What is PubChase?

PubChase is a free search and recommendation tool for biomedical literature, accessible on the web and with your iOS or Android device. The PubChase algorithm refines your literature searches and gives you the most relevant results first. The algorithm learns and improves by considering the papers in your library, and recommends new literature just for you. With synchronized cloud storage of your article PDFs, you can search and access your library content and recommendations anywhere.

How do PubChase search results compare to PubMed search results?

The citations listed from a PubChase search are very similar to results given by PubMed, but with the most relevant results at the top of the list. If you’re curious, you can click the “Order By Date” to turn off the search algorithm. These results generally match the PubMed results. This option is also useful if you just want to find the most recent papers for a very specific search.

How does PubChase determine what is recommended to me?

Our algorithm relies on information associated with the articles in your library. If you’re a dermatologist searching for the keyword “yeast,” PubChase knows you’re probably more interested in topical fungal infections than in Saccharomyces genomics.

How many papers must be in the library to get personalized recommendations?

Most users begin receiving good recommendations after adding 100-200 articles to their library. However, your results may vary based on the breadth of your interests and how common your interests are with other users. Let’s say you’re interested characterization of mutation in cancer cells. This is a fairly specific, but widely studied, topic, and accordingly you should start seeing recommendations with only a few dozen papers. But the more narrow or boutique your particular research interests, the more articles it will take for the algorithm to understand what exactly you’re looking for.

What does the Social Cluster do?

PubChase recommends papers that it thinks just about Everyone will have some interest in. And as you grow your library, PubChase will recommend new articles for just you. However, users with broader interests should try out the Like Me option, which focuses on your interests, and then widens the results to users with interests similar to yours. If you have a large PubChase library, then you’re likely to see recommendations that are slightly beyond the scope you’re usually interested in. And if you have a small PubChase library, then the Like Me option will yield more results than the Me option.

How soon can I get recommendation after I add papers to my library?

Recommendations for Everyone are available with no library content. But for custom recommendations, it can take a few hours to process new recommendations. Once you have enough articles in your library, you should start receiving custom recommendations within a day.

Which databases are searched by PubChase?

For now, PubChase is a biomedical search engine, and we rely on the freely available Medline and PubMed databases. Though we are working to add search results from Google Scholar, arXiv, JSTOR and other archives that extend outside the biomedical literature.

What are the Life Sciences lists?

This is where PubChase lists the top new articles for a given research topic. We are in the process of expanding and allowing user customization of these lists. So, if you’re interested in a topic not already listed, let us know!

How often are the recommendations updated?

It depends on the user, but most days of the week see new articles published, and so most days of the week provide an opportunity for new PubChase recommendations!

Why are the recommendation lists for Medicine empty?

If you are a medical provider, you can already use PubChase for personal recommendations, if you add articles to your library. But we are trying to expand our recommendations to medical professionals as we have already with basic research scientists. As more medical professionals join PubChase, these lists will populate -- so, help us help you by inviting your colleagues to use PubChase!