Release notes

---

The McClintock Update makes adding sources to projects more intuitive. You can now hand‑pick individual sources from your personal library and add them directly to any project. No more jumping through hoops to build collections first. 

The default “Library chat” project – the project containing every source in your library – can now be shared, too. By opening up your full AI reference manager, you and your colleagues can explore and debate the same body of literature in real time.

Finally, to help you evaluate references, scienceOS now computes the SCImago Journal Rank wherever you encounter a source. Whether you are chatting with the internal paper database of 225 M documents, browsing your library, or working in a shared project. This built‑in metric helps you review the reputation of the journal to prioritize papers that meet your standards.

---

Why McClintock Update?

This update of scienceOS is dedicated to Barbara McClintock, whose discovery of “jumping genes” revealed the genome’s dynamic, context-dependent nature. McClintock made significant contributions to genetics and genome regulation and was later awarded a Nobel prize for her research.

---

Get access to eu.scienceOS for your team.

Built to guarantee additional strict EU data‑residency and processing controls, eu.scienceOS delivers the same functionality and support of the standard scienceOS platform – with the added assurance that your data, whether at rest or while being processed, remains on servers within the European Union.

Both versions store all user data in EU‑based data centers. The standard version processes the vast majority of workloads within the EU, but in rare cases may use non‑EU infrastructure; eu.scienceOS eliminates that possibility entirely and runs on dedicated EU infrastructure. 

Access to this EU‑only deployment is available to holders of Team or Institution plans, and a DPA is available upon request. Contact us if you want to switch to eu.scienceOS and make use of additional data‑residency and processing controls.

---

Improvements and bug fixes.

We implemented adjustments to the user interface of scienceOS, made copied text beautiful and adding PDFs to the library more intuitive, and fixed annoying bugs.

Improvements

• Made the transparency effect less distracting
• Improved copying answers via mouse selection
• Added an ‘Add to library’ button for PDFs uploaded to chats

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug related to the header in Safari browsers
• Fixed bugs where table borders were gone

---

With the last update, we added projects to scienceOS – workspaces that help you group sources from your library and chats in one place. With the Ostrom Update, you can now create shared projects and invite collaborators to view and discuss sources from your library. This makes it easier to build knowledge together in a trusted environment. Whether you are mentoring students, coordinating with co-authors, or exploring a new topic with peers, shared projects keep everyone on the same page.

You can also be invited to join shared projects created by your colleagues, giving you access to their AI reference manager. As your chats will remain private, this update supports open collaboration while maintaining individual control. It is especially helpful when joining a new collaboration, getting up to speed on a topic, or contributing to a paper with confidence in the materials provided.

---

Why Ostrom Update?

This update of scienceOS is dedicated to Elinor Ostrom, who made significant contributions to political science and economics through her study of how communities manage shared resources. Ostrom’s research on collective action, self-governance, and trust laid the foundation for understanding how collaboration can succeed without centralized control.

---

Join the pilot program of scienceOS for business.

We believe that the only way to build useful software for scientists is by engaging directly with the scientific community. Through conversations with researchers in academia and industry, we found that: while academic and industrial R&D share many challenges, companies often require tailored solutions.

In response, we have begun developing scienceOS for business – a flexible framework designed to adapt scienceOS to industrial research settings.

We are now inviting up to three companies to participate in our pilot program and help shape this new version. If your organization is interested, please email us at [email protected] with a short description of how you currently use scienceOS and what additional capabilities you would need to support your R&D.

---

Improvements and bug fixes.

We implemented adjustments to projects in scienceOS, gave the AI research agent additional capabilities, added a changelog, and fixed annoying bugs.

Improvements

• Brought back the “Start a collection chat”-button to the library
• Added a sidebar to projects to list all project sources
• Made deleting projects a two-step process
• Added a “try it online” function for code developed with scienceOS
• Allowed uploading PDFs from library directly to a chat
• Made the chat header translucent
• Gave the AI research Agent the option to write longer answers
• Gave the AI research Agent the option to answer questions about scienceOS
• Added a changelog to our website

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug where the app sidebar would hang on mobile
• Fixed a bug where “recent uploads” would not show most recent uploads
• Fixed a bug where the AI Agent would use collection filters without reason
• Fixed a bug where custom project instructions were ignored
• Fixed a bug where the download button for diagrams was inaccessible
• Fixed a bug where users could not log in
• Fixed multiple bugs where scienceOS would become slow and crash

---

The Yates Update introduces a new concept to scienceOS: projects. A project contains sources and collections from your library and/or access to the 225M papers of our general research database. Now, with project-based workspaces, you can group your sources and chats in one place, helping you trace your research work.

