# PubMed Article Search & PMID Lookup (`se7enmethod/pubmed-article-search`) Actor

Search 38M+ PubMed biomedical citations with full PubMed query syntax, date and publication-type filters, or bulk-resolve PMIDs. Returns title, authors, journal, dates, DOI, PMCID, free full-text flag and links. Official NCBI E-utilities, no key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/se7enmethod/pubmed-article-search.md
- **Developed by:** [Patrick Hebert](https://apify.com/se7enmethod) (community)
- **Categories:** AI, Developer tools
- **Security:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$2.00 / 1,000 results

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 Article Search & PMID Lookup

Search **38M+ PubMed citations** (MEDLINE, life-science journals, PMC) or **resolve PMIDs in bulk** through the official **NCBI E-utilities**. Full PubMed query syntax works. No scraping, key, login or proxy.

### Use cases

- **Medical affairs & pharma**: track new trials, reviews and meta-analyses for a drug or condition.
- **Literature reviews**: export citations with DOI and PMCID for reference managers.
- **KOL / author research**: search by author (`Smith J[au]`) and see who publishes on a topic.
- **Health content & RAG**: find citable studies with free full text.

### Input

```json
{ "queries": ["semaglutide cardiovascular outcomes"], "publicationTypes": ["Randomized Controlled Trial"], "fromDate": "2022", "sort": "newest", "maxPerQuery": 100 }
```

### Output (one row per article)

`pmid, title, authors, firstAuthor, lastAuthor, journal, pubDate, volume, issue, pages, doi, pmcid, hasFreeFullText, publicationTypes, language, hasAbstract, url, pmcUrl`. Unknown PMIDs and empty searches return `found: false` and are not charged.

### Pricing

Pay per result (per article returned).

### Notes

Abstracts are not exported because some are copyrighted by publishers; `hasAbstract` and the PubMed link tell you where to read one. Data from the National Library of Medicine (NLM). Not affiliated with or endorsed by NLM/NCBI.

# Actor input Schema

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

Anything PubMed accepts, e.g. semaglutide obesity, or Smith J\[au] AND cancer\[ti].

## `pmids` (type: `array`):

Bulk lookup by PubMed ID.

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

Published from (YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD).

## `toDate` (type: `string`):

Published until (YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD).

## `publicationTypes` (type: `array`):

Optional, e.g. Randomized Controlled Trial, Review, Meta-Analysis, Clinical Trial.

## `freeFullTextOnly` (type: `boolean`):

Only free full text.

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

Sort.

## `contactEmail` (type: `string`):

Sent to NCBI as the email parameter, as NCBI requests.

## `maxPerQuery` (type: `integer`):

Max articles per query.

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

Max results.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "queries": [
    "semaglutide cardiovascular outcomes"
  ],
  "freeFullTextOnly": false,
  "sort": "relevance",
  "maxPerQuery": 200,
  "maxItems": 1000
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

All results in the default dataset (Overview view selected).

# 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": [
        "semaglutide cardiovascular outcomes"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("se7enmethod/pubmed-article-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": ["semaglutide cardiovascular outcomes"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("se7enmethod/pubmed-article-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": [
    "semaglutide cardiovascular outcomes"
  ]
}' |
apify call se7enmethod/pubmed-article-search --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,se7enmethod/pubmed-article-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/KBB24E9ETIr6EglzQ/builds/mU76Ff8j1tf0a9MZa/openapi.json