Wispar

Wispar is a mobile application for Android and iOS that makes it easy to search for scientific publications. It uses the Crossref and OpenAlex APIs to locate academic articles without requiring user registration. The app integrates Unpaywall to identify open access versions and supports EZproxy to access content under institutional subscriptions.

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• Journal search. Lets you find scientific publications by title, ISSN, or subject area. Results show complete metadata, including publisher, publication frequency, and subject coverage.
• Journal tracking. Users can follow publications to receive updates when new articles are published. The system stores these records locally without requiring user accounts.
• Article search. Offers advanced filters to find academic works by author, keywords, publication date, or DOI. Queries can be saved for later reuse.
• Unpaywall integration. Automatically identifies open access versions through the Unpaywall service. Shows clear indicators when freely available copies exist.
• EZproxy support. Makes it easier to access subscription articles when the device is connected to institutional networks that use this authentication system.
• Zotero export. Includes functionality to send bibliographic references directly to the Zotero reference manager, preserving all metadata.
• Article download. Lets you store copies of scientific works locally for offline reading. Currently supported for a limited selection of publishers due to technical restrictions.
• Notifications. Sends alerts when followed journals publish new content. Updates run in the background according to the user's settings.
• Abstract extraction. When the metadata does not include an abstract, the app can automatically extract it from the full document when available.
• Export/import. Lets you back up the local database and transfer it between devices. Keeps all configured preferences and followed journals.
• Advanced filters. Offers multiple criteria to organize and sort search results, including date, relevance, document type, and access availability.
• Sharing. Generates permanent links to articles and journals that can be sent to other researchers or included in academic documents.

Wispar began development in 2023 as a project to simplify access to scientific literature on mobile devices. The app is built with Flutter, enabling cross-platform support for Android and iOS. The source code is publicly available and accepts contributions, especially translations into new languages via Weblate. Planned improvements include expanding support for more publishers for direct PDF downloads and implementing deep links.

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