RefGraph

Recursive reference explorer — visualize citation networks from DOIs and Zotero.

Try it Now View on GitHub
RefGraph showing a citation network graph

Features

Input

Multiple input sources

Paste DOIs for instant lookup via CrossRef, or import directly from your Zotero library.

Explore

Recursive exploration

Double-click any reference node to expand it as a full paper with its own references. Follow citation chains as deep as you want.

Discover

Shared references

Automatically detects overlapping citations between papers. Find the foundational works that connect different research threads.

Visualize

Five view modes

Graph, Timeline, Tree, Overlap, and List views — each offers a different lens on your citation data.

Filter

Year filtering & search

Filter references by publication year. Search and highlight matching nodes across all views.

Customize

Tunable graph physics

Adjust repulsion strength, link distance, node size, and label style. Collapse the sidebar for a full-screen graph experience.

Views

Timeline view

Timeline

See when references were published across a zoomable time axis. Each paper gets its own color-coded lane. Zoom in with Ctrl+scroll to see individual years.

Overlap analysis

Overlap Analysis

Instantly discover which references appear across multiple papers. Color-coded badges show which papers share each citation — revealing the intellectual common ground.

Quick Start

# Clone and run
git clone https://github.com/marvynbailly/ReferenceGraph.git
cd ReferenceGraph
npm install
npm run dev

Open localhost:5173 and paste a DOI to get started.