Academic Papers API
The Academic Papers API returns scholarly-paper search and metadata as clean JSON.
12 actionsLive JSON1,000 free creditsMCP-ready
🤖 Using an AI assistant? Copy this link into ChatGPT / Claude / Cursor — it reads every endpoint and parameter instantly and tells you if this API fits your use case.
The primary search endpoint returns papers with title, DOI, authors, venue, year, citation count, abstract and open-access PDF from merged sources, and you can pull a paper_detail, citations, references, related papers, an author, an institution, a venue and a concept. It is built for research tools, literature reviews and academic apps that need scholarly data without juggling multiple APIs. One ReefAPI key, one shared credit pool, the standard { ok, data, meta, error } envelope.
Live example
Real request and response JSON
Captured from the indexed primary action, search, on .
Captured request
{
"method": "POST",
"url": "https://api.reefapi.com/academic/v1/search",
"headers": {
"x-api-key": "$REEF_KEY",
"content-type": "application/json"
},
"body": {
"query": "covid"
}
}Captured response
{
"ok": true,
"meta": {
"api": "academic",
"endpoint": "search",
"mode": "live",
"latency_ms": 1322.4,
"record_count": 25,
"bytes": 826211,
"cache_hit": false,
"completeness_pct": 100,
"requests": 1,
"total": 3843849,
"next_cursor": null
},
"data": {
"results": [
{
"id": "W[redacted-phone]",
"doi": "10.1016/s[redacted-phone]",
"title": "Clinical course and risk factors for mortality of adult inpatients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: a retrospective cohort study",
"abstract": null,
"authors": [
{
"name": "[trimmed-depth]",
"id": "[trimmed-depth]",
"orcid": "[trimmed-depth]",
"position": "[trimmed-depth]",
"is_corresponding": "[trimmed-depth]",
"affiliations": "[trimmed-depth]"
},
{
"name": "[trimmed-depth]",
"id": "[trimmed-depth]",
"orcid": "[trimmed-depth]",
"position": "[trimmed-depth]",
"is_corresponding": "[trimmed-depth]",
"affiliations": "[trimmed-depth]"
},
{
"name": "[trimmed-depth]",
"id": "[trimmed-depth]",
"orcid": "[trimmed-depth]",
"position": "[trimmed-depth]",
"is_corresponding": "[trimmed-depth]",
"affiliations": "[trimmed-depth]"
}
],
"author_count": 19,
"venue": {
"name": "[redacted-name]",
"id": "S49861241",
"issn_l": "[redacted-phone]",
"type": "journal",
"publisher": "Elsevier BV",
"is_oa": false,
"is_in_doaj": false
},
"year": 2020,
"publication_date": "[redacted-phone]",
"type": "article",
"language": "en",
"is_oa": true,
"oa_status": "bronze",
"oa_url": "http://www.thelancet.com/article/S[redacted-phone]/pdf",
"pdf_url": "http://www.thelancet.com/article/S[redacted-phone]/pdf",
"cited_by_count": 29160,
"reference_count": 45,
"fields_of_study": [
"COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies",
"COVID-19 and healthcare impacts",
"Long-Term Effects of COVID-19"
],
"biblio": {
"volume": "395",
"issue": "10229",
"first_page": "1054",
"last_page": "1062"
},
"is_retracted": false,
"ids": {
"openalex": "W[redacted-phone]",
"doi": "10.1016/s[redacted-phone]",
"pmid": "32171076",
"mag": "[redacted-phone]"
},
"source": "openalex",
"sources_merged": [
"openalex"
]
},
{
"id": "W[redacted-phone]",
"doi": "10.1056/nejmoa2034577",
"title": "Safety and Efficacy of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine",
"abstract": "BACKGROUND: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and the resulting coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) have afflicted tens of millions of people in a worldwide pandemic. Safe and effective vaccines are needed urgently. METHODS: In an ongoing multinational, placebo-controlled, observer-blinded, pivotal efficacy trial, we randomly assigned persons 16 years of age or older in a 1:1 ratio to receive two doses, 21 days apart, of either placebo or the BNT162b2 vaccine candidate (30 μg per dose). BNT162b2 is a lipid nanoparticle-formulated, nucleoside-modified RNA va",
"authors": [
{
"name": "[trimmed-depth]",
"id": "[trimmed-depth]",
"orcid": "[trimmed-depth]",
"position": "[trimmed-depth]",
"is_corresponding": "[trimmed-depth]",
"affiliations": "[trimmed-depth]"
},
{
"name": "[trimmed-depth]",
"id": "[trimmed-depth]",
"orcid": "[trimmed-depth]",
"position": "[trimmed-depth]",
"is_corresponding": "[trimmed-depth]",
"affiliations": "[trimmed-depth]"
},
{
"name": "[trimmed-depth]",
"id": "[trimmed-depth]",
"orcid": "[trimmed-depth]",
"position": "[trimmed-depth]",
"is_corresponding": "[trimmed-depth]",
"affiliations": "[trimmed-depth]"
}
],
"author_count": 29,
"venue": {
"name": "[redacted-name]",
