Explainpaper

After uploading the paper, you can get a popular explanation by selecting words, ask questions about the entire paper and automatically generate key insights. The official says it has been used by more than 400,000 researchers, helping readers understand obscure literature faster.

AI Learning Tools#Paper Reading#Terminology Explanation#Academic

Updated: 2026-10-26

What is Explainpaper?

Explainpaper turns the frustration of "getting stuck when you can't understand something while reading" into a single action: after uploading a paper, you can highlight confusing paragraphs and instantly get a plain-language explanation, no longer being trapped by jargon. Its official slogan is "Read Research Papers 10x Faster", and it claims that more than 400,000 researchers are already using it. The official page also displays many real feedbacks from researchers: an AI industry professional said that the time spent on paper reviews has decreased significantly, and another researcher wrote that papers are full of jargon and hard to understand on the first read, and being able to ask direct questions about the paper completely changes the reading experience. It solves the problems of academic papers being jargon-dense and having high barriers to cross-disciplinary reading, so readers don't have to be shut out by obscure concepts.

Who is it for?

Graduate students and researchers who need to read papers across disciplines, writers working on literature reviews, as well as product managers and engineers who want to understand technical papers but are blocked by jargon; it is also suitable for readers who need to quickly judge whether a paper is worth in-depth reading, and newcomers who are just starting to get involved in a field and need systematic supplementary learning.

Key features

In-Context Explanations (Word-by-Word Explanation)

Highlight confusing sentences, paragraphs or formula descriptions to get instant simplified explanations without having to jump out of the paper to search for information on search engines. The official lists this as its top capability.

Chat with Your Paper

You can ask questions about the entire research paper, and the AI will answer based on the context of the paper instead of explaining a single word in isolation. It is suitable for asking follow-up questions like "Why was this designed this way?" and "How was this conclusion derived?".

Auto-Generated Insights

After uploading, it automatically extracts the key points of the paper, helping users first form an overall impression and then decide which parts to read in depth.

Lower reading barriers

Targeted at cross-disciplinary reading scenarios, it enables non-professional readers to follow the line of argument, and the official emphasizes "no longer being overwhelmed by jargon".

How to use Explainpaper

Use "Word-by-Word Explanation" as the first checkpoint to quickly scan the full text.
First, use "Automatically Generated Insights" to build an overview of the paper, then use "Chat with the Paper" to deeply understand the argument logic.
All important conclusions must be based on the original text, and AI explanations are only for auxiliary understanding.
If an explanation is inconsistent with the original text, adjust your questioning method in time or go back to verify the original text, and do not continue to pile up misunderstandings.

Things to know

You can start using it for free. The Pro version offers a 7-day free trial. Before upgrading, it is recommended to check if the free quota meets your reading volume. The specific number of uses and available capabilities shall be subject to the actual prompts within the product.

The quality of explanations depends on the underlying model's understanding of the original text. For content involving formula derivations, experimental data and conclusions, be sure to verify against the original source and do not rely solely on AI explanations.

Be cautious about privacy when uploading papers: For unpublished manuscripts or copyright-protected papers, first confirm the platform's data processing policies.