About Atlas
Our Mission
Atlas exists to bring the conversation around research out into the open. Every day, thousands of papers appear on arXiv covering breakthroughs in physics, mathematics, computer science, biology, and beyond. But the discourse around those papers (the questions, the critiques, the excitement) mostly happens behind closed doors: in lab meetings, private Slack channels, and email threads between colleagues.
We believe that discourse belongs in public. When a researcher can see which papers the community is reading, ask the authors questions directly, and build a profile around their intellectual interests, everyone benefits. Knowledge moves faster. Newcomers find their footing sooner. And the people doing the work get the recognition and feedback they deserve.
Atlas is not a social network in the conventional sense. There are no algorithmic feeds optimizing for engagement. No ads. No metrics designed to make you feel inadequate. It is, at its core, an intellectual utility: a place to curate what you read, share what you think, and connect with people who care about the same ideas you do.
Standing on the Shoulders of arXiv
None of this would be possible without arXiv, the open-access preprint repository founded by Paul Ginsparg at Cornell University in 1991. What began as a small server for high-energy physics preprints has grown into one of the most important institutions in modern science, a commons where researchers share their work freely with the world, before and often instead of traditional journal publication.
arXiv demonstrated that science thrives when access is open and friction is low. Over two million papers and counting, all freely available, covering every quantitative discipline. It changed the culture of research itself. Cornell's stewardship of arXiv, and its ongoing commitment to keeping the archive open, reliable, and free, is one of the great contributions to the scientific enterprise.
Atlas is built on top of arXiv's public API and open metadata. We are not affiliated with arXiv or Cornell University, but we are deeply grateful for the infrastructure and ethos they have given the world. Our goal is to complement arXiv by adding a social layer: making it easier for people to discuss, discover, and rally around the research that matters to them.
Acknowledgement
Thank you to arXiv for use of its open access interoperability. This service was not reviewed or approved by, nor does it necessarily express or reflect the policies or opinions of, arXiv.
The arXiv name and logo are registered trademarks of arXiv and Cornell University. Atlas is not affiliated with arXiv or Cornell University.
What You Can Do on Atlas
- •Browse a chronological feed of the latest arXiv papers, filtered by category
- •Bookmark papers and build curated reading collections
- •Upvote and downvote papers to surface the most impactful work
- •Comment on papers and engage in public discussion
- •See comments and votes from people you follow in your Following feed
- •Follow researchers and build a profile around your intellectual interests
- •Keep private notes on papers for your own reference
Atlas is young and evolving. If you have ideas, feedback, or just want to say hello, we'd love to hear from you. This is a community project built by people who love research and believe the conversation around it should be as open as the papers themselves.