"id": "S62468778",
"issn_l": "[redacted-phone]",
"type": "journal",
"publisher": "Massachusetts Medical Society",
"is_oa": false,
"is_in_doaj": false
},
"year": 2020,
"publication_date": "[redacted-phone]",
"type": "article",
"language": "en",
"is_oa": true,
"oa_status": "green",
"oa_url": "https://arca.fiocruz.br/handle/icict/46039",
"pdf_url": "https://arca.fiocruz.br/handle/icict/46039",
"cited_by_count": 15601,
"reference_count": 8,
"fields_of_study": [
"SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research",
"COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies",
"RNA Interference and Gene Delivery"
],
"biblio": {
"volume": "383",
"issue": "27",
"first_page": "2603",
"last_page": "2615"
},
"is_retracted": false,
"ids": {
"openalex": "W[redacted-phone]",
"doi": "10.1056/nejmoa2034577",
"pmid": "33301246",
"mag": "[redacted-phone]"
},
"source": "openalex",
"sources_merged": [
"openalex"
]
},
{
"id": "W[redacted-phone]",
"doi": "10.1001/jama.[redacted-phone]",
"title": "Characteristics of and Important Lessons From the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak in China",
"abstract": "This Viewpoint summarizes key epidemiologic and clinical findings from all cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) reported through February 11, 2020, in mainland China, and case trends in response to government attempts to control and contain the infection.",
"authors": [
{
"name": "[trimmed-depth]",
"id": "[trimmed-depth]",
"orcid": "[trimmed-depth]",
"position": "[trimmed-depth]",
"is_corresponding": "[trimmed-depth]",
"affiliations": "[trimmed-depth]"
},
{
"name": "[trimmed-depth]",
"id": "[trimmed-depth]",
"orcid": "[trimmed-depth]",
"position": "[trimmed-depth]",
"is_corresponding": "[trimmed-depth]",
"affiliations": "[trimmed-depth]"
}
],
"author_count": 2,
"venue": {
"name": "JAMA",
"id": "S[redacted-phone]",
"issn_l": "[redacted-phone]",
"type": "journal",
"publisher": "American Medical Association",
"is_oa": false,
"is_in_doaj": false
},
"year": 2020,
"publication_date": "[redacted-phone]",
"type": "article",
"language": "en",
"is_oa": true,
"oa_status": "bronze",
"oa_url": "https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/articlepdf/2762130/jama_wu_2020_vp_200028.pdf",
"pdf_url": "https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/articlepdf/2762130/jama_wu_2020_vp_200028.pdf",
"cited_by_count": 18027,
"reference_count": 13,
"fields_of_study": [
"COVID-19 Clinical Research Studies",
"COVID-19 epidemiological studies",
"COVID-19 and Mental Health"
],
"biblio": {
"volume": "323",
"issue": "13",
"first_page": "1239",
"last_page": "1239"
},
"is_retracted": false,
"ids": {
"openalex": "W[redacted-phone]",
"doi": "10.1001/jama.[redacted-phone]",
"pmid": "32091533",
"mag": "[redacted-phone]"
},
"source": "openalex",
"sources_merged": [
"openalex"
]
}
],
"count": 3843849,
"next_cursor": null,
"source": "openalex"
}
}Actions
What the Academic Papers API does
| Action | Description | Concrete use case | Key params |
|---|---|---|---|
| search | search papers (source=openalex|arxiv|crossref|all; cursor pagination, year/OA/type filters, match=title, fulltext=; first-class author_id/venue_id/institution_id/concept_id/topic_id filters for papers BY an entity) | Content platforms call search to search papers (source=openalex|arxiv|crossref|all; cursor pagination, year/OA/type filters, m…. | query, source, per_page, cursor, filter, ... |
| paper_detail | full paper (abstract/authors/affiliations/venue/year/DOI/OA-PDF/fields); id=OpenAlex|DOI|arXiv|PMID; cross-source abstract gap-fill | Research tools call paper_detail to get full paper (abstract/authors/affiliations/venue/year/DOI/OA-PDF/fields); id=OpenAlex|DOI|arXi…. | id, enrich, raw, fill_abstract |
| citations | papers that cite this work (cursor-paginated) | Community analysts call citations to get papers that cite this work (cursor-paginated). | id, per_page, cursor |
| references | works this paper references (hydrated) | Media monitors call references to get works this paper references (hydrated). | id, limit |
| related | OpenAlex-curated related works for a paper (co-cited / topically-adjacent), hydrated | Content platforms call related to get openAlex-curated related works for a paper (co-cited / topically-adjacent), hydrated. | id, limit |
| author | author search (query) or profile (id): works_count, h-index, affiliations; include_works for top papers | Research tools call author to get author search (query) or profile (id). | id, query, include_works, works_limit, per_page |