As a starting point, we created a default project for you: ‘Library chat’. The ‘Library chat’ project contains all the sources from your library. It is the new way to chat with your own research paper collection in scienceOS. Additionally, you can create your own projects in scienceOS.

Finally, you can also use the ‘Deep research’ mode in projects. This means, you can now generate long research reports based on hundreds of PDFs. Simply create a project, add relevant PDFs from your library, and use ‘Deep research’. This is particularly helpful to quickly draft a literature review.

---

Why Yates Update?

This update of scienceOS is dedicated to Frances Amelia Yates, whose work helped discover how scholars organized knowledge through memory systems and symbolic structures. Yates made significant contributions to understanding how context and structure enhance the retrieval and use of knowledge.

---

Fundamental changes to scienceOS.

Projects – workspaces that contain sources from your library and/or access to the 225M papers of the general database – are a way for you to group your sources and chats in one place. With projects come some changes to scienceOS:

We hope we are making it easy for you to adjust to the new scienceOS. We introduced these changes as we are working on powerful features and projects will be the basis of them.

---

Improvements and bug fixes.

We implemented adjustments to the user interface of scienceOS, made the PDF chat more powerful, increased the transparency, and fixed annoying bugs.

Improvements

• Updated the beginner’s guide to reflect all changes
• Increased the chat reading frame and output limits of the AI agent
• For Angels, increased the PDF batch upload limit to the library to 50 PDFs
• Added a table of content to chats to jump to specific messages
• Made the behaviour of the AI agent more transparent
• Improved the quality of the PDF chat answers
• Increased the literature coverage from 220M to 225M research papers
• Removed the green ‘Upload PDF’ button in the top right corner
• Removed the AI Actions ‘Chat with library’ and ‘Chat with collections’
• Reworked the AI Actions ‘Summarize paper’ and ‘Turn paper into slides’

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug where horizontal scrolling for wide tables was broken
• Fixed bugs that made ‘Deep research’ stop
• Fixed a bug where chatting with huge libraries would only cite few sources

---

The Norman Update makes scienceOS more intuitive to use: you can now upload up to 4,000 PDFs directly to your your scienceOS library, create citation networks from your reference manager, and generate ‘deep research’ reports.

The new scienceOS library makes growing your literature collection and chatting with thousands of PDFs more intuitive: upload your full-text papers directly to your library or add PDFs from your previous uploads. Further, you can now select up to 10 sources in your library and turn them into a citation network; this helps you identify foundational and new research papers that may be missing in your reference manager. Additionally, the ‘Deep research’ mode instructs scienceOS to generate a a comprehensive research report based on hundreds of sources.

---

Why Norman Update?

This update of scienceOS is dedicated to Donald Arthur Norman, who has made significant contributions to the fields of cognitive science and human-computer interaction. For his concept of making technology intuitive and effortless to use, Norman is considered a pioneer in user-centered design.

---

New terms of use.

We released a new version of our terms of use with less complex language, a clearer description of what scienceOS is, and more details about your rights. We also provide the new terms of use in English and in German.

---

Improvements and bug fixes.

We reworked the user interface of scienceOS, made the AI agent more powerful, added an introductory article, and fixed annoying bugs.

Improvements

• Provided the AI agent with more sources for each answer in the AI science chat
• Made the library chat and PDF chat more powerful
• Implemented searching for DOIs in the chat
• Added more sources to citation networks
• Made adding sources to collections available during import
• Increased the character count for the names of collections
• Implemented drag & drop for PDFs in library
• Added a settings page to the app
• Replaced the payment solution and activated Apple Pay
• Removed the confusing app homepage
• Published a beginner’s guide and a how does it work article
• Created a profile on Bluesky

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug where the app froze during the login
• Fixed a bug where the AI would list the tools it used in the answer
• Fixed multiple bugs related to citation networks
• Fixed a bug where the AI Actions selector hid behind the PDF preview

---

The Polanyi Update enables you to add up to 4,000 PDFs to your scienceOS library. Your documents are securely stored and integrated into the AI reference manager.

With your library in place, chat with all your uploaded PDFs at once. The AI reference manager synthesizes insights across your sources, providing answers grounded in your trusted research. To keep your work structured, you may also organize your reference manager into collections and chat with specific subsets of your research. Whether by topic or project, this ensures focused and relevant AI interactions.

---

Why Polanyi Update?

