# Augmenting Scientific Papers with Just-in-Time, Position-Sensitive Definitions of Terms and Symbols

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2009.14237 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2009.14237/

## Key facts

- Cited by 36 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 29 Sep 2020.

## Built on by (most cited first, 30 of 36)

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- [The Semantic Reader Project: Augmenting Scholarly Documents through AI-Powered Interactive Reading Interfaces](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.14334/) (2023)
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- [Steering AI-Driven Personalization of Scientific Text for General Audiences](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.09969/) (2024)
- [PAWLS: PDF Annotation With Labels and Structure](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.10281/) (2021)
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- [Exploring LLMs for Scientific Information Extraction Using The SciEx Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2512.10004/) (2025)
- [S2abEL: A Dataset for Entity Linking from Scientific Tables](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.00366/) (2023)
- [SciDaSynth: Interactive Structured Data Extraction from Scientific Literature with Large Language Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.13765/) (2024)
- [STEM-POM: Evaluating Language Models Math-Symbol Reasoning in Document Parsing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.00387/) (2024)
- [Attribution Gradients: Incrementally Unfolding Citations for Critical Examination of Attributed AI Answers](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.00361/) (2025)
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- [Attention is All They Need: Exploring the Media Archaeology of the Computer Vision Research Paper](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2209.11200/) (2022)
- [How Data Scientists Review the Scholarly Literature](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.03774/) (2023)
- [Complex Mathematical Symbol Definition Structures: A Dataset and Model for Coordination Resolution in Definition Extraction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.14660/) (2023)
- [From Nuisance to News Sense: Augmenting the News with Cross-Document Evidence and Context](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.04592/) (2023)
- [Beyond Text: Characterizing Domain Expert Needs in Document Research](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.12495/) (2025)
- [Stealing Creator's Workflow: A Creator-Inspired Agentic Framework with Iterative Feedback Loop for Improved Scientific Short-form Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.18805/) (2025)
- [TreeReader: A Hierarchical Academic Paper Reader Powered by Language Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2507.18945/) (2025)
- [Robust Multilingual Text-to-Pictogram Mapping for Scalable Reading Rehabilitation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2603.24536/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Despite the central importance of research papers to scientific progress, they can be difficult to read. Comprehension is often stymied when the information needed to understand a passage resides somewhere else: in another section, or in another paper. In this work, we envision how interfaces can bring definitions of technical terms and symbols to readers when and where they need them most. We introduce ScholarPhi, an augmented reading interface with four novel features: (1) tooltips that surface position-sensitive definitions from elsewhere in a paper, (2) a filter over the paper that "declutters" it to reveal how the term or symbol is used across the paper, (3) automatic equation diagrams that expose multiple definitions in parallel, and (4) an automatically generated glossary of important terms and symbols. A usability study showed that the tool helps researchers of all experience levels read papers. Furthermore, researchers were eager to have ScholarPhi's definitions available to support their everyday reading.