# Crossref Scholarly Works Scraper (`dami_studio/crossref-scraper`) Actor

Searches the Crossref API (150M+ scholarly works) and returns clean records: DOI, title, authors, journal, publisher, date, citation count, subjects, ISSN, abstract. Filter by work type/date, sort by relevance, citations, or newest for lit reviews.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/dami\_studio/crossref-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Dami's Studio](https://apify.com/dami_studio) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, AI, Other
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$1.00 / 1,000 work returneds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).


# README

## Crossref Scholarly Works Scraper

Search the [Crossref](https://www.crossref.org/) catalog of 150M+ scholarly works (journal articles, preprints, books, datasets, and more) via its public REST API — no API key, no login, no anti-bot.

The actor is a **polite Crossref client**: it identifies itself with a contact `User-Agent` and a `mailto` query parameter so Crossref routes it to the faster "polite pool", and it uses **deep cursor pagination** (`cursor=*` → `next-cursor`) which is the only reliable way to page past 1,000 rows.

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
|-------|------|---------|-------------|
| `query` | string (required) | `deep learning` | Keywords searched across titles, authors, abstracts and metadata. |
| `filterType` | string | _all_ | Restrict to a Crossref work type, e.g. `journal-article`. |
| `fromDate` | string `YYYY-MM-DD` | _none_ | Only works published on/after this date. |
| `sort` | enum | `relevance` | `relevance`, `is-referenced-by-count` (most cited), or `published` (newest). |
| `maxItems` | integer | `100` | Max works to return (cursor pagination handles >100). |
| `proxyConfiguration` | object | _none_ | Optional and off by default; Crossref is a public, no-key API with no anti-bot, so a proxy adds no benefit. Only enable it if you hit IP-level rate limits. |

### Output

Each successful row:

```json
{
  "ok": true,
  "doi": "10.1038/nature14539",
  "title": "Deep learning",
  "authors": ["Yann LeCun", "Yoshua Bengio", "Geoffrey Hinton"],
  "journal": "Nature",
  "publisher": "Springer Science and Business Media LLC",
  "type": "journal-article",
  "publishedDate": "2015-05-28",
  "citations": 70000,
  "subjects": ["Multidisciplinary"],
  "issn": ["0028-0836", "1476-4687"],
  "abstract": null,
  "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14539"
}
````

- `authors` are formatted `"Given Family"` (organizational authors fall back to their name).
- `publishedDate` is assembled from Crossref's `date-parts` (may be year-only or year-month for older records).
- `citations` is Crossref's `is-referenced-by-count`.
- `abstract` is the JATS-XML abstract stripped to plain text, or `null` when Crossref has none.
- **Nullable fields:** `title`, `journal`, `publisher`, `type`, `publishedDate`, `abstract`, and `url` may be `null`, and `authors`, `subjects`, and `issn` may be empty arrays, depending on what the publisher deposited with Crossref. `doi` is always present (rows without a DOI are dropped). `citations` defaults to `0` when absent.

Results are **deduplicated by DOI**. Charging is **per successful work** (`work` event). Diagnostic / empty / blocked rows (`ok: false` with an `errorCode`) are **never charged** — this includes `BAD_INPUT` (empty query or malformed `fromDate`), `NO_RESULTS`, and any network/block error.

### Troubleshooting

- **`BAD_INPUT` row, no results:** you left `query` empty or `fromDate` isn't `YYYY-MM-DD`. Fix the input and re-run — you were not charged.
- **`NO_RESULTS` row:** your query/filter combination matched nothing in Crossref. Try broader keywords or drop the type/date filters.
- **`RATE_LIMITED` / `BLOCKED` row:** rare for Crossref. The actor already retries with backoff; if it persists, enable a proxy to use a different IP.

### Notes

- Powered entirely by the public Crossref REST API (`https://api.crossref.org/works`). Please be considerate of the shared, free service.
- Citation counts and abstracts depend on what publishers deposit with Crossref; coverage varies by record.

# Actor input Schema

## `query` (type: `string`):

Keywords to search Crossref for across titles, authors, abstracts, and metadata (e.g. "deep learning", "CRISPR gene editing", "climate change adaptation").

## `filterType` (type: `string`):

Only return works of this Crossref type. Leave empty for all types. "journal-article" is the most common for research papers.

