Explain a Paper home

For university research-communications teams

Every paper your university publishes, explained on film.

Explain a Paper turns academic papers, white papers and reports into short, narrated, captioned explainer films, so the research reaches people outside its field.

Your team keeps up with the rate papers come out, the films stay on brand, and nothing goes out until you have approved the script.

Register interest How it works

We open for orders soon. Register interest and we will tell you first, or email us about a paper you would like explained.

  • Faster than an agencyA short film for a fraction of what an agency charges.
  • You approve every scriptNothing is rendered until you are happy with what it says.
  • Captioned and accessibleCaptions and a transcript with every film.

AI-facilitated, not AI-generated

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

You approve every script

A language model helps draft a script from the paper, and one of our team prepares it. You review and approve every script before it is rendered. 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.

Drawn, not generated

The pictures are drawn in code, frame by frame, rather than produced by an image or video model. Text, diagrams and labels stay legible and say what they are meant to.

An honest, synthetic voice

Narration is read by an openly licensed voice model that runs on our own machines, and every film says so. 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, policymakers, funders or other researchers.

  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. Approve it

    Ask for changes or approve it. Nothing is rendered until you do.

  4. Get your film

    A narrated, captioned film with a transcript, ready for YouTube, LinkedIn and your news pages. 3 revision rounds are included.

More on how it works

Pricing

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

Single film

£39

£46.80 inc. VAT

One film, with 3 revision rounds.

For comms teams

Full pack

£219

£262.80 inc. VAT

Six film credits to spend across several papers, 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

For research-comms teams

A steady, affordable pipeline of on-brand films, a shared account for your team, and invoicing against a purchase order when you need it.

Explain a Paper for comms teams

For researchers

Just published? Get a credible film of your paper to share and to evidence engagement, at a price a grant can cover.

Explain a Paper for researchers

Tell us about the papers you have coming up

We are opening for orders soon. Register interest and we will be in touch, or email sales@explainapaper.com about a paper you would like explained.

Register interest