Issue with importing preprint from Research Square to iPhone

Support
1

Hello, I’m having issues with importing preprint from Research Square to my iPhone.

For example, this paper will not import:
https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-7035767/
I am using an iPhone 14. From the page, I do “share” then choose Paperpile, “add to library”. It then claims to have added the reference successfully, but then displays “searching pdf” for a long time before erroring.

It looks like the url could be wrong:

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Thanks!
Will

2

Thank you for reporting, @wmacnair. Do you see an error code for the error?

3

Hi @suzanne, sorry for the slow response.

Since then I’ve noticed more issues with using “share to Paperpile”. This is always with iPhone 14, and Safari.

Three examples:

  1. When I do “share to Paperpile” on a biorxiv preprint, over the last few months this has always (I think) failed to pick up any metadata, e.g. title. For example, I was able to share this preprint to Paperpile, with pdf, but without any details. I can fix this via the web app, but ideally it would be automatic. Link: TDP-43 pathology triggers SRRM4-dependent cryptic splicing of G3BP1 in ALS/FTD | bioRxiv

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  2. Preprints from Research Square are similar, but worse because Paperpile doesn’t find the pdf. It looks like the url is off. Link: Impact of iPSC-derived microglial exosomes on neurons: Role of TREM2 and implication in Alzheimer’s Disease | Research Square

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  3. This paper is unusual, and I don’t get this issue often: Neurons and astrocytes have distinct organelle signatures and responses to stress - ScienceDirect. I get “Added reference to your library” but then “Something went wrong”. I think this should be ok, as the article is open access.

Hope that’s helpful! Please let me know if any more details would be useful.

Will

4

Thank you for sharing these links, @wmacnair; I have passed them on to the team to investigate.The new mobile apps we’re working on won’t have this issue.

1 Like
5

Thanks for this information Suzanne. Do you have any timelines on when the new apps will be available? I read a lot of preprints, and I often scroll through them on my phone, so this is currently quite an annoying issue for me…

Thanks!
Will

6

I don’t have a specific release date to share yet @wmacnair, but we expect to have news on this front by early 2026.

7

“News by early 2026” doesn’t sound great for any fix soon :sweat_smile: I read preprints more than I read papers, so this issue has quite a big effect on me.

The biggest issue is the Research Square one, as there it just doesn’t work at all. If you could persuade a developer to find a hacky fix for that, that would be amazing!

Best
Will

8

Thank you for sharing how this impacts your work, @wmacnair; this context is valuable. We know preprint support is important, and I’ve passed along your feedback about Research Square to the team.

We’re continuously improving our metadata extraction and recognition systems. Right now, the team is focused on bringing our mobile infrastructure up to the same level of functionality as the web version, and good progress is being made.

For now, the best workaround is to save preprints from Research Square using the Paperpile browser extension, which will capture both metadata and the PDF.