Crossref Research Watchlist - DOI Metadata & Changes

Use DOI identities and field-level comparisons to review metadata changes without conflating citation counts with research quality.

Track scholarly search results from Crossref with DOI, publication metadata, citation counters and saved comparisons. Readable reports and bounded queries. No paywalled article text collected.

Start in under a minute

1. Paste research queries into the first input field, or use the included sample.
2. Keep the five-result limit for your first run and choose Start.
3. Open Observations, Scope and diagnostics, or the Readable run report in Output. Export CSV or JSON from the dataset.

{
  "queries": [
    "large language models"
  ],
  "maxResults": 5,
  "itemsPerQuery": 3
}

No source account, API key, paid proxy or extra subscription is required for these public endpoints. Source availability and rate limits still apply.

Who this helps

Research analysts and technical content teams maintaining focused literature watchlists.

What you receive

One row per unique confirmed observation. Every row includes a stable recordId, title, source URL and observation time.

Field	Meaning
doi	Source-reported doi; missing optional values remain null.
workType	Source-reported work type; missing optional values remain null.
publisher	Source-reported publisher; missing optional values remain null.
publicationDateParts	Source-reported publication date parts; missing optional values remain null.
containerTitles	Source-reported container titles; missing optional values remain null.
citingWorksCount	Source-reported citing works count; missing optional values remain null.
licenses	Source-reported licenses; missing optional values remain null.
updateNotices	Source-reported update notices; missing optional values remain null.
comparisonStatus	not_requested, new, changed or unchanged
changedFields	Fields different from your last saved observation
previous	Previous saved source values when comparison is enabled

Saved comparisons

Enable Compare with saved observations, choose a snapshot name, and reuse the same input scope. The first run establishes history; it cannot report changes before that point. Enable Save only new or changed observations for later runs if you want a change-only export. An unchanged run can correctly save zero rows.

Only confirmed saved rows advance history. A bounded or failed run never establishes that a missing record was deleted. History is stored in a named key-value store in the running user's account. Use one writer per snapshot: do not overlap runs against the same snapshot. Change the snapshot name when starting a new independent workflow.

Scope and limitations

First bounded relevance-ranked Crossref results per query; results may include books and chapters, not only papers. Crossref metadata and citation counts are incomplete. Missing results do not imply removal or retraction.

At most ten input values and thirty saved rows per run. Each input performs one bounded public API request. Responses are capped at 8 MiB and share the run deadline. No authentication bypass, image/package download or code execution is performed. HTTP 429 stops further requests; Stack Exchange backoff/quota signals are respected. Source failures appear in SUMMARY and the HTML report, never as paid data rows.

Pricing

The configured base price is $0.001 per saved observation, plus $0.00005 per start at the default memory. Five observations cost $0.00505 at that base rate. Applicable plan discounts and the Store pricing panel govern actual charges. Set a maximum charge in Run options. Diagnostics, reports and unchanged skipped rows are not dataset result events.

Make it recurring

Save an Actor task with your inputs, then attach an Apify Schedule. For change detection, keep the same snapshot and avoid overlapping runs. Add an integration to deliver results to your own spreadsheet or workflow. No external delivery is enabled automatically.

Examples

1. Research queries: large language models — A bounded large language models observation sample. Review source evidence and export rows or compare them in a later run.
2. Research queries: sodium ion batteries — A bounded sodium ion batteries observation sample. Review source evidence and export rows or compare them in a later run.
3. Research queries: carbon capture — A bounded carbon capture observation sample. Review source evidence and export rows or compare them in a later run.

Source and support

Official source documentation. This independent Mayd IT tool is not affiliated with the source platform. Open an Actor issue with the run ID and expected result, or contact bmay@mayd-it.com. Never include credentials.