## `fromDate` (type: `string`):

Only return works published on or after this date, in YYYY-MM-DD format (e.g. 2020-01-01). Leave empty for no date floor.

## `sort` (type: `string`):

How to order results. "Relevance" matches the query best; "Most cited" surfaces influential papers; "Newest first" sorts by publication date descending.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of scholarly works to return. Uses deep cursor pagination to fetch beyond 100 reliably.

## `notionConnector` (type: `string`):

Optional. Write each result as a page into your Notion when the run finishes. Authorize a Notion connector once in Settings → API & Integrations → MCP connectors, then pick it here. Leave empty to skip (default) — results are always saved to the dataset regardless.

## `notionParentId` (type: `string`):

Optional. The Notion data source ID of the database to write into (only used if a Notion connector is set). Leave empty to create the pages privately in your workspace instead.

## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Optional proxy for reaching the Crossref API. Not needed: Crossref is a public, no-key API with no anti-bot, so a proxy adds no benefit and costs credits. Only enable it if you hit IP-level rate limits. Defaults to no proxy.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "query": "deep learning",
  "filterType": "",
  "fromDate": "",
  "sort": "relevance",
  "maxItems": 100,
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": false
  }
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Scraped rows are stored in the default dataset (one row per result). Blocked/empty/error runs return a single uncharged diagnostic row instead.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "query": "deep learning"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("dami_studio/crossref-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "query": "deep learning" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("dami_studio/crossref-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "query": "deep learning"
}' |
apify call dami_studio/crossref-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=dami_studio/crossref-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "Crossref Scholarly Works Scraper",
        "description": "Searches the Crossref API (150M+ scholarly works) and returns clean records: DOI, title, authors, journal, publisher, date, citation count, subjects, ISSN, abstract. Filter by work type/date, sort by relevance, citations, or newest for lit reviews.",
        "version": "0.1",
        "x-build-id": "g8f6sURVxW3glyopl"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/dami_studio~crossref-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-dami_studio-crossref-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/dami_studio~crossref-scraper/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-dami_studio-crossref-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/dami_studio~crossref-scraper/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-dami_studio-crossref-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "query": {
                        "title": "Search query",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Keywords to search Crossref for across titles, authors, abstracts, and metadata (e.g. \"deep learning\", \"CRISPR gene editing\", \"climate change adaptation\")."
                    },
                    "filterType": {
                        "title": "Work type filter",
                        "enum": [
                            "",
                            "journal-article",
                            "proceedings-article",
                            "book-chapter",
                            "book",
                            "posted-content",
                            "dataset",
                            "report",
                            "dissertation",
                            "monograph"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Only return works of this Crossref type. Leave empty for all types. \"journal-article\" is the most common for research papers.",
                        "default": ""
                    },
                    "fromDate": {
                        "title": "Published from date",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Only return works published on or after this date, in YYYY-MM-DD format (e.g. 2020-01-01). Leave empty for no date floor.",
                        "default": ""
                    },
                    "sort": {
                        "title": "Sort order",
                        "enum": [
                            "relevance",
                            "is-referenced-by-count",
                            "published"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "How to order results. \"Relevance\" matches the query best; \"Most cited\" surfaces influential papers; \"Newest first\" sorts by publication date descending.",
                        "default": "relevance"
                    },
                    "maxItems": {
                        "title": "Max works",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 20000,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Maximum number of scholarly works to return. Uses deep cursor pagination to fetch beyond 100 reliably.",
                        "default": 100
                    },
                    "notionConnector": {
                        "title": "Notion connector (optional)",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Optional. Write each result as a page into your Notion when the run finishes. Authorize a Notion connector once in Settings → API & Integrations → MCP connectors, then pick it here. Leave empty to skip (default) — results are always saved to the dataset regardless."
                    },
                    "notionParentId": {
                        "title": "Notion target data source ID",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Optional. The Notion data source ID of the database to write into (only used if a Notion connector is set). Leave empty to create the pages privately in your workspace instead."
                    },
                    "proxyConfiguration": {
                        "title": "Proxy",
                        "type": "object",
                        "description": "Optional proxy for reaching the Crossref API. Not needed: Crossref is a public, no-key API with no anti-bot, so a proxy adds no benefit and costs credits. Only enable it if you hit IP-level rate limits. Defaults to no proxy.",
                        "default": {
                            "useApifyProxy": false
                        }
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```