Query and analyze scholarly literature using the OpenAlex database. This skill should be used when searching for academic papers, analyzing research trends, finding works by authors or institutions, tracking citations, discovering open access publications, or conducting bibliometric analysis across 240M+ scholarly works. Use for literature searches, research output analysis, citation analysis, and academic database queries.
OpenAlex is a comprehensive open catalog of 240M+ scholarly works, authors, institutions, topics, sources, publishers, and funders. This skill provides tools and workflows for querying the OpenAlex API to search literature, analyze research output, track citations, and conduct bibliometric studies.
Quick Start
Basic Setup
Always initialize the client with an email address to access the polite pool (10x rate limit boost):
from scripts.openalex_client import OpenAlexClient
client = OpenAlexClient(email="your-email@example.edu")
Installation Requirements
Install required package using uv:
uv pip install requests
No API key required - OpenAlex is completely open.
Core Capabilities
1. Search for Papers
Use for: Finding papers by title, abstract, or topic
Use for: Getting information for multiple DOIs, ORCIDs, or IDs efficiently
dois = [
"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03819-2",
"https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abc1234",
# ... up to 50 DOIs
]
works = client.batch_lookup(
entity_type='works',
ids=dois,
id_field='doi'
)
9. Random Sampling
Use for: Getting representative samples for analysis
# Small sample
works = client.sample_works(
sample_size=100,
seed=42, # For reproducibility
filter_params={"publication_year": "2023"}
)
# Large sample (>10k) - automatically handles multiple requests
works = client.sample_works(
sample_size=25000,
seed=42,
filter_params={"is_oa": "true"}
)
10. Citation Analysis
Use for: Finding papers that cite a specific work
# Get the work
work = client.get_entity('works', 'https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03819-2')
# Get citing papers using cited_by_api_url
import requests
citing_response = requests.get(
work['cited_by_api_url'],
params={'mailto': client.email, 'per-page': 200}
)
citing_works = citing_response.json()['results']
11. Topic and Subject Analysis
Use for: Understanding research focus areas
# Get top topics for an institution
topics = client.group_by(
entity_type='works',
group_field='topics.id',
filter_params={
"authorships.institutions.id": "I136199984", # MIT
"publication_year": ">2020"
}
)
for topic in topics[:10]:
print(f"{topic['key_display_name']}: {topic['count']} works")
12. Large-Scale Data Extraction
Use for: Downloading large datasets for analysis
# Paginate through all results
all_papers = client.paginate_all(
endpoint='/works',
params={
'search': 'synthetic biology',
'filter': 'publication_year:2020-2024'
},
max_results=10000
)
# Export to CSV
import csv
with open('papers.csv', 'w', newline='', encoding='utf-8') as f:
writer = csv.writer(f)
writer.writerow(['Title', 'Year', 'Citations', 'DOI', 'OA Status'])
for paper in all_papers:
writer.writerow([
paper.get('title', 'N/A'),
paper.get('publication_year', 'N/A'),
paper.get('cited_by_count', 0),
paper.get('doi', 'N/A'),
paper.get('open_access', {}).get('oa_status', 'closed')
])
Critical Best Practices
Always Use Email for Polite Pool
Add email to get 10x rate limit (1 req/sec β 10 req/sec):
Use batch_lookup() for multiple IDs instead of individual requests:
# β Correct - 1 request for 50 DOIs
works = client.batch_lookup('works', doi_list, 'doi')
# β Wrong - 50 separate requests
for doi in doi_list:
work = client.get_entity('works', doi)
Use Sample Parameter for Random Data
Use sample_works() with seed for reproducible random sampling:
# β Correct
works = client.sample_works(sample_size=100, seed=42)
# β Wrong - random page numbers bias results
# Using random page numbers doesn't give true random sample
Select Only Needed Fields
Reduce response size by selecting specific fields:
# Single year
filter_params={"publication_year": "2023"}
# After year
filter_params={"publication_year": ">2020"}
# Range
filter_params={"publication_year": "2020-2024"}
Multiple Filters (AND)
# All conditions must match
filter_params={
"publication_year": ">2020",
"is_oa": "true",
"cited_by_count": ">100"
}
Multiple Values (OR)
# Any institution matches
filter_params={
"authorships.institutions.id": "I136199984|I27837315" # MIT or Harvard
}
Collaboration (AND within attribute)
# Papers with authors from BOTH institutions
filter_params={
"authorships.institutions.id": "I136199984+I27837315" # MIT AND Harvard
}
Negation
# Exclude type
filter_params={
"type": "!paratext"
}
Entity Types
OpenAlex provides these entity types:
works - Scholarly documents (articles, books, datasets)
authors - Researchers with disambiguated identities
institutions - Universities and research organizations
# DOI for works
work = client.get_entity('works', 'https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4375')
# ORCID for authors
author = client.get_entity('authors', 'https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1613-5981')
# ROR for institutions
institution = client.get_entity('institutions', 'https://ror.org/02y3ad647')
# ISSN for sources
source = client.get_entity('sources', 'issn:0028-0836')
Reference Documentation
Detailed API Reference
See references/api_guide.md for:
Complete filter syntax
All available endpoints
Response structures
Error handling
Performance optimization
Rate limiting details
Common Query Examples
See references/common_queries.md for:
Complete working examples
Real-world use cases
Complex query patterns
Data export workflows
Multi-step analysis procedures
Scripts
openalex_client.py
Main API client with:
Automatic rate limiting
Exponential backoff retry logic
Pagination support
Batch operations
Error handling
Use for direct API access with full control.
query_helpers.py
High-level helper functions for common operations:
find_author_works() - Get papers by author
find_institution_works() - Get papers from institution
find_highly_cited_recent_papers() - Get influential papers
get_open_access_papers() - Find OA publications
get_publication_trends() - Analyze trends over time