This update of scienceOS is dedicated to Michael Polanyi, who is considered a pioneer in the philosophy of science and knowledge theory. Polanyi made significant contributions to our understanding of tacit knowledge and the personal nature of scientific discovery.

---

Twitter.

We have decided to stop posting on Twitter, as its direction no longer aligns with our values. To stay updated on scienceOS, helpful use cases, and our partnerships, we invite you to connect with us on Instagram or LinkedIn.

---

Improvements and bug fixes.

We reworked the chat bar and how PDF links work, made scienceOS more accessible, and fixed annoying bugs.

Improvements

• Add sources to collections directly in the source popup
• Added a link to the abstract for PDF-based answers
• Allowed uploads of PDFs with a file size of up to 96MB
• Reworked the chat bar to make it easier to find AI Actions
• Made scienceOS more compatible with screen readers

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug where users could no longer login
• Fixed a bug where users could not see all their AI Actions
• Fixed a bug where the copy button would not copy the answer

---

The Otlet Update helps you organize the sources in your scienceOS library. You can now group your sources by adding them to collections. Each source can be part of multiple collections and one collection can contain as many sources as your whole AI reference manager.

We also added a more powerful chat history search: it can now browse the content of your previous chats. Further, we added a dark mode to scienceOS.

---

Why Otlet Update?

This update of scienceOS is dedicated to Paul Otlet, who is considered a pioneer in the field of information science. Otlet envisioned a universal repository of knowledge and co-developed the Universal Decimal Classification (UDC) system for organizing information through card catalogs and classified knowledge.

---

Improvements and bug fixes.

We made chatting with PDFs more comfortable in scienceOS, the copy button more powerful, AI Actions more versatile, and fixed annoying bugs.

Improvements

• Added ‘Drag & Drop’ for uploading PDFs to a chat
• Create citation networks based on uploaded papers
• Uploaded PDFs are now cited when copying the answer
• Figures and tables can now be copied with the copy button
• You can now add custom variables to your AI Actions
• You can now use a simple search in your scienceOS library
• Added a link to continue editing diagrams in Mermaid editor

Bug fixes

• Together with a scienceOS user, fixed a bug where scienceOS would be unusable for customers of Deutsche Telekom
• Fixed a bug where users could create empty AI Actions

---

The Hinton Update provides you with a new tool: AI Actions, customizable saved prompts within scienceOS. They help automate repetitive tasks and allow you to focus on critical analysis while the AI research assistant manages routine activities.

We prepared some AI Actions for you, but creating your own custom AI actions allows you to streamline your workflow. By customizing them to your needs, you can create smarter, faster processes, and enhancing overall productivity.

Use AI Actions to focus on more critical work while routine processes are handled by scienceOS.

---

Why Hinton Update?

This update of scienceOS is dedicated to Geoffrey E Hinton, who is considered a pioneering figure in the field of artificial intelligence. Hinton made significant contributions to neural networks and deep learning. Together with John Hopfield, he won the 2024 Nobel prize in physics.

---

Improvements and bug fixes.

We reworked the PDF reader, added tutorials for scienceOS to the website, and fixed bugs related to the mobile version.

Improvements

• You can now chat with a PDF while reading it
• Added a section for tutorials to the website, more will follow

Bug fixes

• Fixed a bug where users could not log out on mobile

---

The Pearl Update allows you to cross-reference PDFs and all other papers during the same chat session. You can now extract specific results from a PDF and then query our wider research database of more than 220 Mio research papers to find additional studies or related findings. All in one chat session.

Compare information side-by-side, assess trends across sources, and easily compile the results in a structured format for deeper insights.

---

Why Pearl Update?

This update of scienceOS is dedicated to Judea Pearl, who is considered a pioneer in Bayesian networks allowing for the integration of different sources of information. Pearl made significant contributions to probabilistic reasoning.

---

A reworked website.

Our website has been updated to provide more in-depth information about the AI research assistant tools. You can now find dedicated pages for the AI Science Chat, AI PDF Chat, and an About Us section, which includes details on how we support nonprofits.

We invite you to explore the new scienceOS website and learn more about our work and how we can support your research.

---

With the advancement of AI models, we had long hoped to offer a better free plan. Finally, the time has arrived: with the Berners-Lee Update we are adding a free version to the scienceOS Assistant. Free users can now ask up to four questions per chat!

Over the course of the last weeks, we started evaluating the power of smaller AI models. We found one which helps us provide a better free plan. With this small AI model, we can support short conversations and offer free users up to four questions per chat. Then, free users need to start a new chat.

The small model is not powerful enough to support working with PDF documents and to sustain some further features. For these tasks, we need to make use of our best model.

