Explain a Paper home

Research papers, white papers and reports

Your research, explained on film.

Explain a Paper turns academic papers, white papers and technical, policy and impact reports into short, narrated, captioned explainer films, so the ideas reach people outside the field.

For universities, companies, think tanks, charities and public bodies: anyone with work that deserves a wider audience. The films stay on brand, and nothing goes out until you have approved the script.

Order a film Who it's for
Explain a Paper: your research, explained on film (1:07, captioned). About this film and its transcript
  • Two sign-offs, not sixAn agency explainer asks for your sign-off at five or six stages. Here you approve a script and accept the film, and we do the rest.
  • Built, not generatedNo made-up facts: every word, number and chart on screen comes from the paper, not from a model's guess.
  • You can edit every scriptYou have full control: edit the narration, and say what you want to see at each point in the film. Nothing is rendered until you approve it.
  • Captioned and accessibleCaptions and a transcript with every film. Captions can be translated into any language, and multilingual voiceovers are on our roadmap.

Who it's for

Anyone who needs a paper or a report understood by people outside its field: the public, customers, investors, funders, policymakers or colleagues in another discipline.

  • Universities and research institutes

    Research-communications teams and press offices keeping up with what their researchers publish, and researchers who want a film of their own paper.

    For comms teams For researchers

  • Industry and technology

    White papers, R&D and technical reports, explained for customers, investors and colleagues who are not specialists.

    For industry and organisations

  • Think tanks, charities and public bodies

    Policy briefs, evaluations and impact or sustainability reports, explained for the public, funders and decision-makers.

    Policy and impact reports

  • Consultancies and professional bodies

    Reports, guidance and technical standards, explained for clients and members who need the substance without the full document.

    Reports and standards

Built, not generated

Generative video models paint every frame, so they can invent a number, a label or a result that sounds right but is not in the paper. We do not use them. Each frame is built from the paper's own words and data, so what the film shows can be checked against the source, line by line.

Two film frames showing the same chart. Left, painted by a video model: the title and axis labels are letter-shaped scribbles and the points are smeared blobs, because such a model can invent a number, a label or a result. Right, built from the paper: the typeset title Hubble, 1929: 24 nebulae, axes labelled Distance and Velocity, and 24 sharp points plotted from the paper's own numbers.
An illustration of the difference. The built chart is from our pilot film: the 24 nebulae of Hubble's 1929 Table 1.

No made-up facts

Our software draws only what is in the script you approve, and the script is written from the paper, with the page, table or figure behind each line noted so you can check it against the source.

Typeset, not painted

Every word on screen is typeset, so there is no garbled lettering and no text that is not in the script you approved.

Plotted from the paper

Charts are plotted from the paper's own numbers. In our pilot film of Hubble's 1929 paper, all 24 nebulae come from his Table 1.

Drawn deliberately

Diagrams are drawn in code to show what the script says, not generated to look plausible. Labels stay legible and say what they are meant to.

AI-facilitated, not AI-generated

AI helps where it is useful. People decide what the film says.

You can edit every script

A language model helps draft a script from the paper, and one of our team prepares it. Then it is yours to edit. You have full control: change the narration, and say what you want to see at each point in the film. Nothing is rendered until you approve it, so what the film says is what you approved. For films that will be published widely, you can add human review: one of our editors, who did not prepare the script, checks it against the paper and signs it off.

An honest, synthetic voice

We use a synthetic narrator: an openly licensed voice model that runs on our own machines. How we use AI.

How it works

Four steps from a paper to a film you can publish.

  1. Upload the paper

    Send the PDF and tell us who the film is for: the public, customers, investors, policymakers or specialists in another field.

  2. Read the script

    We send you a draft script written for that audience. Add human review if you want an editor to check it against the paper first.

  3. Edit it, then approve it

    Edit the narration and say what you want to see, or ask us for changes. Nothing is rendered until you approve it.

  4. Get your film

    A narrated, captioned film with a transcript, ready for YouTube, LinkedIn and your website. 3 revision rounds are included; a round is one complete render of your film.

Drafting takes minutes, and once you approve the script your film is rendered in minutes, not weeks: about two and a half minutes for a 70-second film (measured September 2026). How long it takes.

More on how it works

Pricing

One film, a pack of credits to spend across several papers or reports, or a monthly plan for a team. Prices exclude VAT.

Single film

£39

£46.80 inc. VAT

One film, with 3 revision rounds.

For teams

Full pack

£219

£262.80 inc. VAT

Six film credits to spend across several papers or reports, valid for 12 months.

Enterprise

from £499/month

from £598.80/month inc. VAT

15 films a month in your own brand, for up to 5 colleagues. Human review is an option, not included.

All prices and add-ons

Tell us what you would like explained

Upload a paper or report today and we will send you the draft script to review.

Order a film