ROR Scraper

ROR Scraper

Scrape ROR records for any organization, from universities to research institutes, up to a million per run. Each record includes its ROR ID, name, status, and location. No API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

ROR is the global registry of research organizations, but its API requires registration and rate limits. This scraper reads the public search pages directly, filtered by name, keyword, or record status, and returns each match in one fixed schema.

Who uses it	What they scrape ROR for
Research administrators	Building a clean list of active institutions for grant management
Data analysts	Enriching publication metadata with standardized organization identifiers
Librarians	Maintaining an up-to-date directory of research organizations
Market researchers	Mapping the institutional landscape in a scientific field

What it does

This Actor collects ROR organization records by direct URL or search query, and returns each one as a flat row.

• 🔍 Search by name or keyword: find organizations matching a term like 'university' or 'Max Planck'.
• 📌 Filter by record status: active, inactive, or withdrawn records only.
• 🔗 Direct URL scraping: paste any ROR search URL to replicate a specific query.
• 📊 Flat row output: each organization becomes one row with its ROR ID, name, status, and location.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with ROR data

📇 Build an institution directory.

A librarian scrapes all active organizations matching 'university' to update their internal directory with current ROR IDs and names.

🧹 Clean publication data.

A data analyst scrapes ROR records for a list of known institution names to map them to standardized identifiers for a citation database.

📊 Track organizational changes.

A research administrator scrapes inactive and withdrawn records to identify institutions that have closed or merged, updating their grant management system.

🌍 Map research landscapes.

A market researcher scrapes all organizations in a country or field to analyze the competitive institutional landscape for a funding agency.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key	Scrape public ROR pages without registration or rate limits
Flexible input	Use a direct URL or a simple search query
Status filter	Get only active, inactive, or withdrawn records
Scalable	Collect up to a million organizations per run

How it compares

No other Store actor targets ROR the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

	ROR Scraper	Build it in-house	By hand
Setup	Run it now, zero config	Days of engineering	None, but hours per pull
When ROR changes	Maintained for you	You fix it	You re-learn the page
Proxies, retries, anti-bot	Built in	Your problem	Browser only
Output	Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export	Whatever you build	Copy-paste
Cost	Pay per result	Engineering time	Analyst hours

Configure the run

Drive the Actor from a direct ROR search URL or a name/keyword query, optionally filtered by record status, and set a maximum number of organizations to collect. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "startUrl": "https://ror.org/search?filter=&query=university",
  "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
  "startUrl": "https://ror.org/search?filter=&query=university",
  "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.16 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$16.00
1,000 results	$160.00
10,000 results	$1600.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the ROR Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to ROR through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

$claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/ror-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check that your query or startUrl is correct. If you used query, try a broader term. If you used startUrl, ensure the URL is a valid ROR search page and not a specific record page.

The scraper returns fewer results than expected.

Make sure maxItems is set high enough. Also check if you have a recordStatus filter that might exclude some records.

I get an error when using both query and startUrl.

Use only one of these inputs. The scraper expects either a direct URL or a search query, not both.

The output is missing some fields.

Some ROR records may not have all fields populated. Check the sample output to see which fields are typically available.

FAQ

Question	Answer
Do I need a ROR API key?	No. This scraper reads the public ROR search pages directly, so no registration or API key is required.
Can I scrape a specific ROR record?	Yes. Use the startUrl input with the direct URL of the ROR search page for that record, or use the query input to search by name.
What is the difference between query and startUrl?	Use query to search by organization name or keyword. Use startUrl to paste a full ROR search URL, including any filters you have already applied. Use one or the other, not both.
How do I filter by record status?	Set the recordStatus input to active, inactive, or withdrawn. If left empty, all statuses are returned.
What is the maximum number of organizations I can scrape?	You can set maxItems up to 1,000,000 per run. The default is 10.
What data fields are returned for each organization?	Each row includes the ROR ID, organization name, record status, and location details as shown in the sample output.
Can I export the results?	Yes. You can export the dataset to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify platform.
Is this scraper legal?	ROR data is openly available for public use. Always check the ROR terms of service for your specific use case.
How often is the data updated?	The scraper reads live data from ROR each time you run it, so you always get the current records.
Can I schedule this scraper to run regularly?	Yes. You can set up a schedule in Apify to run the Actor daily, weekly, or at any interval you need.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Research Organization Registry (ROR). It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.