PaperChaser

A Python tool for extracting and downloading academic paper references. Supports both single and two-column PDF formats.

Features

• Extract references from PDF files with support for:
  • Single and two-column layouts
  • Multiple reference formats (numbered, bracketed, author-year)
  • Smart reference section detection
• Download papers using:
  • DOI lookup
  • Title-based search
  • Multiple sources (Sci-Hub, PubMed Central, arXiv, etc.)
• Automatic PDF renaming with metadata
• Beautiful command-line interface with:
  • Progress bars
  • Colored status indicators
  • Formatted tables
  • Detailed error reporting

Installation

pip install paperchaser

Usage

Basic usage:

# Extract and download references from a PDF
paperchaser path/to/paper.pdf

# Extract references without downloading (debug mode)
paperchaser path/to/paper.pdf --debug

# Specify output directory
paperchaser path/to/paper.pdf -o downloaded_papers

# Force re-download of existing papers
paperchaser path/to/paper.pdf -f

Advanced options:

Options:
  -o, --output-dir TEXT      Directory to save downloaded papers
  --email TEXT              Email for Unpaywall API (optional)
  -f, --force              Force download even if paper already exists
  --rename/--no-rename     Rename downloaded PDFs using metadata (default: True)
  --debug                  Show debug information without downloading
  --help                   Show this message and exit

Output Format

The tool provides detailed information about the extraction and download process:

• Reference extraction progress
• Found references with numbering
• Download status for each paper
• Color-coded success/failure indicators
• Detailed error messages for failed downloads