Papers is a reference management software available for

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

and

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

. It was designed to facilitate the management of bibliographies and

references A reference is a relationship between Object (philosophy), objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object. The first object in this relation is said to ''refer to'' the second object. ...

for essays and articles. The software's primary function is to organize references and maintain a

digital library A digital library (also called an online library, an internet library, a digital repository, a library without walls, or a digital collection) is an online database of digital resources that can include text, still images, audio, video, digital ...

PDF Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe Inc., Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, computer hardware, ...

documents.

Overview

Papers was developed by Alexander Griekspoor and Tom Groothuis while studying towards their PhD diplomas at the

Netherlands Cancer Institute The Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI) in Amsterdam was founded in 1913 by, among others, the surgeon Jacob Rotgans. The NKI, together with the Antoni van Leeuwenhoekziekenhuis, is formed into the NKI-AVL, which combines a scientific research inst ...

. The pair worked on Papers to provide an approach to document management that was similar to the

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

application on macOS, after they were faced with hundreds of digital publications in PDF format. Papers was originally released as a public preview in February 2007, followed by the full 1.0 version a few months later. In 2013, a new version of the

software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

was released, along with a new Apple app. Both products received a considerable amount of criticism from users, who experienced a number of issues, ranging from lost databases and annotations to incompatibility between mobile and desktop apps. Users criticized Mekentosj and Springer, the developer and owner of Papers, respectively, for releasing a

beta version The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...

of the software and the pace at which they addressed many issues that rendered the software effectively unusable. On March 16, 2016, ReadCube acquired Papers from Springer Nature for an undisclosed amount. ReadCube Papers has been available since Fall 2019.

Versions

Mac

With the release of Papers 2 in March 2011, Papers provides

EndNote EndNote is a commercial reference management software package, used to manage bibliography, bibliographies and Citation, references when writing essays, reports and articles. EndNote was written by Richard Niles, and ownership changed hands se ...

style reference citation features. It also allows users to access their library and insert citations across a variety of different applications, whether in documents, presentations, or in web browsers. Papers offers a number of features for collecting, curating, merging and linking articles. Papers 3, a new version for Mac was released in late 2013. This version introduces a redesigned user interface and

Dropbox Dropbox is a file hosting service operated by the American company Dropbox, Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, California, that offers cloud storage, file synchronization, personal cloud, and Client (computing), client software. Dropbox w ...

based syncing, which has subsequently been expanded to other

cloud-based Cloud computing is "a paradigm for enabling network access to a scalable and elastic pool of shareable physical or virtual resources with self-service provisioning and administration on-demand," according to International Organization for ...

repositories. As of November 1st, 2018, Papers 3 is no longer available for sale and is no longer being actively developed. The new version of Papers is developed by ReadCube. It is primarily used to organize references and maintain a library of PDF documents and also provides a uniform interface for document repository searches, metadata editing, full screen reading and, a variety of ways to import and export documents.

Windows

Papers 2 for Windows was first released in 2012. A new version, now Papers 3 for Windows, was released late July 2014 following the redesign of the Mac and iOS applications earlier. This version was intended to streamline the user experience and the features available from the Mac application. Papers 3 for Windows also added unified search to its platform. It supported Dropbox syncing between Mac and iOS devices running Papers 3 as well as Papers Online. The Windows version of Papers 3 has been withdrawn from sale and is no longer available.

Browser

An online version of Papers runs on most modern Web browsers. Users can access their library by signing in through institutional or personal email addresses. Libraries have the ability to sync automatically and have unlimited cloud storage.

iPhone and iPad

Versions of Papers are available for free from the Apple App Store for

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

and

iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...

. A version was released with the launch of Papers 3 for Mac and features unified search on the iOS app. The latest version of Papers is available on the

Mac App Store The Mac App Store (also known as the App Store) is a digital distribution platform for macOS apps, often referred to as Mac apps, created and maintained by Apple. The platform was announced on October 20, 2010, at Apple's "Back to the Mac" eve ...

. This version includes the article management features, and adds freehand annotations and supports Apple Pencil to the standard annotation features. Papers for iOS can be synchronized via a cloud storage system provided by ReadCube.

Android

A version of Papers is available for Android users and can be downloaded via

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...

. It automatically syncs to the Papers desktop and web applications. Papers is a

NoSQL NoSQL (originally meaning "Not only SQL" or "non-relational") refers to a type of database design that stores and retrieves data differently from the traditional table-based structure of relational databases. Unlike relational databases, which ...

-like storage for Java/Kotlin objects on Android with automatic schema migration support.

Papers Online (legacy)

Papers Online was a set of services released in conjunction with Papers 3 for Windows. It worked across a variety of platforms and offered users a means of sharing collections of articles. Papers 3 users could create shared collections, and access them from most devices. Shared collections were accessible by other Papers 3 users as well as individuals who were not currently using Papers 3. This version is no longer available.

Awards

Papers won an Apple Design Award in 2007, for best Mac OS X Scientific Computing Solution.

References

External links

* {{Reference management software Reference management software Proprietary software for macOS Proprietary software for Windows