PaperLabFollow a paper’s references both ways, ranked for your library
A paper’s References tab in PaperLab lists what it cites and what has cited it since, ranked for your library: references several of your papers cite come first, then ones close to what you write notes about, then ones with a free PDF. Import a reference in a click when a free PDF exists. The Similar tab suggests papers like it from Semantic Scholar, added the same way.
What you can do
- Backward: every reference the paper cites.
- Forward: papers that have cited it since.
- Ranked by how many of your papers cite each, then by closeness to your notes, then by free PDF.
- Import in a click when a free PDF exists; In library shows what you already have.
- Similar suggests papers that read alike, from Semantic Scholar.
Tips
- A reference three of your papers cite is a foundation: add it first.
- Use forward citations to see whether a result held up.
Questions people ask
Where do references come from?
From Semantic Scholar, by the paper’s DOI, arXiv ID or title, and from OpenAlex when you tick it. Never the paper’s text.
What is the ranking based on?
Co-citation in your own library first, then closeness to what you write notes about, then whether a free PDF exists.
Is this snowballing?
It is the manual version: backward and forward references for one paper. The systematic-review workflow snowballs across included papers.
Works well with
Guides
- How to do a systematic literature review — Question, protocol, search, two-stage screening, snowballing and PRISMA.
- How to map the literature on a topic — Citation graphs, co-citation and coupling, and tools that draw the map.
- How to write a related work section — Organise by idea, compare papers, and check every claim.