vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae; in ac dui quis mi consectetuer lacinia. nam pretium turpis et arcu. duis arcu tortor, suscipit eget, imperdiet nec, imperdiet iaculis, ipsum. sed aliquam ultrices mauris. integer ante arcu, accumsan a, consectetuer eget, posuere ut, mauris. praesent adipiscing. phasellus ullamcorper ipsum rutrum nunc. nunc nonummy metus. vestibulum volutpat pretium libero. cras id dui. aenean ut eros et nisl sagittis vestibulum. nullam nulla eros, ultricies sit amet, nonummy id, imperdiet feugiat, pede. sed lectus. lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. aenean massa. cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. nulla consequat massa quis enim. donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. in enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. integer tincidunt. cras dapibus. vivamus elementum semper nisi. aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus. phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet. quisque rutrum. aenean imperdiet. etiam ultricies nisi vel augue. curabitur ullamcorper ultricies nisi. nam eget dui. etiam rhoncus. maecenas tempus, tellus eget condimentum rhoncus, sem quam semper libero, sit amet adipiscing sem neque sed ipsum. nam quam nunc, blandit vel, luctus pulvinar, hendrerit id, lorem. maecenas nec odio et ante tincidunt tempus. donec vitae sapien ut libero venenatis faucibus. nullam quis ante. etiam sit amet orci eget eros faucibus tincidunt. duis leo. sed fringilla mauris sit amet nibh. donec sodales sagittis magna. sed consequat, leo eget bibendum sodales, augue velit cursus nunc, quis gravida magna mi a libero. fusce vulputate eleifend sapien. vestibulum purus quam, scelerisque ut, mollis sed, nonummy id, metus. nullam accumsan lorem in dui. cras ultricies mi eu turpis hendrerit fringilla. vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae; in ac dui quis mi consectetuer lacinia. nam pretium turpis et arcu. duis arcu tortor, suscipit eget, imperdiet nec, imperdiet iaculis, ipsum. sed aliquam ultrices mauris. integer ante arcu, accumsan a, consectetuer eget, posuere ut, mauris. praesent adipiscing. phasellus ullamcorper ipsum rutrum nunc. nunc nonummy metus. vestibulum volutpat pretium libero. cras id dui. aenean ut eros et nisl sagittis vestibulum. nullam nulla eros, ultricies sit amet, nonummy id, imperdiet feugiat, pede. sed lectus. lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. aenean commodo ligula eget dolor. aenean massa. cum sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. donec quam felis, ultricies nec, pellentesque eu, pretium quis, sem. nulla consequat massa quis enim. donec pede justo, fringilla vel, aliquet nec, vulputate eget, arcu. in enim justo, rhoncus ut, imperdiet a, venenatis vitae, justo. nullam dictum felis eu pede mollis pretium. integer tincidunt. cras dapibus. vivamus elementum semper nisi. aenean vulputate eleifend tellus. aenean leo ligula, porttitor eu, consequat vitae, eleifend ac, enim. aliquam lorem ante, dapibus in, viverra quis, feugiat a, tellus. phasellus viverra nulla ut metus varius laoreet. quisque rutrum. aenean imperdiet. etiam ultricies nisi vel augue. curabitur ullamcorper ultricies nisi. nam eget dui. etiam rhoncus. maecenas tempus, tellus eget condimentum rhoncus, sem quam semper libero, sit amet adipiscing sem neque sed ipsum. nam quam nunc, blandit vel, luctus pulvinar, hendrerit id, lorem. maecenas nec odio et ante tincidunt tempus. donec vitae sapien ut libero venenatis faucibus. nullam quis ante. etiam sit amet orci eget eros faucibus tincidunt. duis leo. sed fringilla mauris sit amet nibh. donec sodales sagittis magna. sed consequat, leo eget bibendum sodales, augue velit cursus nunc, quis gravida magna mi a libero. fusce vulputate eleifend sapien. vestibulum purus quam, scelerisque ut, mollis sed, nonummy id, metus. nullam accumsan lorem in dui. cras ultricies mi eu turpis hendrerit fringilla. vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae; in ac dui quis mi consectetuer lacinia. nam pretium turpis et arcu. duis arcu tortor, suscipit eget, imperdiet nec, imperdiet iaculis, ipsum. sed aliquam ultrices mauris. integer ante arcu, accumsan a, consectetuer eget, posuere ut, mauris. praesent adipiscing. phasellus ullamcorper ipsum rutrum nunc. nunc nonummy metus. vestibulum volutpat pretium libero. cras id dui. aenean ut eros et nisl sagittis vestibulum. nullam nulla eros, ultricies sit amet, nonummy id, imperdiet feugiat, pede. sed lectus. ## user interface and workflow the user interface (ui) consists of (1) a text editor that provides basic