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Google Scholar PDF Reader

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81–90 of 165 posts

Re: Google Scholar PDF Reader

#81
post #6

Does anyone have any recommendations for good local PDF readers for Windows? I've been reading a lot of various papers recently, and clicking on a citation in Acrobat reader is very frustrating. The document scrolls to show the citation in view, but doesn't clearly show it in the long list that most papers have, and then I have to scroll up to where I was since it doesn't seem to have a working back feature.

Zotero's V7 reader is great, built on pdfjs (Mozillas pdf reader) and adds neat things like notations and dark mode.

I use Zotero and really like it, especially when working with others. This was the first thing that came into my mind on this thread.

Re: Google Scholar PDF Reader

#82
post #53

Does anyone have a research paper reading tool they're happy with? Zotero is what meets most of my needs but I wish I could organize the papers faster and I wish the annotation tools were better. AI-assisted reading is a plus too.

What does AI assisted reading mean to you?

Those "chat with a PDF" apps get me halfway there, but I'm more imagining something that can explain certain terms in the context of the paper, or automatically dive into the citations and pull explanations from them too.

Re: Google Scholar PDF Reader

#83

Can someone recommend an app for ipad that can read PDFs? I want to be able to bookmark using my browser but read it on my ipad. Sort of like "Save to pocket" extension.

I use Readdle Documents to sync PDF folders with my server PC via FTP. Free version supports PDF highlighting & simple annotations, basic file management, and automatically syncs back everything.

Re: Google Scholar PDF Reader

#84
post #53

Does anyone have a research paper reading tool they're happy with? Zotero is what meets most of my needs but I wish I could organize the papers faster and I wish the annotation tools were better. AI-assisted reading is a plus too.

I use Zotero with a bunch of useful Addons. Currently, scite is best available tool for research papers (at least in my field).

Re: Google Scholar PDF Reader

#85
post #53

Does anyone have a research paper reading tool they're happy with? Zotero is what meets most of my needs but I wish I could organize the papers faster and I wish the annotation tools were better. AI-assisted reading is a plus too.

I use a combination of Zotero, Locally Linked PDFs/Folder Structure, and SumatraPDFs (Comments etc.):

    folders:
        - for every literature search, create a folder with date and name
            - e.g. 2024-03-21_Quantum_Entanglement
            - use CTRL-SHIFT-DRAG to drop files into Zotero as Links, see [#77](https://github.com/zotero/zotero/issues/77)
            - You _can_ organize in Zotero, but you don't have to. Files can be linked
            to multiple Zotero folders (simply copy library entries in Zotero)
            - sync literature folder and zotero database with nextcloud to somewhere, for backup
    zotero:
        - disable sync
        - set “Base directory” (Preferences > Advanced > Files and Folders) to local literature folder
        - set PDF View to “System default” (Preferences > General > “Open PDFs using..”)
        - Enable recursive quick search in folders: go to Preferences > Advanced > Config Editor, search for `recursiveCollections`, double click (set to True)
        - use CTRL-Shift-C to copy bibliography to clipboard
        - Dark Theme:
            - https://github.com/Rosmaninho/Zotero-Dark-Theme
            - Go to `%AppData%\Zotero\Zotero\Profiles\` (`XXXXXXXX.default`)
            - Create `chrome` folder
            - Place the `userChrome.css`
            - Start Zotero
        - Add-Ons:
            - zotero-pdfkit
                - https://github.com/sharpevo/zotero-pdfkit/
                - allows to modify/select a “default” PDF attachment to be opened
            - ZoteroDuplicatesMerger
                - https://github.com/frangoud/ZoteroDuplicatesMerger
                - easier merging of duplicates
            - zotero-folder-import
                - https://github.com/retorquere/zotero-folder-import
                - bulk import PDFs from a folder
            - zotero-tag
                - https://github.com/windingwind/zotero-tag
                - allows to add stars to items (Num Key `1`, `2`, `3` etc.)
    - PDF Tools:
        - qpdf
            - removing passwords, unlocking PDFs, conversion
            - install in WSL with `apt-get install qpdf`
            - remove password with `qpdf --decrypt --password="" input.pdf output.pdf`
        - `SumatraPDF`
            - _Really_ fast Viewing of PDFs and adding annotations (highlight, comment etc.)
            - Highlight Text: `A`, Save to file: `CTRL+SHIFT+S`
            - it is much faster than Adobe Acrobat
        - [pdfplumber](https://github.com/jsvine/pdfplumber)
            - Awesome python package to extract tables from PDFs into data pipelines. Use with Jupyter Lab.
        - [PDF X-Change viewer](https://www.tracker-software.com/product/pdf-xchange-editor), `choco install pdfxchangeviewer`
            - for manual OCR of pages/PDFs

Re: Google Scholar PDF Reader

#86
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sioyek seems awesome, especially vim inspired features. Too bad u (undo) doesn't work and there doesn't seem to be a way to undo. Am I missing something or is it laking it?

I found this related issue: https://github.com/ahrm/sioyek/issues/633

Improved over that https://github.com/ahrm/sioyek/issues/1011

Re: Google Scholar PDF Reader

#88
post #53

Does anyone have a research paper reading tool they're happy with? Zotero is what meets most of my needs but I wish I could organize the papers faster and I wish the annotation tools were better. AI-assisted reading is a plus too.

I was also unhappy with how reference managers handle annotations. So I rolled my own app ( https://getcahier.com ), with highlight management integrated in the application. This enables me to extract highlights according to topics, organize them in notes using document elements (like collapsible notes and outlines) and use them to plan more complex arguments. This makes it much easier to read actively. On the paper…

Cahier looks great! Any plans to add backup/sync?

Also, is the data store encrypted at rest even when the app is actively being used?

Re: Google Scholar PDF Reader

#90

For me, reading papers requires deep focus. I have to have it physically printed out if I'm going to really read the whole thing.

I suggest you try new devices to read papers. Often the perception that paper is a better support is due to a lack of more convenient devices. Paper is better than a 15'' screen for sure, for many reasons including size and posture while reading. But have you tried larger screens (> 27''), large tablets (>= A4) or as large as possible E-Ink readers? Depending on your preferences, you might find that some of these work actually better than paper also for you :-)
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