By subscribing to the Angel plan, you will always use our best model with unlimited access to all features. You can upload up to eight PDFs during an Assistant session and ask as many questions per chat as you want to.

Further, we aim to make it easier to understand what you can do with scienceOS. With the launch of the free Assistant chat, we removed the free Search. All your saved searches have been translated into saved chats.

This means, we brought all the exciting features of the old Search to the chat: long lists of sources and citation networks are now available in the Assistant. Further, we implemented an analysis of all citations for a given source to help you get a quick overview about the quality of a source.

We hope this makes using scienceOS less complex.

---

Why Berners-Lee Update?

This update of scienceOS is dedicated to Tim Berners-Lee, who is considered the inventor of the World Wide Web. Berners-Lee created the WWW to be a system of sharing information that anyone can access for free.

---

Improvements and bug fixes.

We added an Angel Team license for scienceOS, improved the sidebar, and fixed citation network bugs.

Improvements

• The Angel Team plan offers six Angel plans for less than the cost of five
• Improved the sidebar

Bug fixes

• Fixed bugs where citation networks would not render correctly

---

The Hearst Update allows you to upload up to eight PDF files into a scienceOS Assistant chat session. This will help you with research tasks such as comparing the results data and synthesizing information from multiple research papers. You can also create tables and diagrams based on multiple PDFs.

Further, after uploading a research paper, scienceOS will automatically create a brief summary of the PDF in text and slide format.

---

Why Hearst Update?

This update of scienceOS is dedicated to Marti Hearst, who is known for her work in information retrieval and text mining. Hearst’s research advanced our ability to compare and synthesize data from multiple sources.

---

New source details.

We are moving towards a more intuitive scienceOS. Our goal is to make it easier to understand what you can do with scienceOS. When we started, there was only the Search. Then, we added the Assistant, the library, and today a multi-PDF chat.

Over the last months, we learned that the difference between the Search and the Assistant is not easy to understand. This is against our core value “Simplicity”. Therefore, we are harmonizing the source details for the Search and the Assistant: paper networks and citation quotes are now available in both tools.

The major difference between both tools is now that you can ask follow-up questions and upload up to eight PDFs in the Assistant, but the Search is for free.

---

Improvements and bug fixes.

We added new features to the scienceOS library, improved the power and speed of the search algorithm, and fixed a Windows 7/8 bug for Chrome users.

Improvements

• The AI agent can now write a summary of the abstracts in your library
• Increased the speed and power of the search algorithm
• Added notes to better communicate what is stored in My library

Bug fixes

• Fixed a critical bug for users with Windows 7/8 and old Chrome versions

---

The Bates Update introduces a new way to interact with research papers in scienceOS: ‘Library Chat‘. By activating the ‘library’ mode in the Assistant or in the Search, you can now restrict scienceOS to answer all questions based on the papers in your library.

Further, in the Assistant, you can activate and deactivate the ‘library’ mode during the same session. You may use this to find papers that support or criticize answers based on your library. Vice versa, you may quickly check an answer from all research papers with the help of the papers in your library. 

---

Why Bates Update?

This update of scienceOS is dedicated to Marcia J Bates, who is known for the development of the berrypicking model. Bates’ research into information search tactics made significant contributions to cognitive models of information retrieval.

---

Bulk upload and library changes.

The library chat requires you to import some research papers to your library. We added a simple way to upload up to 1000 papers to your scienceOS library. Use the import function in ‘My library’ to upload a BibTex or RIS export file from your reference manager or paste a list of DOIs into the import table.

Further, we split the old library into two parts: ‘My library’ and ‘Starred’. Sources will now be added to ‘My library’ by clicking the bookmark icon, and answers will be added to ‘Starred’ by clicking the star icon. Store research papers in your library to interact with them through the library chat, and save answers to your starred folder to come back to them at a later time.

---

Improvements and bug fixes.

We added new features to the scienceOS library, improved the power and speed of the search algorithm, and fixed a Windows 7/8 bug for Chrome users.

Improvements

• Added 4 Mio new research papers to scienceOS
• Increased the context window of scienceOS
• Increased the maximum input length in the Assistant

Bug fixes

• Fixed bugs related to wrong source formatting

---

The Bush Update introduces a new tool to scienceOS: ‘My library‘. In your library, you can store answers and sources that you would like to retain. Just click the little ‘star’ icon next to an answer or inside the source pop-up. This works the same way in the Assistant and the Search. You do not require an Angel subscription to use ‘My library’.

