Research is more than a paper.

Global Journal Club is where scientists discuss research: a discussion on every paper, open topic discussions for bigger questions, and private groups for your lab or journal club.

The JC extension allows you to discover and share insights while you read papers in Chrome or Brave.

Add to Chrome ✓ Extension installed — open any paper to see its discussion.

FreeWe never sell your data

Fig. 1
  1. Open the sidebar on any paper
  2. Share it to your group’s library
  3. Ask Synapse AI a question
  4. The answer is posted for your group
How Global Journal Club works

Two kinds of discussion. One community.

Every paper has one

Paper discussions

Each paper has its own discussion. Ask questions, share insights, and send questions straight to the author. Works for any paper with a DOI, plus PubMed, bioRxiv, medRxiv and arXiv.

In the extension Best wayThe discussion opens beside the paper while you read, in Chrome or Brave.
Add to Chrome
On the websitePaste a link, DOI, or title. Works on any device.
Find a paper
For bigger questions

Topic discussions

Ask the community about anything in research that isn’t tied to one paper: methods, models, ideas. Synapse AI can give a first answer.

  • What are the best mouse models to study accelerated aging?
  • How do you handle batch effects in single-cell data from different labs?
Ask the community
Your lab, journal club, or interest group

Begin your journal club today.

Share papers to your group’s library and talk about them with members-only comments. Each paper discussion is saved and catalogued, so you can go back anytime.

  • A shared library of papers to read
  • Members-only comments on any paper
  • Send topics to your group
  • Invite people with a link — you approve who joins
Browse public groups

Moving research forward, together.

Ask the author

Send questions with one click — no searching or drafting emails. All answers are publicly posted.

Discuss together

Share papers with your lab, collaborators, or research community — you decide who sees your posts.

Get credit for your insights (your JC Impact score)

Share your knowledge and experience to grow your scientific profile.

Take notes

Easily take notes while you read. When you’re on the paper again, you’ll be reminded of your notes.

In the extension

Ask Synapse AI beta

When you share a paper with your group, ask Synapse AI for its main claim and the strongest alternative hypothesis, or ask your own question.

Synapse AI@synapse

Heterochronic heart transplants in mice show the graft’s epigenetic age shifting toward the recipient’s.

Alternative hypothesis: the shift reflects cell composition. Recipient immune cells infiltrate the graft and carry the recipient’s age…

Topic discussions

Ask the community anything.

Some questions are bigger than one paper. Start a topic and researchers from every field can weigh in. Post under your name, a pseudonym, or as a guest.

  • Ask Synapse AI for a first answer, reviewed by the JC team
  • Send a topic to your groups so they see it in their digest
  • Watch a topic to hear about new posts
Start a topic Browse topics
Fig. 3The Topics page (example questions).
Paper discussions on the website

Ask a question or share an insight on any paper

No extension needed: paste a link, DOI, or title. Journal sites, PubMed, bioRxiv, medRxiv and arXiv all work.

Questions

Is Global Journal Club free?

Yes. The website and the Chrome extension are both free.

What’s the difference between a paper discussion and a topic?

A paper discussion belongs to one paper: every paper with a DOI, plus PubMed, bioRxiv, medRxiv and arXiv, has its own. A topic is a question that isn’t about one paper, such as which methods or models to use, and lives on the Topics page. Topics are always public; you can send one to your groups so they see it in their digest.

Do I need the extension?

No. You can read, comment, run groups and ask authors questions right here on the website, from any device. The extension is for when you’re reading on a computer: it lets you know when a paper you’re reading has comments or groups discussing it. It also lets you view the discussion alongside the paper and keep private notes.

Who can see what I post?

You choose each time. Public comments can be read by anyone. Comments posted to a group are visible only to that group’s members. Notes in the extension are visible only to you.

What’s the number next to my profile picture?

That’s your JC Impact: a running tally of what you’ve added to public discussions. A public comment or reply earns 1 point, plus 1 if it includes an image and 2 if it’s the first comment on that paper. Each upvote from someone else earns 1 more (the first 10 on any comment count). Starting a topic earns 3 points, each post or reply in a topic earns 2, and every 2 upvotes on your topic posts earn 1 more. Group-only comments, private notes and posts under a pseudonym don’t earn points, and deleting a post takes its points back. It’s the same number on the website and in the extension, and it shows on your profile.

Can I post without an account?

Yes — on the website you can post a public comment or reply as a guest, under an automatically chosen pseudonym. With a free account you can post under your own name, join groups and get notified when someone replies. Also, only logged-in users can send questions or comments to the author.

Which papers and browsers does it work with?

Any paper with a DOI, plus PubMed, PubMed Central, bioRxiv, medRxiv and arXiv. The website works in any browser. The extension works in Google Chrome or Brave on a computer.

What happens to my data?

We never sell your data. The extension reads the page you’re on only to work out which paper it is. See our privacy policy for the details.

Built by scientists, for scientists

Discover insights beyond what’s published.

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