How to use Ponder

Import your sources

What Ponder accepts, how to upload, and how to add full texts.

You already have papers, lecture notes, videos or your own notes, and you want Ponder to work from them. Once the material is in a project, Analyze and Draft can pick it directly, and Ponder also gets to know your topic through it.

What Ponder accepts

Files: documents (.pdf, .txt, .docx, .pptx), images, audio and video. An uploaded Word file becomes an editable document that both you and Ponder can change directly; the original Word file can still be downloaded from More.
Data and code: data files such as Excel, CSV, SPSS, Stata, SAS and JSON, plus Python, R, Stata, SPSS and SAS code and Jupyter notebooks. For how to analyze them, see Analyze research data.
Folders: upload a whole folder at once, with its subfolders kept under the same names and in the same structure.
Web and video links: videos from YouTube, Bilibili and Rednote, or ordinary web pages.
DOIs: when you have a list of DOIs, one per line, the whole set of papers is imported together with their bibliographic data.
Zotero library: connect your Zotero account and import your whole library, with its PDFs, notes, attachments and annotations.

Uploading from the input box: the recommended way

When you start a task, hand the material straight to the input box: click "+" in the input box and choose Upload files, Upload folder or Web & video links, drag files or folders into the input box, or simply paste. Ponder takes the material in along with the task, files it into a suitable folder for you, and Analyze and Draft can pick it from there.

While a file shows "Uploading" or "Identifying…" next to it, wait until it says "Uploaded" before sending the task.

Uploading from the left rail: the alternative

When you do not want to start a task and only want the material in the project, switch to the Files tab in the project's left rail, click the "+" next to the tab, and pick the entry that matches where the material comes from: Upload files, Upload folder, Web & video links, DOIs, or Zotero.

The "+" next to the Files tab: Import & new

Import your Zotero library

If your literature already lives in Zotero, you can bring the whole library, or a few of its collections, into the current project in one go. Papers arrive with their PDFs, notes, attachments and annotations, and your Zotero collection structure is kept as it is.

In the Files tab of the project's left rail, click the Zotero icon in the toolbar, or click "+" and choose Zotero under "Import & new". The first time, click Connect Zotero and complete the authorization in the window that opens. Ponder only reads from Zotero and never changes anything there.
Choose what to import: Entire library, Unfiled items, or any collections in the tree. Tick Include notes and Include other attachments if you want them, then click Import.
When the import finishes, click View items not imported (N) to see why any items were left out.

Ponder imports the files synced to Zotero's cloud storage. Attachments stored only on your computer or on a WebDAV drive cannot be imported; those papers come into the project with their bibliographic data, and Ponder adds the full text where an open-access version exists.

If you add more to Zotero later, import the same collections again: items already imported are skipped, and new notes, attachments and annotations are added.

PDFs are recognized as academic papers automatically

When you upload a PDF, Ponder works out whether it is an academic paper. Recognized papers carry their bibliographic data automatically, shown at the top when you open them: title, authors, year, citation count, journal and DOI.

Opening a paper, with its bibliographic data at the top

All of this is used later: when writing, Ponder generates the in-text citations and the reference list from it, and re-typesets them when you switch citation style.

Adding the full text to an abstract-only paper

Papers saved from Search carry their full text when they are open access; for those behind a subscription or paywall, Ponder has the abstract and bibliographic data, and the file tree marks them "No PDF".

When you have access to a paper through your school or institution, add the PDF: hover over the paper in the file tree, click the "…" at the end of the row and choose Attach full-text PDF; or open it and click Upload full-text PDF. Once it is there, Ponder reads the full text in Analyze and Draft.

A paper marked "No PDF", with Attach full-text PDF in its row menu

Organize your material with folders and file names

At the start of every task, Ponder first looks over the project's folders and file names, then reads the relevant files. Clear folders and readable file names make it easier for Ponder to find the right material.

Choose New folder in the "+" menu to separate material by purpose; click the "…" at the end of a file's row and choose Rename. If the material is already sorted into folders on your computer, use Upload folder to bring it all up with the folder structure intact. For why this matters, see Projects: how Ponder gets to know your topic.