OpenAlex Works Scraper

Search research papers from OpenAlex, the open catalogue of over 300 million scholarly works. Get the title, DOI, first authors, venue, year, citation count and open-access status for each paper. Filter by search text, date and open access, and sort by newest or most cited.

• Search: words in the title, abstract and full text.
• Filters: published since a date, and open access only.
• Monitoring: turn on "Only new works" and schedule a run. Each run returns only works you have not received before.

How to use it

1. Get a free OpenAlex key at openalex.org/settings/api and paste it into "Your OpenAlex API key". Your key is used only for your runs.
2. Enter search text or a start date.
3. Set the maximum works and the maximum API calls. Each call returns up to 100 works, and the call cap is a hard limit on your daily budget.
4. Run it, then download the works as JSON, CSV or Excel, or use the API.

Input example

{
  "apiKey": "your-free-openalex-key",
  "query": "large language model",
  "fromDate": "2026-01-01",
  "openAccessOnly": true,
  "maxWorks": 300,
  "maxCalls": 5
}

Output example (one work)

{
  "id": "https://openalex.org/W4362515116",
  "doi": "https://doi.org/10.1007/example",
  "title": "An example paper",
  "publicationDate": "2026-05-09",
  "year": 2026,
  "type": "article",
  "citedBy": 2093,
  "isOpenAccess": true,
  "venue": "Frontiers of Computer Science",
  "authors": ["First Author", "Second Author"],
  "url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/example",
  "returnedAt": "2026-11-01T10:00:00.000Z"
}

Good to know

• Free data. OpenAlex data is CC0, so you can reuse it freely.
• Your own key. Basic use is free without a key, but the shared budget is tiny. A free key raises the daily budget, and each user brings their own.
• Pay-as-you-go is not used. The actor stops at your call cap, and a daily budget limit stops it before any charge. Keep your OpenAlex account on the free plan.
• Only the first five authors. The output lists up to five names per work.
• Cost. Each work costs $0.0001, so 1,000 works cost $0.10, plus $0.005 per run.

FAQ

Why did a run stop early? Either it reached your call cap or the daily budget was used up. The run summary says which.

Why are some works missing a DOI? Not every work has one. The OpenAlex link is used instead.

Pricing

OpenAlex Works Scraper uses pay per event. You pay $0.005 to start a run and $0.0001 for each work, so 1,000 works cost about $0.105. There is no monthly fee. Set a maximum cost on a run and it stops cleanly when it reaches it.

Use cases

• Build a reading list of the newest or most cited papers on a topic.
• Track new open access research for a field each week.
• Collect DOIs, venues and citation counts for a literature review.
• Feed paper metadata into a spreadsheet, database or AI pipeline.

Use it from Python or JavaScript

Every Apify actor has an API. Replace the token with yours from the Apify Console.

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("My_agent_C/openalex-works-scraper").call(run_input={
  "apiKey": "your-free-openalex-key",
  "query": "large language model",
  "fromDate": "2026-01-01",
  "openAccessOnly": True,
  "maxWorks": 300,
  "maxCalls": 5
})
items = client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).list_items().items

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' });
const run = await client.actor('My_agent_C/openalex-works-scraper').call({
  "apiKey": "your-free-openalex-key",
  "query": "large language model",
  "fromDate": "2026-01-01",
  "openAccessOnly": true,
  "maxWorks": 300,
  "maxCalls": 5
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();

You can also run it on a schedule, send results to Google Sheets, Zapier, Make or n8n, or call it from an AI agent through the Apify MCP server.

More questions

How do I search research papers with the OpenAlex API? Add your free OpenAlex key, enter search words and optional filters, and run the actor. It returns title, DOI, authors, venue, year, citations and open access status.

Is OpenAlex data free? Yes. OpenAlex is an open catalogue, and the key is free. Each user brings their own key.

Can I export OpenAlex results to CSV or Excel? Yes. Download any run as CSV, Excel, JSON or XML from the Storage tab.

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Found a problem or want a field added? Open an issue on the Issues tab. Replies usually come within a day.