functionality for drafting a manuscript, such as loading saving documents, formatting text, and inserting l a t e x equations, code snippets, or bullet points (figure 3a , left), and (2) a literature explorer encompassing multiple components, which can be accessed on their respective tabs (figure 3a , right): a search can be initiated without keyword filters by clicking the "similar papers to the manuscript" button located above the text editor. as a result, the 1000 most similar papers are listed in the discover tab with their metadata (title, authors, journal, publication year, and abstract). a more granular search can be performed by selecting a section (e.g., sentences, paragraphs) from the manuscript, which reveals a hovering menu over the selected text (visible in figure 3b ). clicking on the magnifying glass icon on this menu performs a search using the selected text as the ranking source and consequently returns the papers similar to the selected text. to steer discovery towards a particular set of terms, the user can define a keywordbased boolean filter using the format term1 term2|term3 !term4 to confine the results to those papers that contain term1 and (term2 or term3), but not term4. clicking on a search result displays the content of the paper in the read tab. in this tab, the user finds additional actions above the viewed paper to interact with it. if, after viewing the paper, the user finds it interesting, then pressing the "add to library" button saves the paper in the user bibliography, which can be viewed under the my library tab. alternatively, the "cite" button places a reference to the paper at the current cursor position in the text editor and adds the paper to the user bibliography. inserted references in the manuscript are links, and clicking on them conveniently opens the respective paper in the read tab. deleting the link removes the reference from the manuscript. to facilitate the exploration of the literature further, the read tab contains additional functions: "discover similar papers" performs a search using the viewed paper as the ranking source. if a filter is already present in the discover tab, then the search results are filtered accordingly. the "highlight" button highlights the 20 sentences in the viewed paper that are most similar to the ranking source, i.e., similar to the query of the last search performed on the application. alternatively, the user can select a part of the manuscript and press the marker icon on the revealed hovering menu (figure 3b ) to highlight the sentences that are most similar to the selection. the highlighting feature computes the embedding of each sentence in the viewed paper to assess similarity. the "find text" field uses the web-browser's built-in find functionality to match the value of the field with the viewed paper. the my library tab lists all the papers in the user bibliography. ticking the "cited content only" box filters this list to show only the papers cited in the manuscript. the user can press the "cite" button next to a paper to insert a reference to the paper at the cursor position in the text editor. the user can also add papers to the library manually by entering a b the digital object identifier of the paper in the form that appears upon pressing the "manual entry" button. items under my library can be removed by clicking on the "remove" button next to the item. ## conclusion we have described an application that aims to reduce the manual workload involved in exploring the scientific literature. our application combines the processes of reading papers and of writing scientific manuscripts into a single user interface and links them using nlp algorithms. in future work, we will focus on expanding the database to include additional domains and article sources. we will work on augmenting the workflow with automated tasks, such as suggesting ref-erences as the author writes a manuscript, or notifying users about the latest publications relevant to their work. we will also seek to improve discovery performance by testing more recent text embedding methods (e.g., bert @xcite ) and by optimizing the search for different input text lengths, such as a whole document, a paragraph, or even a single sentence. finally, we are aware that keyword-based boolean filtering might be prone to the same biases and challenges inherent in the traditional search queries, as discussed above. we will investigate whether query expansion techniques (azad and deepak, 2019) could mitigate this issue by suggesting or automatically appending semantically related keywords to the boolean filters.