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PubMed vs Semantic Scholar: catalog facts
PubMed	Semantic Scholar
Free Free to use, run by a US government agency.	Free Free to use in the browser.
Web	Web, Browser extension
Over 40 million biomedical citations in one place Advanced search, clinical queries and MeSH browsing	Index of more than 238 million papers across all fields of science Free to search without cost
Mostly citations and abstracts; full text depends on PubMed Central or publishers Limited to biomedical and life-sciences subjects	Semantic Reader is in beta and only available for select papers Web only, with no offline use
Web application	Web application, Browser extension
Closed source	Closed source
License not stated	License not stated
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Needs internet	Needs internet
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 1, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.