# Scholar Search API: OpenAlex, Crossref and arXiv Papers (`dataandbeyond/scholar-search`) Actor

Search academic papers in OpenAlex, Crossref and arXiv. Ranked by relevance and citations, reprints merged.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/dataandbeyond/scholar-search.md
- **Developed by:** [Data and Beyond](https://apify.com/dataandbeyond) (community)
- **Categories:** AI, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$2.00 / 1,000 paper 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/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
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.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## 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.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Scholar Search API: OpenAlex, Crossref and arXiv Papers

Search academic papers across OpenAlex, Crossref and arXiv and get DOI, authors, year, citation count and PDF link as JSON. An open-data option if you need paper search without scraping Google Scholar.

### Example input

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "retrieval augmented generation"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 10
}
```

### How it works

- Each query is sent to the selected sources, and results are merged by DOI.
- You get title, authors, year, venue, citation count (where the source has one) and open-access links.

### Output

One JSON record per result with: `query`, `title`, `doi`, `year`, `authors`, `venue`, `type`, `citedByCount`, `url`, `pdfUrl`, `license`, `foundIn`.

### Limitations

- Records without authors (book front matter, many chapters) are dropped. Results are ranked by title match and citation count, and reprints of the same paper are merged (earliest year kept).
- If OpenAlex is unavailable, the Actor falls back to Crossref + arXiv, and well-known papers without a DOI (e.g. NeurIPS papers) can rank low.
- No full text, only metadata and links.
- No hits gives one NOT_FOUND row.
- On Apify's free plan, start one run at a time. Several runs started at once can be refused with HTTP 402 (memory limit for concurrent runs).

### Invalid input

Text fields or list items that contain only spaces stop the run with a clear error before any external API is called. Nothing is charged.

### No results

A query with no hits gives one row: `{"query": ..., "status": "NOT_FOUND", "message": "No results for ..."}`. It is not charged.

### When something goes wrong

If the upstream API is down, times out or rejects the request, the run fails with a status message that says which API failed and why. You won't get an empty "success" that looks like "no results".

### Price

$0.002 per paper. No start fee. Apify's free plan includes a small monthly credit, so testing costs next to nothing.

### Using it from an MCP client

Apify's MCP server exposes it as a tool. You need an Apify account and API token (the free plan is enough to try it):

```json
{ "mcpServers": { "apify": { "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=dataandbeyond/scholar-search", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer <APIFY_TOKEN>" } } } }
```

Or call it over HTTP and get the rows back directly:

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/dataandbeyond~scholar-search/run-sync-get-dataset-items" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{"queries": ["retrieval augmented generation"], "maxResultsPerQuery": 10}'
```

### Source and license

OpenAlex (CC0; used when the Actor has an OpenAlex key configured), Crossref REST API (metadata free to reuse), arXiv API (metadata CC0). Each record has a `source` field. Follow the source license if you redistribute the data.

### Contact

Mark, Data and Beyond ApS (Denmark). Open an issue on the Actor page if something is wrong or missing.

# Actor input Schema

## `queries` (type: `array`):

Free-text topics, titles or keywords.

## `maxResultsPerQuery` (type: `integer`):

Deduplicated papers per query.

## `sources` (type: `array`):

Any of: crossref, arxiv, openalex. OpenAlex is used when the Actor has the OPENALEX_API_KEY environment variable set.

## `fromYear` (type: `integer`):

Only papers published this year or later.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "retrieval augmented generation"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 10,
  "sources": [
    "crossref",
    "arxiv",
    "openalex"
  ]
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

# 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 = {
    "queries": [
        "retrieval augmented generation"
    ],
    "maxResultsPerQuery": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("dataandbeyond/scholar-search").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 = {
    "queries": ["retrieval augmented generation"],
    "maxResultsPerQuery": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("dataandbeyond/scholar-search").call(run_input=run_input)

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

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

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "queries": [
    "retrieval augmented generation"
  ],
  "maxResultsPerQuery": 10
}' |
apify call dataandbeyond/scholar-search --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,dataandbeyond/scholar-search"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/yQME979hD1As2VKIr/builds/LlNMAwEXbYbX3WnWa/openapi.json