Tags and classification
Chive uses a combination of hierarchical fields and user-contributed tags to organize eprints. This guide explains how to tag papers and navigate the classification system.
Fields vs tags
Chive has two classification systems:
| System | Who controls it | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Fields | Community-governed taxonomy | Primary hierarchical classification |
| Tags | Individual users | Flexible, emergent folksonomy |
Fields
Fields form a hierarchical taxonomy similar to arXiv categories:
Authors assign fields when submitting. Community proposals can add new fields or reorganize the hierarchy.
Tags
Tags are free-form labels anyone can add:
attention-mechanismstransformer-architecturebenchmark-datasetreproducibility-study
Tags help with discovery beyond the formal taxonomy.
Adding tags
To your own papers
- Go to your eprint's page
- Click Add Tags
- Type a tag name
- Select from suggestions or create a new tag
- Click Save
To any paper
If you've read a paper and want to help classify it:
- Click Add Tags on the paper's page
- Your contributed tags appear with your name
- Popular tags get promoted; rarely-used tags fade
Tag guidelines
Good tags
- Specific methodologies:
monte-carlo-simulation,transformer-xl - Datasets:
imagenet,squad-2.0 - Applications:
drug-discovery,climate-modeling - Paper types:
survey-paper,negative-results,reproducibility
Avoid
- Too broad:
science,research,paper - Duplicating fields: Don't tag
machine-learningif the field is already cs.AI.ML - Personal notes:
to-read,interesting,read-later - Promotional:
groundbreaking,must-read
Tag moderation
Spam detection
Chive automatically filters:
- Promotional or marketing tags
- Offensive content
- Tags unrelated to the paper's content
- Bulk tagging by bots
Community curation
- Tags with many contributors rise in visibility
- Rarely-used tags are de-emphasized
- Trusted editors can remove inappropriate tags
- Disputed tags can be flagged for review
PMEST classification
Behind the scenes, Chive maps papers to the PMEST framework:
| Dimension | What it captures | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Personality | Who | Authors, institutions, funders |
| Matter | What | Subject field, methodology |
| Energy | How | Research type (theoretical, empirical, review) |
| Space | Where | Geographic focus, language |
| Time | When | Publication date, historical period studied |
PMEST enables faceted search: "Show me empirical AI papers from European institutions published in 2024."
Proposing new fields
If the taxonomy lacks a field for your research area:
- Go to Governance → Proposals
- Click Propose New Node
- Select
fieldas the node subkind - Fill out the form:
- Proposed field ID (e.g.,
cs.QML) - Label (e.g., "Quantum Machine Learning")
- Alternate labels (synonyms like "QML")
- Description and scope
- Justification
- Proposed field ID (e.g.,
- Optionally propose edge relationships to parent fields
- Submit for community voting
Voting requirements
| Proposal type | Approval threshold | Minimum votes |
|---|---|---|
| New field | 67% | 5 votes, 3 from field experts |
| Update field | 60% | 3 votes |
| Merge fields | 67% | 5 votes |
Trending tags
View which tags are gaining popularity:
- Go to Trending in the navigation
- Select a time window: 24 hours, 7 days, or 30 days
- See tags ranked by recent usage growth
How trending is calculated
Tags are scored based on:
- Recent usage count: Number of times the tag was applied in the time window
- Quality score: Considers uniqueness and relevance
- Growth rate: Comparison to previous period
API access
GET /xrpc/pub.chive.tag.getTrending?timeWindow=7d&limit=20
Time windows: 24h, 7d, 30d
Searching by classification
Field browsing
- Go to Browse → Fields
- Navigate the hierarchy
- Click a field to see all papers
Tag search
- Click any tag on a paper
- Or search:
tag:transformer-architecture - Combine with other filters:
tag:reproducibility field:cs.AI
Faceted filtering
Use the sidebar filters:
- Field: Select from hierarchy
- Tags: Multi-select popular tags
- Research Type: Theoretical, empirical, review, etc.
- Date Range: Filter by publication date
Related topics
- Searching: Full search guide
- Governance: How proposals work
- Knowledge Graph: Technical details