Explainpaper is exactly what it says it is and that is all it needs to be

I am not an academic. I work in science communication and a big part of my job is reading research papers and translating them for a general audience. The problem is that even with a science background, a lot of papers are dense enough that I spend half my time just unpacking the methodology before I can think about what it means.

Explainpaper is a simple tool with a clear purpose. You upload a PDF of any research paper. You highlight a passage, a sentence or a technical term that you do not fully understand. The AI explains it in plain language instantly. That is essentially the whole thing.

What makes it work well in practice is the follow-up chat feature. Once you have an explanation you can ask further questions and drill down into specifics without having to re-highlight or start over. The related resources it surfaces are also useful for going deeper when you need to understand the context behind a concept.