‘My library’ and the copy-to-clipboard button provide the same solutions as ‘My notes’ in scienceOS. With our next update, we will remove ‘My notes’ from scienceOS to reduce redundancy and complexity in scienceOS. Please make sure to copy all relevant information within the next 2-3 weeks.

---

Why Bush Update?

This update of scienceOS is dedicated to Vannevar Bush, who is considered as laying the groundwork for the development of hypertext and the World Wide Web. Bush shaped the way we store and access knowledge in the digital age.

---

Faster Assistant for all.

Thank you to our scienceOS Angels. You help us to ensure the sustainability of scienceOS and continue building helpful research tools. With your support, we were able to speed up the Assistant for all scienceOS users. Your contribution makes scienceOS faster for everyone.

---

Multi-language support.

Over the course of the last weeks, we improved the multi-language support of scienceOS. Now, scienceOS aims to answer in the same language as the input question. We hope to make things simpler for you.

---

Improvements and bug fixes.

We fixed bugs related to the paper networks in Search and improved working with PDFs in the scienceOS AI research assistant.

Improvements

• Added a full-screen mode to the PDF viewer
• Added a PDF preview when uploading a new PDF

Bug fixes

• Fixed bugs where the paper network would not work

---

The Nissenbaum Update introduces a new in-text citation format in the Assistant which shows the first author’s name and the publication year. Further, the update adds a “copy” button to all answers and sources. The copy button enables you to copy single sources or full answers including the cited sources.

---

Why Nissenbaum Update?

This update of scienceOS is dedicated to Helen Nissenbaum, who is known for improving our understanding of transparency. Nissenbaum made notable contributions to the ethical and social implications of transparency in digital systems.

---

Faster Assistant for scienceOS Angel subscribers.

Thank you to all scienceOS Angel subscribers. You help us to ensure the sustainability of scienceOS and continue building user-friendly research tools. With your support, we were able to speed up the Assistant for Angel subscribers. As a scienceOS Angel, the Assistant will provide answers up to 3x faster than before.

---

Improvements and bug fixes.

We fixed bugs related to the PDF chat of and implemented changes to improve accessing information about scienceOS and subscribing to the Angel plan.

Improvements

• Reworked the website to include a feedback function and FAQ section
• Added PayPal as additional payment method

Bug fixes

• Fixed bugs where the upload of a PDF would fail
• Fixed bugs where the Assistant would not find relevant data in a PDF
• Fixed bugs in the PDF viewer which occured for very long PDFs

---

The Tenopir Update allows you to upload a PDF document into a scienceOS Assistant chat session. In scienceOS Assistant, you can now chat with a research paper, and create tables and diagrams based on the information contained in the PDF document. All answers will be grounded in the document and properly referenced with links to the respective pages in the PDF.

---

Why Tenopir Update?

This update of scienceOS is dedicated to Carol Tenopir, who is particularly known for her work on scholarly communication. Tenopir made significant contributions to understanding the role and use of electronic resources and digital information in academic settings.

---

The scienceOS Angel subscription.

We founded scienceOS to build user-friendly research tools that assist scientists in addressing global challenges. To improve existing tools and develop new ones, some features require fair financial contributions to ensure the sustainability of scienceOS.

The scienceOS Assistant uses advanced AI services to provide scientific answers, generate diagrams, and enable chatting with PDFs. Unlimited use of the Assistant will need to be covered by an “Angel” subscription.

The Angel subscription, priced at $7.95/month + taxes, will launch on or after April 1st, 2024.

We understand this may be disappointing and pledge that funds from Angel subscribers will only be used to cover costs, the development of new tools, and sustain a share of free tools.

Thank you for considering becoming a scienceOS Angel. Your support will help us develop scienceOS and contribute to a world where scientists can swiftly tackle global challenges.

---

Improvements and bug fixes.

We fixed a series of bugs related to the history sidebar and implemented changes to improve the clarity of the existing tools in scienceOS.

Improvements

• “Chat with papers” has been renamed and is now called “Assistant”
• “Find papers” has been renamed and is now called “Search”

Bug fixes

• Fixed multiple bugs where the history sidebar did not behave as expected

---

The Sacks Update adds a new tool to scienceOS: Chat with papers. In Chat with papers, you can ask follow-up questions, and create tables and diagrams. As in Find papers, the answers of scienceOS will be grounded in millions of scientific publications and properly referenced.

---

Why Sacks Update?

This update of scienceOS is dedicated to Harvey Sacks, who is considered the founder of conversation analysis. Sacks made significant contributions to understanding the sequential organization of talk and how participants in conversations collaboratively create meaning through their interaction.