BIP! Services account

In a nutshell

A BIP! Services account is free of charge and provides access to advanced functionalities (e.g., personal library management, AI features), as well as options for customising the services according to your individual needs. A single account gives you access to all BIP! Services. Once you sign in to one service, you are automatically signed in to the other BIP! Services as well.

Create a BIP! Services account

There are two options for creating a BIP! Services account: using local credentials or linking your ORCID account. If you choose the first option, you will need to create and remember a password for your BIP! Services account. If you choose the second option, you can sign in to BIP! Services using your ORCID account credentials, without the need to create a separate password.

A) Local credentials approach. Click the "Log In" button in the top-right of the BIP! Services website. Then, click the "Sign up" option that exists in the Login page.

Sign up

Fill out the required fields in the form, select whether you would like to create a BIP! Scholar profile, and click the "Sign Up" button. After you confirm your email address, you will have your own BIP! Services account.

B) Linking ORCID approach. Click the "Log In" button in the top-right of the BIP! Services website. Then, click the "Or login with ORCID" option. You will be redirected to ORCID for authentication.

When you choose to sign in using ORCID, BIP! Services does not store or have access to your ORCID password or other authentication credentials. Instead, ORCID acts as an identity provider (authentication intermediary). When you select the ORCID sign-in option, you are redirected to ORCID to authenticate securely using your ORCID credentials. Once authentication is successfully completed, ORCID sends BIP! Services a secure confirmation of your identity, along with the information that has been authorised for sharing. BIP! Services uses this information to sign you in and associate your ORCID identity with your BIP! Services account.

Customise your BIP! Services account

You can customise various parameters related to the functionality and behaviour of the BIP! Services to create a personalised experience that better suits your needs. To access the customisation options, first sign in to your account. Then, click on your username in the top-right corner of the user interface and select "Settings". From there, you can configure:

  • Finder result ranking: Choose how keyword relevance is combined with impact indicators when ordering search results (Combined (impact & keywords), Impact only, or Keywords only).
  • Scholar profile settings: Toggle your profile visibility (public or private) or unlink your ORCID record.
  • Privacy preferences: Manage analytics tracking preferences and review the privacy policy.
  • Account & AI features: Enable or disable the AI assistant, choose your preferred AI model (all available models are hosted locally on BIP! Services servers), change your password, or generate an API authentication token.

Delete your BIP! Services account

If you wish to delete your account and all data associated with it that is stored by the BIP! Services, please submit your request to bip@athenarc.gr. Our support team will process your request as soon as possible.

Reset your password

Click the "Log In" button in the top-right corner of the BIP! Services website. On the Login page, click the "Forgot Password?" option. Enter your email address and follow the instructions provided in the email you receive. These instructions will guide you through the process of setting a new password for your account.

BIP! Finder

In a nutshell

BIP! Finder is an advanced academic search engine that allows literature exploration and scientific knowledge discovery across scientific domains. It is built upon the OpenAIRE Graph, a comprehensive knowledge base of scientific publications and research outputs.

The environment offers advanced search functionalities for research products (publications, datasets, software, etc.):

