# PubMed Watchlist Monitor - Europe PMC API (`technicaldost/pubmed-europepmc-watchlist-monitor`) Actor

Re-check caller-owned PubMed IDs via Europe PMC for title, publication status, citations, open-access flag and revision-date changes. Metadata only — abstracts are not billed as full text. You only pay for successful checks you receive.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/technicaldost/pubmed-europepmc-watchlist-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [Technical Dost Solutions](https://apify.com/technicaldost) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Business
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$2.50 / 1,000 successful watchlist 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?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## PubMed Watchlist Monitor - Europe PMC API

**Re-check the PubMed IDs on your literature or pharmacovigilance list. Get title, status, citation and open-access changes — and skip the papers that did not move.**

This Actor takes a caller-owned list of PMIDs, reads Europe PMC, and writes one structured metadata row per ID. Pass the previous run's snapshot back in and you get `INITIAL`, `UNCHANGED` or `CHANGED`. Abstracts are not billed as full text. This is not a PubMed search dump.

***

### What this Actor does

You already have PMIDs from a review, a trial bibliography, or a competitor paper list. You want a scheduled check for revision dates, citation counts, publication status and open-access flags — without paying a large start fee for a handful of IDs.

That is the job: a **PMID watchlist**, not a literature crawl.

***

### What you get

```json
{
  "schemaVersion": 1,
  "id": "38720000",
  "status": "ok",
  "pmid": "38720000",
  "doi": "10.1038/s41586-024-00000-0",
  "title": "Example article title from Europe PMC",
  "authorString": "Example Author",
  "journalTitle": "Nature",
  "pubYear": "2024",
  "publicationStatus": "epublish",
  "isOpenAccess": "Y",
  "citedByCount": 12,
  "dateOfRevision": "2024-05-10",
  "firstPublicationDate": "2024-05-09",
  "changeType": "INITIAL",
  "changedFields": [],
  "checkedAt": "2026-09-06T12:00:00.000Z",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.ebi.ac.uk/europepmc/webservices/rest/search?query=EXT_ID:38720000%20AND%20SRC:MED&format=json&resultType=core",
  "error": null
}
```

PMID `38720000` is a public example identifier, not a customer or endorsement. Field values above are illustrative of shape. Missing source strings are `null`.

***

### Main use cases

- **Literature watchlists.** Re-check a fixed PMID set after each Europe PMC update.
- **Citation and OA movement.** See when `citedByCount` or `isOpenAccess` changes.
- **Revision tracking.** `dateOfRevision` is a compared field — useful for living reviews.
- **Clinops + publications.** Pair PMIDs with NCT IDs in a separate Actor (below).
- **n8n / MCP / backend jobs.** Start the run from a server that holds `APIFY_TOKEN`.

***

### Quick start

```json
{
  "pmids": ["38720000"],
  "maxItems": 1
}
```

Run it, open the dataset, and save `NEXT_SNAPSHOT` from the default key-value store.

***

### Repeat workflow

1. Keep one PMID watchlist per customer, trial, or review (1–50 IDs).
2. Start a bounded run. Schedule it yourself if you need a cadence.
3. Save `NEXT_SNAPSHOT` in **your** private workflow state.
4. On the next run pass it as `previousSnapshot` and set `onlyChanges: true`.
5. Route `changeType: CHANGED` rows for review. Inspect error rows and `SUMMARY` separately.

***

### Input

| Field | Type | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| `pmids` | array | — | 1–50 numeric PubMed identifiers as strings. Duplicates checked once. |
| `maxItems` | integer | `50` | 1–50. Must cover all unique IDs. |
| `onlyChanges` | boolean | `false` | Suppress unchanged successful records without charging them. |
| `previousSnapshot` | object | — | Prior `NEXT_SNAPSHOT` with `kind: "pubmed"`. |

***

### Pricing

| Event | Price | When it happens |
|---|---|---|
| **Successful watchlist result** | **$0.0025** | One successful PMID check written to the dataset |
| Actor start | none | No custom start fee |

**You are not charged for:** failed requests, parse failures, retries, duplicate IDs, invalid input, or unchanged records suppressed by `onlyChanges`.

