Connected Papers

Connected Papers is the visual citation graph tool that lets researchers explore academic literature through similarity-based paper graphs — entering a single seed paper and visualizing the most similar papers (not necessarily citations) to accelerate literature discovery. Founded in 2020, Connected Papers has grown into one of the most-used citation visualization tools globally serving researchers, students, and academics needing to quickly map a research field through a single starting point, with positioning as the original similarity-graph approach that ResearchRabbit and Litmaps have since adopted variations of. Pricing follows a tiered model with Individual and Group options, monthly and annual billing: Free at $0 covers 5 graphs per month with all features included — accessible for evaluation and occasional use. Academic at $5/month (annual at $60/year) covers individual academics, non-profits, and personal use with unlimited graphs and all features. Business at $17/month (annual at $204/year) covers business and industry use with unlimited graphs. The pricing supports credit/debit cards, PayPal, Alipay, wire transfers, and other payment methods globally. Connected Papers' differentiation versus Litmaps, ResearchRabbit, and Inciteful is the similarity-graph methodology combined with the original visualization approach: rather than building citation graphs from direct citation relationships (Litmaps pattern) or recommendation engines (ResearchRabbit pattern), Connected Papers uses similarity scoring (co-citation, bibliographic coupling) to identify the most similar papers — which means the graph includes papers that may not directly cite each other but address similar research questions. This produces materially better discovery for researchers exploring unfamiliar fields than direct-citation-only alternatives. Connected Papers capabilities include similarity-based citation graphs from a single seed paper, prior works graphs (foundational papers leading to the seed), derivative works graphs (papers building on the seed), full-text PDF view integration, citation export, and integration with major academic databases. The platform serves academic researchers, graduate students, scientific writers, and independent researchers globally with particular value for entering unfamiliar research fields. Connected Papers operates under standard SaaS security practices with GDPR compliance.