  • Keyword & Boolean queries: End-users can use keywords and rich query syntax to search for a topic of interest (by default, untagged keywords search across titles and abstracts):
    • Boolean operators: Operators AND, OR, and NOT (written in capital letters) can be used to combine keywords according to the desired query semantics. To exclude a term or phrase, you can also use the - or ! prefix placed immediately before the keyword or phrase without a space (e.g., -survey, !"case report"). Parentheses (...) can be used to group expressions.
    • Implicit AND across fields: Space-separated keywords are combined with an implicit AND operator and can match across the title and abstract of the same record.
    • Exact phrases & proximity search: Double quotes "..." search for appearances of the enclosed keywords as an exact phrase match. Appending ~N to a phrase (e.g., "machine learning"~3) performs a proximity search, matching terms that appear within N words of each other.
    • Wildcards: The * placeholder (matching zero or more characters, e.g., neuro*) can be used within or at the end of terms for prefix or pattern matching.
    • Fielded search (authors, DOI, title, abstract): By default, searches check only titles and abstracts. To search by author or DOI, or to restrict keywords to a single text field, use the prefixes authors:, doi:, title:, or abstract: (e.g., authors:Vergoulis, authors:"Thanasis Vergoulis", doi:10.1145/3357384.3357850, title:transformer). Simple keywords can be freely combined with prefixed clauses in the same query (e.g., "machine learning" AND authors:Vergoulis).
    • Researcher profile recommendations: When the entered keywords match one or more researcher profiles in BIP! Scholar, BIP! Finder displays an extra recommendation banner above the results (separate from the publication result set) linking directly to those profiles.
  • Filtering & facet exploration: Users can refine search results using the collapsible Filters sidebar by:
    • Impact indicator classes (Top 0.01%, Top 0.1%, Top 1%, Top 10%, or All) for Popularity, Influence, Citation Count, and Impulse.
    • Research product types (Publication, Dataset, Software, Other) and Open Access availability.
    • NLM / PubMed publication types (e.g., Systematic Review, Clinical Trial, Meta-Analysis, Randomized Controlled Trial).
    • Publication year range (Start Year and End Year) and auto-generated research Topics (OpenAlex concepts), complemented by an interactive overview of the top topics present in the results.
  • Impact-based ranking: End-users can change the default ranking scheme for the results. An array of impact indicators (detailed here), combined with keyword relevance, are among the options. This supports diverse literature exploration scenarios: for instance, a student drafting a survey on a topic may prioritise works with high influence, while an experienced researcher revisiting the same topic may prefer to focus on recent works with high popularity. Registered users can also adjust in their account settings whether ordering uses Combined (impact & keywords), Impact only, or Keywords only relevance.

The search results appear as a list of rows. Each row displays valuable metadata for the respective research product, impact badges, links to full text and related datasets/software, a bookmark menu to save and organise the work in BIP! Library, and a comparison checkbox to inspect multiple works side by side. A snapshot of the search interface can be found below.

BIP! Finder UI

Search strategies (export, translation & saving to Library)

In BIP! Finder, a search strategy captures the complete specification of a search—the executed Boolean/keyword query together with all active filters (publication years, product types, Open Access availability, NLM types, topics, and impact tiers). Whenever a search returns results, two action buttons appear next to the search bar to support reproducible literature searches, systematic reviews, and ongoing monitoring:

  • Export & translate search strategy (): Opens the Export Search Strategy dialog, designed to help researchers document their searches for systematic review methodology (aligned with PRISMA-S) or run equivalent searches across other bibliographic databases:
    • Methods Record & JSON export: Generates a structured plain-text report recording the database name, exact search timestamp (with UTC offset), total results retrieved, underlying OpenAIRE Graph version and index snapshot date, executed query, active filters, and ranking notes. Users can copy this record directly into a manuscript's methods section or download a machine-readable JSON file aligned with the Haddaway et al. (2022) schema.
    • Cross-database query translation: Automatically translates the BIP! Finder query and compatible filters into native query syntax for PubMed, OpenAlex (OQL), Scopus, and Web of Science. Any database-specific adjustments or unsupported filters (such as BIP! citation impact tiers) are explicitly noted below the translated query.
  • Save results & search strategy in BIP! Library (, for registered users): When a search returns fewer than 3,000 results, registered users can save the entire result set—together with the search strategy that produced it—as a new list in BIP! Library (all included works are also added to the user's bookmarks). From BIP! Library, the saved search strategy can be inspected, exported, or re-executed in BIP! Finder at any time to check for newly indexed publications.

AI-generated summaries (for registered users)

Registered BIP! Finder end-users who have enabled the AI assistant in their account settings have the option to ask for AI-generated summaries of the top search results. This can be done by clicking on the “Summarize top results” button placed at the top-right corner of the search results section. The summaries are generated by a generative AI model (which users can select in Settings from models hosted locally on BIP! Services infrastructure) that synthesises the titles and abstracts from the top-k search results with inline citations. By default, k is set to 5, but users can adjust this value to regenerate the summary based on a different number of results. Please note that a daily quota limits the number of summaries each user can produce, and a counter displays the remaining allowance.

This feature offers an interesting use case: comparing summaries generated using different ranking schemes. For example, a substantial difference in the narrative between summaries based on popularity versus influence ranking could indicate a shift in the prevailing literature's focus over time.