**Worked example.** 40 PMIDs weekly, 3 changed after the first run → about `$0.0075` that week in Actor event charges.

#### How this compares

| Actor | Price per result | Per-run start | Job |
|---|---|---|---|
| **This Actor** | **$0.0025** | **none** | Caller-owned PMID watchlist |
| `easyapi/pubmed-scraper` (Store card, 2026-09-06) | $0.00299 | $0.09 | Search / dump oriented |

A 20-ID refresh costs **$0.05** here and about **$0.15** on a $0.00299 + $0.09 start card. Competitor prices change — check the live Store cards.

***

### Using the API

```bash
curl --fail -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/technicaldost~pubmed-europepmc-watchlist-monitor/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"pmids":["38720000"],"maxItems":1}'
```

**JavaScript**

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('technicaldost/pubmed-europepmc-watchlist-monitor').call({
    pmids: ['38720000'],
    maxItems: 1,
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
```

**Python**

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient
import os

client = ApifyClient(os.environ["APIFY_TOKEN"])
run = client.actor("technicaldost/pubmed-europepmc-watchlist-monitor").call(run_input={
    "pmids": ["38720000"],
    "maxItems": 1,
})
for row in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(row["pmid"], row["publicationStatus"], row["changeType"])
```

**n8n.** HTTP Request to `/v2/acts/technicaldost~pubmed-europepmc-watchlist-monitor/runs` with `Authorization: Bearer` from credentials. Poll, then read the dataset and `NEXT_SNAPSHOT`.

**MCP / agents.** Server-side tool only. Never expose the token to a public client.

***

### Limitations

- Metadata only. Abstracts, PDFs and publisher HTML are out of scope.
- This is not a clinical conclusion, evidence grade, or systematic-review product.
- Europe PMC availability governs results. One request at a time, no automatic retries.
- At most 1,000 snapshot records are retained.

Source: public [Europe PMC](https://europepmc.org/) web service. Not affiliated with NCBI, NIH, EMBL-EBI or Europe PMC.

***

### Related Actors

- [ClinicalTrials.gov NCT Status Monitor](https://apify.com/technicaldost/clinicaltrials-nct-status-monitor) — status and enrollment on NCT IDs you already track.
- [SEC EDGAR Filing Monitor](https://apify.com/technicaldost/sec-edgar-filing-monitor) — new-only public-company filings.

***

### Changelog

See `CHANGELOG.md`. Release 1.0.0 (2026-09-06): caller-owned PMID watchlists, citation/OA/revision deltas, $0.0025 per successful result, no start fee.

# Actor input Schema

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

One to 50 numeric PubMed identifiers. Duplicates are checked once. This is metadata monitoring, not a literature search dump.

## `onlyChanges` (type: `boolean`):

Suppress unchanged successful records without charging them. The first observation is emitted.

## `previousSnapshot` (type: `object`):

Copy the previous run NEXT\_SNAPSHOT JSON here. Keep one snapshot per customer watchlist; no shared server state.

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

Bound successful checks plus item errors to at most this many records.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "pmids": [
    "38720000"
  ],
  "onlyChanges": false,
  "maxItems": 50
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

## `nextSnapshot` (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 = {
    "pmids": [
        "38720000"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("technicaldost/pubmed-europepmc-watchlist-monitor").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 = { "pmids": ["38720000"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("technicaldost/pubmed-europepmc-watchlist-monitor").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 '{
  "pmids": [
    "38720000"
  ]
}' |
apify call technicaldost/pubmed-europepmc-watchlist-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,technicaldost/pubmed-europepmc-watchlist-monitor"
        }
    }
}

```

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/lsAnHEncwCCmCCbmA/builds/Qcu6v2LvRLS1YwpJ8/openapi.json