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What is Rexchange?

Rexchange is a website for people to ask questions related to research papers.

It's interface is similar to the currently existing stackexchange. What makes Rexchange different is that people are able to ask questions related to particular research papers.

Inspiration and why it is useful

Imagine you're reading a research paper related to Machine Learning. There is one particular concept in the paper that you don't understand. If you want to ask the community for an answer, you would have to ask it on a website like stackexchange (of that particular subject) or a website like researchgate.

So what's the issue in that?

There is low chance that someone who has actually read that particular paper will come across your question. Even though websites like stackexchange classify questions based on topics, even then one topics will have so many questions, not necessarily related to the paper you're looking for.

Currently there is no platform where you can ask questions aimed at people who have read a particular research paper.

This is where Rexchange comes in

On Rexchange, you can ask questions related to a particular research paper. Now, a person who has read that particular paper can just come to the relevant paper's section on the website and can see all the questions asked for that particular paper.

Stackexchange vs Rexchange

Rexchange is not meant to compete with stackexchange as a platform for asking questions. The two platforms differ in motivation.

Stackexchange classifies questions by topics and welcomes anyone to answer the questions as long as they have knowledge about that topic.

Rexchange however, is meant only for those who have read a certain paper to ask each other doubts.

Who does this benefit?

This platform is meant to benefit both parties, ie, the one asking the doubt and the one who is going to answer it.

The person who asks the question

People who have doubts related to a research article would post their questions here. They are benefitted because there is a much higher chance that people who have actually read the paper answer their questions.

This also eliminates the need to give entire context and background while asking a question since it is assumed that the person answering will have read the paper already.

The person answering

Usually after reading a paper, even though you think you have understood everything, there are nitty-gritty details that need to be thought about. These details can often be pointed out by quality questions/doubts from the community.

Hence, after reading a paper, Rexchange would be a go-to platform for a reader to look at other people's doubts. He/she might come across a doubt that heightens their understanding of the topic.

Additionally, this is the time when he/she would naturally answer other people's doubts.

How it works

Every research paper is idenified by a string known as DOI. This DOI string can be found easily for those reading a paper.

On Rexchange, you simple enter the DOI and you will be taken to the questions section.

Here, you can view the questions asked by others and their answers. You can also ask a question yourself.

If you know the answer to a question, you can answer it.

An authentication system has also been implemented to keep track of who asked/answered questions.

How we built it

Rexchange was built completely in python using a tool called Anvil.

What's next for Rexchange

Due to the duration of the hackathon, only the features mentioned previously have been implemented.

However, there is much more scope for the platform to grow in terms of features. They include:

Features that Stackexchange has

Stackexchange has almost become a standard for asking and answering questions. The following features that it has are a must for Rexchange:

Image support in questions and answers
Allow editing of answers/questions
Latex support in questions/answers
Enabling voting for answers and questions
Flagging/reporting inappropriate questions/answers
Adding tags to questions
A ranking system for users who post quality answers

Major Potential

Coming to features other that stackexchange's features that I will try to implement in Rexchange in the future

A Notification System
- User can sign up for notification (like emails) whenever someone answers their question or add a new question on a particular paper.
Public Notes
- A section for creating notes in latex/markdown for each paper.
- The user can write/upload his/her notes for a paper. He/She will be given the choice to make it public so the community can benefit from it.
Author's Explanations
- Usually research papers are written very consisely. Hence, often there is a lack of sufficient explanation in them.
- Rexchange will confirm the author's identity and provide him priviledged accounts.
- This account will enable him/her to provide special explanations on the papers written by him/her on Rexchange. This will benefit the understanding of the readers and can provide authors a central platform to post such easy-to-understand explanations.