BIP! Library

In a nutshell

BIP! Library is a personal research library service for organising and curating lists of works. It enables researchers to bookmark research works of interest, organise them into curated lists, enrich them with personal notes, tags, and reading status indicators, and share or discover public lists of works across the research community.

Bookmarks & annotations

Signed-in users can bookmark any research work directly from search results in BIP! Finder, BIP! Spaces, or BIP! Scholar by clicking the bookmark icon () on a result card. In BIP! Finder and BIP! Library, clicking a bookmarked work's icon opens an Organise in lists menu, allowing you to assign the work to one or more lists—or create a new list on the spot—without leaving the page.

All bookmarked works are accessible under All bookmarks in My Library, where you can enrich and explore your collection:

  • Reading status: Track your progress on each work by setting its status to Undefined, To Read, Reading, or Read.
  • User-defined tags: Attach custom tags to categorise works according to your own projects, themes, or workflows.
  • Personal notes: Add rich-text notes to capture insights, summaries, or quotes for any bookmarked work. Personal notes are stored encrypted at rest and are visible only to you.
  • Faceted filtering & visualisations: Filter your bookmarks (or any list) using the Filters sidebar by Topics, User-defined tags, Reading status, Open Access availability, and Work type. Interactive radar and doughnut charts () let you visualise the distribution of topics, tags, and reading statuses across the collection.

Creating & managing lists of works

Lists help you group bookmarked works into structured collections (e.g., to screen papers for a literature review, organise references for a project, or maintain a reading list). Note that every work in a list is also part of your All bookmarks collection. You can create a list in three ways:

  • From My Library or the bookmark menu: Click + New list in the Bookmarks & lists sidebar of My Library, or use the + Add new list option inside any paper's bookmark dropdown in BIP! Finder.
  • From filtered bookmarks: In All bookmarks, apply one or more filters in the sidebar (e.g., a specific tag or topic) and click Create list from filtered papers to populate a new list with all matching bookmarks.
  • From a BIP! Finder search strategy: Click the Save results in a list in BIP! Library () button next to the search box in BIP! Finder (available when a query returns fewer than 3,000 results). This creates a new list containing all matching works and attaches the underlying search strategy to the list.

List owners can customise and manage each list using the controls in the list header:

  • List settings (): Edit the list's title, description (including an Autogenerate with AI option that synthesises an overview of the works in the list), cover banner image, default sorting criterion (list order, publication year, or impact indicators), pagination size (20 to 200 papers per page), and an optional memorable URL suffix (slug).
  • Custom paper ordering (): Switch to reordering mode to arrange works in a custom sequence via drag-and-drop or quick-move actions (Top, Bottom, Move to...). Large lists automatically use a compact reordering view with a quick-find filter.
  • Inspecting & re-running search strategies (): For lists created from BIP! Finder search results, click the chess-knight icon in the header to view, export, or translate the saved search strategy, or click Search again in BIP! Finder to re-execute the exact query and filters on the latest index.
  • Duplicating & deleting ( / ): Copy an existing list into a new one or delete a list (deleting a list does not remove its papers from All bookmarks).

Sharing, discovering & following lists

By default, new lists are private () and visible only to their owner. List owners can click the lock icon in the list header to make a list public () at any time:

  • Exploring public lists: Public lists can be shared via their URL and are searchable by title or description from the BIP! Library landing page.
  • Saving lists from other researchers: When viewing another user's public list, registered users can click + Add to saved to pin the list under the Saved lists section of their own Library sidebar for easy access. List owners can see how many other users have saved their public lists ().
  • RSS / Atom feeds (): Every public list provides an Atom feed URL (accessible via the RSS icon in the list header) so colleagues and feed readers can follow updates to the list.

BIP! Scholar

In a nutshell

BIP! Scholar enables researchers to create academic profiles showcasing their research activities and career achievements, enriched with contextual information such as CRediT roles, indicators, and narratives. The platform provides a range of profile templates that go beyond traditional publication-based CVs, including track-record, narrative, and hybrid formats, supporting more responsible and inclusive representations of research careers. Many templates can also be dynamically customised by viewers to focus on specific topics, roles, or types of research activity. Finally, research assessment experts, exploring new ways to assess and represent research contributions, can create and share their own profile templates, invite volunteer researchers to use them, and gather real-world feedback to refine and improve their ideas.

