At Symplectic, we’re always looking for ways to make research more accessible and impactful. We’re excited to introduce two new enhancements to the Discovery Module (which underpins Public Profiles) that will make it easier than ever for visitors to assess the relevance of research at a glance, and for researchers to highlight the important work that they are doing.
Surfacing Abstracts in Discovery: Abstracts will now be displayed directly within public profiles, offering a richer view of publications without having to navigate away and look up additional information.
New AI-powered publication summarization (opt-in): A new AI-driven feature will generate on-demand, easy-to-digest summaries, key highlights, and keywords to help visitors and non-specialists understand research at a glance.
Below we overview these two new pieces of functionality and what it means for different user groups.
Displaying Abstracts in Public Profiles
We know that visitors to public profiles – whether they’re fellow researchers, potential collaborators, or members of the media seeking specialists – often want a quick way to assess whether a researcher’s work is relevant to them.
To support this, we’re now displaying publication abstracts directly within Public Profiles. Visitors browsing a researcher or faculty member’s profile can now get a deeper insight into a publication without leaving the page or having to do additional research.
Abstracts will now appear anywhere a publication card is displayed in the Discovery module, including the Scholarly & Creative Works tab for researchers, groups, and equipment.
Because this feature relies on Dimensions as the primary data source, only publications with available abstracts will display this additional information. Supported publication types include journal articles, books, book chapters, and conference proceedings.
Note: To have access to this functionality, your institution must have the Discovery module and an agreement which includes an appropriate Dimensions API subscription. This functionality is automatically enabled, meaning no configuration or setup is required at the institutional level.
AI-Powered Publication Summaries (Opt-In)
Understanding the scope of a researcher’s work can sometimes be a challenge – especially for non-specialists, members of the public or media representatives. These new AI-generated publication summaries aim to bridge this gap, by providing at-a-glance, user-friendly synopses and keywords.
Using Dimensions’ AI technology, this feature automatically generates:
- A plain-language summary of the publication
- Key highlights to convey major findings
- Relevant keywords for easy skimming
AI summaries will only be generated for specific publication types, including journal articles, books, book chapters, and conference proceedings.
We know that institutions have different policies and approaches where it comes to AI, and individuals have different opinions on its use, so we have been mindful of this when developing this new feature.
- All data is processed securely, and no information is used to train third party models.
- Institutions must opt in to enable AI-driven summarization across Public Profiles.
- Once enabled at an institutional level, individual researchers can opt out if they prefer not to have AI-generated summaries displayed on their personal profiles.
- Note that if a publication appears on a group or equipment page, AI-generated summaries will be displayed as long as the institution has enabled the feature.
Note: Your institution must have the Discovery module and an agreement which includes a Dimensions subscription. Institutions must opt in for access to this functionality.
What This Means for You
We know different users engage with Discovery in different ways. Here’s how these updates might impact you:
For Institutional Administrators
- Abstract display is automatically enabled, requiring no configuration.
- AI-generated summaries are opt-in at the institutional level – you will need to decide if this feature aligns with your institution’s needs.
- No extra setup is needed beyond ensuring a valid Dimensions agreement for use in your profiles.
For Researchers & Faculty
- Visitors to your profile will now see abstracts alongside your publications, making it easier for them to engage with your work.
- If your institution enables AI summaries, you can opt out at an individual level if you prefer not to use this feature.
- These enhancements help increase discoverability and understanding of your research – especially for those outside your field. If you’re looking for collaborations or media engagement, this can be a great way to make your research more accessible!
For Visitors & External Users
- Simply click the ‘✨Summarise’ button in order to auto-generate AI summaries and keywords for the publication you are interested in.
- AI summaries make it easier to grasp key takeaways from complex research.
- Fellow researchers and collaborators, potential industry partners, journalists and interested members of the public will all find these changes make it easier to find and engage with relevant work.
Want to know more about using Symplectic Elements for Public Profiles?
Symplectic Elements currently underpins the profiling portals for over 70 organizations, including academic institutions (such as University College London, University of Oxford and Virginia Tech), innovation hubs and consortia (Ohio Innovation Exchange), and governmental organizations (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation). All of these profile portals are live on the open web, and can be explored here.