| institution | institution search/profile: ROR, country, geo, works/citation counts, h-index; include_works for the org's papers | Community analysts call institution to get institution search/profile. | id, query, per_page, include_works, works_limit |
| venue | journal/venue search/profile: ISSN, publisher, OA/DOAJ, h-index, works/citation counts; include_works for the venue's papers | Media monitors call venue to get journal/venue search/profile. | id, query, per_page, include_works, works_limit |
| concept | concept search (query) or profile (id): level, works/citation counts, description; include_works for papers. NOTE: OpenAlex froze the Concepts dataset (ancestors/related now empty) — use `topic` for the live subject hierarchy | Content platforms call concept to get concept search (query) or profile (id). | id, query, per_page, include_works, works_limit |
| topic | topic search (query) or profile (id): domain>field>subfield hierarchy, keywords, siblings, works/citation counts; include_works for papers (the live replacement for Concepts) | Research tools call topic to get topic search (query) or profile (id). | id, query, per_page, include_works, works_limit |
| autocomplete | fast typeahead suggestions (works/authors/sources/institutions) | Community analysts call autocomplete to get fast typeahead suggestions (works/authors/sources/institutions). | q, entity |
| batch | hydrate up to 200 papers by id/DOI in one call (RAG/ETL) | Media monitors call batch to get hydrate up to 200 papers by id/DOI in one call (RAG/ETL). | ids, include_abstract, limit |
Code samples
Call search from your stack
curl -X POST https://api.reefapi.com/academic/v1/search \
-H "x-api-key: $REEF_KEY" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-d '{"query":"covid"}'import requests
r = requests.post(
"https://api.reefapi.com/academic/v1/search",
headers={"x-api-key": REEF_KEY},
json={
"query": "covid"
},
)
print(r.json()["data"])const res = await fetch("https://api.reefapi.com/academic/v1/search", {
method: "POST",
headers: {
"x-api-key": process.env.REEF_KEY,
"content-type": "application/json",
},
body: JSON.stringify({
"query": "covid"
}),
});
const { ok, data, meta, error } = await res.json();MCP one-liner
Ask your MCP-connected assistant: call reefapi.academic.search with {"query":"covid"}.Use cases
Who uses this API and why
- Research tools call search then citations to map the literature around a topic.
- Literature-review products use references and related to trace a paper's intellectual lineage.
- Academic apps use author and institution to build researcher and organization profiles.
FAQ
Questions developers ask before integrating
What is the Academic Papers API?
Academic Papers API is a ReefAPI endpoint group for search scholarly papers, authors, citations and abstracts. It returns live JSON through POST requests under /academic/v1.
Is the Academic Papers API free to try?
Yes. ReefAPI starts with 1,000 free credits, no card required. Academic Papers calls use the same shared credit balance as every other ReefAPI engine.
Do I need a Academic Papers login or account?
No login to Academic Papers is needed for the API response. You call ReefAPI with your x-api-key header, and the playground can run live examples before you create a production key.
How fresh is the Academic Papers data?
The page example is captured from a live search call, and production requests fetch live data through ReefAPI rather than a static sample.
How many credits does the Academic Papers API use?
Academic Papers actions currently cost 1-2 credits per successful call. Failed or blocked calls are free, and all APIs draw from one credit pool.
Can I call Academic Papers from an AI assistant or MCP client?
Yes. Connect ReefAPI once through MCP and your assistant can call academic actions with the same key, credit pool and JSON envelope used by normal REST requests.
Is the Academic Papers API a Academic Papers scraper?
It is the managed alternative to a DIY Academic Papers scraper. Instead of building and maintaining your own scraper — proxies, headless browsers, captcha and constant breakage — you call one ReefAPI endpoint and get the same search scholarly papers, authors, citations and abstracts back as clean JSON.
Why does my Academic Papers scraper keep getting blocked?
Most Academic Papers scrapers break on anti-bot defenses, rate limits and IP bans that need rotating residential proxies and browser fingerprinting to clear. ReefAPI handles all of that for you — no proxies, no captchas, no maintenance — and returns live JSON. Blocked or failed calls are free.