Create a profile

Go to the main BIP! Scholar page, sign in and, then, click the "Create Profile" button.

Create Scholar profile

On the new page, click "Link with your ORCID" and follow the ORCID system's instructions to grant permission for syncing your ORCID account with your BIP! Scholar profile.

That's it! Your BIP! Scholar profile is now created and includes all public records from your ORCID profile. By default, all profiles remain private for self-monitoring unless you choose to make them public for sharing with everyone.

Missing works

BIP! Scholar collects your works from the public items listed in your ORCID profile and matches them to OpenAIRE Graph nodes using their PIDs. If a work is missing from your BIP! Scholar profile, please make sure that: it is listed in your ORCID profile; it is marked as a public item in ORCID; and its ORCID metadata include a DOI. If all of these conditions are met, the work may simply not have been indexed by the OpenAIRE Graph yet.

BIP! Spaces

In a nutshell

Each BIP! Space is an academic search engine tailored for the needs of a specific organisation or community. More importantly, each space is connected with a knowledge base that encodes annotations related to the domain of interest determined by the organisation or community that owns it. A BIP! Space is created upon request (if you are interested, please send an email at bip@athenarc.gr).

Each BIP! Space offers the same advanced search, filtering, ranking, and search strategy capabilities as BIP! Finder, tailored to research products (publications, datasets, software, etc.) within the space's domain of interest:

  • End-users can use keywords, Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT, or - / ! prefixes without a space before the excluded term, as well as parentheses), exact phrases ("..."), proximity operators ("..."~N), wildcards (*), and field prefixes (title:, abstract:, authors:, doi:) to search for a topic of interest. When configured for a space, synonym or acronym expansion suggestions are also offered below the search box.
  • They can refine the search results by applying standard filters (e.g., impact indicator classes, research product types, Open Access availability, publication years, auto-generated topics) as well as space-specific filters such as data source providers and domain annotations.
  • Finally, end-users can change the default ranking scheme for the results using citation-based impact indicators (detailed here) combined with keyword relevance.

The search results appear as a list of rows. Each row displays valuable metadata for the respective research product including predetermined annotations from the connected knowledge base. A snapshot of the respective search interface, with the top results displayed, can be found below.

BIP! Spaces UI

AI-generated summaries (for registered users)

Registered BIP! Space end-users have also the option to ask for AI-generated summaries of the top search results. This can be done by clicking on the “Summarize top results” button placed at the top-right corner of the search results section. The summaries are generated by a generative AI model (hosted locally on BIP! Services infrastructure) that synthesises the titles and abstracts from the top-k search results. By default, k is set to 5, but users can adjust this value to regenerate the summary based on a different number of results. Please note that a daily quota limits the number of summaries each user can produce, and a counter displays the remaining allowance.

This feature offers an interesting use case: comparing summaries generated using different ranking schemes. For example, a substantial difference in the narrative between summaries based on popularity versus influence ranking could indicate a shift in the prevailing literature's focus over time.

Service feedback (for registered users, if enabled by the owner)

BIP! Space owners can enable the “Feedback Mode” to gather end-user input. This mode adds two distinct feedback mechanisms to the space:

  • Result Evaluation: Users can assess the relevance or appropriateness of search results by clicking the “✓” (tick) or “x” (cross) icon next to an entry.
  • Annotation Verification: Users confirm the correctness of an annotation by clicking “✓” or report an error by clicking “x”.

All feedback (“✓” or “x”) is immediately stored in the internal database upon clicking. Crucially, this feedback does not immediately alter the underlying database or knowledge base. Changes based on the collected feedback can be implemented later, upon request from the Space owner. If a feedback button was clicked accidentally, the user can click the same button again to cancel the submission.

Service configuration (for space owners)

Each space can be tailored according to the needs of the organisation or community that owns it. There are various customisation options related to:

  • The styling of the space (e.g., logo, color schemes).
  • The default search configuration (e.g., default ranking scheme and filters).

Apart from that, the space owner can determine the knowledge base to be used for the annotations, as well as the set of annotations to be displayed in the results. Currently, all these configurations are made by the BIP! Services support team after consultation with the space owner.