# Academic Research MCP Server (`themineworks/academic-research-mcp`) Actor

Scholarly search for AI agents: OpenAlex works, Crossref metadata, arXiv preprints, OpenCitations graphs and PubMed, behind one MCP endpoint. No result, no charge.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/themineworks/academic-research-mcp.md
- **Developed by:** [The Mine Works](https://apify.com/themineworks) (community)
- **Categories:** MCP servers, Education
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 0.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $0.078 / literature\_report

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#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

## Academic Research MCP

**Scholarly search for AI agents: papers, metadata, preprints and citations behind one MCP endpoint.**

Six tools across OpenAlex, Crossref, arXiv, OpenCitations and PubMed. All official public APIs, no scraping targets, no proxy games. Normalized JSON.

Built by [The Mine Works](https://apify.com/themineworks).

### Tools

| Tool | What it returns | Price |
|---|---|---|
| `search_papers` | OpenAlex works: authors, venue, citations, OA status | $0.05 / 25 works |
| `crossref_metadata` | Canonical Crossref records: DOIs, journals, dates | $0.05 / 25 works |
| `search_preprints` | arXiv preprints with abstracts and PDF links | $0.04 / 25 papers |
| `citation_graph` | Who cites a DOI and what it cites (OpenCitations) | $0.04 / 25 records |
| `search_pubmed` | PubMed articles with abstracts and MeSH terms | $0.04 / 25 articles |
| `literature_report` | Works + metadata + preprints + PubMed, one call | **$0.13** complete · $0.08 partial · $0.03/section · $0 nothing found |

**The report always costs less than calling the tools one by one.**

### Worked example

Ask your agent: *"What does the literature say about CRISPR base editing since 2022?"*

```json
// tools/call → literature_report
{ "topic": "CRISPR base editing", "from_year": 2022 }
```

Returns `published_works`, `canonical_metadata`, `preprints`, and `biomedical` in one object, most-cited first where the source ranks by citations.

### Setup

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "academic-research": {
      "url": "https://themineworks--academic-research-mcp.apify.actor/mcp",
      "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" }
    }
  }
}
```

Works in Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, and Windsurf. Cold start ~8s.

### Billing promise

**No result, no charge. Ever.** A topic with no hits returns an empty, unbilled answer.

Identical repeat calls within 60 seconds are free. Apify platform usage is billed by Apify on top, as with any Standby actor.

### Honest limits

- **These are metadata and abstract services, not full-text retrieval.** PDF links are returned where the source publishes them (arXiv always, OpenAlex when open access).
- **Citation counts differ between OpenAlex and Crossref** because their corpora differ. That is the sources disagreeing, not a bug.
- **PubMed is biomedical only**; the report marks that section not-found for out-of-domain topics rather than padding it.

### More from The Mine Works

Individual scrapers at [apify.com/themineworks](https://apify.com/themineworks). Full MCP suite: [themineworks.com/mcp](https://themineworks.com/mcp).

# Actor input Schema

## `readme` (type: `string`):

This Actor serves OpenAlex, Crossref, arXiv, OpenCitations and PubMed scholarly data to AI agents over the Model Context Protocol.

Connect your MCP client to:
https://themineworks--academic-research-mcp.apify.actor/mcp

with your Apify API token as a Bearer token. Works in Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor and Windsurf - copy-paste config blocks are in the README.

Starting a normal run here does nothing except print this pointer.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "readme": "Connect your MCP client to https://themineworks--academic-research-mcp.apify.actor/mcp - see the README."
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `mcpEndpoint` (type: `string`):

Streamable HTTP MCP endpoint for this run. Works in Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor and Windsurf; copy-paste config is in the README.

# 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("themineworks/academic-research-mcp").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("themineworks/academic-research-mcp").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).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 themineworks/academic-research-mcp --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=themineworks/academic-research-mcp",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/E0SnBX2UF7fLAA0Bf/builds/0bcRTD1IZLKZ3qWRP/openapi.json