# PubMed Medical Papers Tracker (`gochujang/pubmed-papers-tracker`) Actor

Search PubMed medical literature via NCBI E-utilities API (no API key required). Filter by date range, article type (Clinical Trial, Review, Meta-Analysis), and keywords. Returns title, abstract, authors, journal, DOI, MeSH terms, and open-access status. Ideal for drug and disease research.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/gochujang/pubmed-papers-tracker.md
- **Developed by:** [Hojun Lee](https://apify.com/gochujang) (community)
- **Categories:** Education, AI
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 50.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 item trackeds

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

## PubMed Medical Papers Tracker

Search and monitor PubMed medical literature via the **NCBI E-utilities API** — completely free, no API key required. Ideal for tracking the latest research on drugs, diseases, treatments, and clinical trials.

### What does PubMed Medical Papers Tracker do?

This Actor searches PubMed's database of 36+ million biomedical citations and returns structured records including:

- **Title, abstract, and authors**
- **Journal name and publication date**
- **DOI and direct PubMed URL**
- **Article type** (Clinical Trial, Review, Meta-Analysis, etc.)
- **MeSH terms** (Medical Subject Headings)
- **Open-access flag** (free full-text availability via PubMed Central)

### Use cases

- **Drug research**: Track efficacy and safety studies for specific compounds
- **Disease monitoring**: Follow latest research on cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease
- **Clinical trial discovery**: Find Phase II/III trials in your therapeutic area
- **Systematic reviews**: Gather papers for evidence synthesis
- **Competitive intelligence**: Monitor publications from research groups or institutions
- **Medical journalism**: Stay current on breakthrough research

### Input parameters

| Parameter | Type | Description |
|-----------|------|-------------|
| `searchTerm` | string | PubMed search query (supports MeSH, field tags) |
| `maxResults` | integer | Max papers to return (1–10000, default 100) |
| `dateFrom` | string | Publication start date (YYYY/MM/DD) |
| `dateTo` | string | Publication end date (YYYY/MM/DD) |
| `articleTypes` | array | Filter by type: Clinical Trial, Review, Meta-Analysis, etc. |
| `sortBy` | string | `relevance` (default), `pub_date`, `Author`, `JournalName` |
| `includeAbstract` | boolean | Fetch full abstracts (default true) |
| `ncbiApiKey` | string | Optional NCBI API key for 10 req/s (vs 3 req/s) |

#### Advanced search queries

PubMed supports field-tagged searches:

```
BRCA1[Gene Name] AND breast cancer[MeSH Terms]
metformin[Title/Abstract] AND type 2 diabetes[MeSH Terms] AND ("2022"[pdat] : "3000"[pdat])
COVID-19[MeSH Terms] AND vaccine efficacy[Title]
Smith J[Author] AND Nature Medicine[Journal]
```

### Output format

Each paper record contains:

```json
{
  "pmid": "37654321",
  "title": "Efficacy of mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines Against Omicron Subvariants",
  "abstract": "Background: ... Methods: ... Results: ...",
  "authors": ["Smith J", "Doe A", "Johnson B"],
  "journal": "New England Journal of Medicine",
  "publication_date": "2024-01-15",
  "year": 2024,
  "doi": "10.1056/NEJMoa2302462",
  "pubmed_url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37654321/",
  "article_types": ["Clinical Trial", "Randomized Controlled Trial"],
  "mesh_terms": ["COVID-19 Vaccines", "mRNA Vaccines", "Omicron"],
  "is_free_full_text": true,
  "citation_count": null,
  "source": "PubMed"
}
```

### Pricing

- **$0.005** per Actor start
- **$0.002** per paper returned

Fetching 100 papers costs approximately **$0.21**.

### API details

Powered by [NCBI E-utilities](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK25501/) — a free public API with:

- **3 requests/second** without API key
- **10 requests/second** with free NCBI API key (register at [NCBI](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/account/))

The Actor respects rate limits automatically using an async semaphore and 1-second delays between batches.

### Example: Track COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials (2023–2024)

```json
{
  "searchTerm": "COVID-19 vaccine efficacy",
  "maxResults": 50,
  "dateFrom": "2023/01/01",
  "dateTo": "2024/12/31",
  "articleTypes": ["Clinical Trial", "Randomized Controlled Trial"],
  "sortBy": "pub_date",
  "includeAbstract": true
}
```

### Example: Find meta-analyses on GLP-1 drugs for obesity

```json
{
  "searchTerm": "semaglutide OR tirzepatide AND obesity[MeSH Terms]",
  "maxResults": 30,
  "articleTypes": ["Meta-Analysis", "Systematic Review"],
  "sortBy": "relevance",
  "includeAbstract": true
}

---

### Related actors

- [SEC Company Financials](https://apify.com/gochujang/sec-company-financials) — SEC EDGAR filings to cross-reference biotech/pharma company financials with drug trial outcomes
- [YouTube Channel Stats](https://apify.com/gochujang/youtube-channel-stats) — Track medical conference presentations and FDA advisory committee hearing channels
- [Google News Scraper](https://apify.com/gochujang/google-news-scraper) — News coverage of clinical trial results and drug approvals to pair with PubMed literature

### Feedback

If this actor powers your research, a review helps others find it: [Leave a review on Apify Store](https://apify.com/gochujang/pubmed-papers-tracker#reviews)
```

***

**Keywords:** PubMed papers scraper, NCBI E-utilities API, medical literature search, academic paper tracker, clinical trial papers, meta-analysis search, PubMed abstract extractor, biomedical research scraper, open-access papers, DOI extractor, MeSH terms PubMed, journal article scraper, research paper aggregator, medical paper search

# Actor input Schema

## `searchTerm` (type: `string`):

PubMed search query. Supports MeSH terms, author, journal, title fields. E.g. 'COVID-19 mRNA vaccine efficacy' or 'BRCA1\[Gene Name] AND breast cancer'.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of papers to return (1–10000).

## `dateFrom` (type: `string`):

Start date for publication date filter. Format: YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY.

## `dateTo` (type: `string`):

End date for publication date filter. Format: YYYY/MM/DD or YYYY. Leave empty for today.

## `articleTypes` (type: `array`):

Filter by article type. Leave empty to include all types.

## `sortBy` (type: `string`):

Sort order for results.

## `includeAbstract` (type: `boolean`):

Fetch and include full abstract text. Requires an extra API call per batch but provides richer data.

## `ncbiApiKey` (type: `string`):

NCBI API key for higher rate limits (10 req/s vs 3 req/s). Get free at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/account/

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "searchTerm": "COVID-19 mRNA vaccine efficacy",
  "maxResults": 100,
  "dateFrom": "",
  "dateTo": "",
  "articleTypes": [],
  "sortBy": "relevance",
  "includeAbstract": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

No description

## `summary` (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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("gochujang/pubmed-papers-tracker").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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("gochujang/pubmed-papers-tracker").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 '{}' |
apify call gochujang/pubmed-papers-tracker --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,gochujang/pubmed-papers-tracker"
        }
    }
}
```

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/jvP5cS4hZoybite4G/builds/CiFQ8z0ecfz7QOHEA/openapi.json