# openalex-research-mcp [Health: Active]

**Category:** 🔬 Research  
**Repository:** https://github.com/oksure/openalex-research-mcp  
**GitHub Stars:** 59  
**npm Downloads (last month):** 1583  
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**Directory Page:** https://allmcps.com/mcp/openalex-research-mcp

## Description
MCP server for OpenAlex API - enabling literature review and research landscaping

## Tools
Capabilities this server exposes over MCP:

- **search_works** — Search scholarly works with advanced filtering. Supports Boolean operators, year ranges, citation thresholds, venue/journal filtering (source_name, source_issn, source_id), and institution filtering (author_institution, institution_group). The most flexible search tool. Use search_in_journal_list for preset journal lists like UTD24 or FT50.
- **get_work** — Get COMPLETE details about a specific work by OpenAlex ID or DOI. Unlike search results which are summarized, this returns ALL information including: complete author list (first, middle, and last authors with positions, institutions, ORCID, corresponding author flags), full abstract (reconstructed), all topics, complete bibliographic data, funding/grants, keywords, and reference lists. Use this when you need detailed information about a specific paper, especially for identifying PIs (often last author) or corresponding authors.
- **get_related_works** — Find works related to a given work based on shared topics, citations, and references. Useful for discovering similar papers in a research area.
- **search_by_topic** — Search for works within specific research topics or domains. Use this to explore literature in a particular field or subfield. Supports venue filtering to restrict results to top journals/conferences.
- **autocomplete_search** — Fast autocomplete/typeahead search for works, authors, institutions, or other entities. Returns quick suggestions for partial queries.
- **get_work_citations** — Get all works that cite a given work. Essential for forward citation analysis and understanding research impact.
- **get_work_references** — Get all works referenced/cited by a given work. Essential for backward citation analysis and finding foundational papers.
- **get_citation_network** — Get a citation network for a work including both citing works (forward) and referenced works (backward). Returns immediate connections only. Citing works are returned as summaries; referenced works as IDs (use batch_resolve_references to hydrate).
- **get_top_cited_works** — Find the most highly cited works in a research area or matching specific criteria. Identifies influential and seminal papers. Automatically filters for papers with significant citations. Combine with source_name or source_issn to find the most-cited papers in a specific top journal/conference.
- **search_authors** — Search for authors/researchers. Returns h-index, citation count, and affiliation data. Best for finding experts when you know the name. Use search_authors_by_expertise to find experts by research area.
- **get_author_works** — Get all publications by a specific author over time. Useful for analyzing an author's research trajectory and productivity.
- **get_author_collaborators** — Analyze an author's co-authorship network. Returns frequent collaborators and collaboration statistics.
- **search_institutions** — Search for academic institutions with filters for research output, citations, and geographical location. Find leading institutions in specific areas.
- **analyze_topic_trends** — Analyze publication trends over time for specific topics or queries. Returns works grouped by year to show research evolution and growth.
- **compare_research_areas** — Compare publication volume and citation metrics across different research topics or queries. Useful for understanding relative activity in different fields.
- **get_trending_topics** — Discover emerging and trending research topics based on recent publication activity. Identifies fast-growing research areas.
- **analyze_geographic_distribution** — Analyze the geographical distribution of research activity for a topic or query. Shows which countries and institutions are most active.
- **get_entity** — Get detailed information about any OpenAlex entity by ID. Supports works, authors, sources, institutions, topics, publishers, and funders.
- **search_sources** — Search for journals, conferences, and other publication sources. Results are sorted by h-index descending by default, making it easy to identify top-tier venues. Returns h-index, impact metrics, and open access status. Use check_venue_quality for detailed metrics on a specific venue, or get_top_venues_for_field to discover the best venues in a research area.
- **list_journal_presets** — List all available named journal/conference presets and institution group presets. Call this first to discover which preset keys to pass to search_in_journal_list or the institution_group parameter. Presets include: UTD24, FT50, AJG/ABS 4*/4/3 tiers, top AI conferences, Management Science group, Nature/Science family, and institution groups (Ivy League, Top US, INSEAD+London, etc.).
- **search_in_journal_list** — Search for papers in a named list of top journals or conferences (preset) rather than specifying individual venues. This is the main tool for credibility-gated searches. Examples: search in UTD24 journals, FT50, AJG 4*, top AI conferences. Combine with author_institution or institution_group to answer questions like "AI papers in top AI conferences by Harvard/Stanford/MIT authors".
- **search_works_in_venue** — Search for papers published in a specific journal or conference. This is the primary tool for restricting citations to credible, high-impact venues. Identify the venue first via check_venue_quality or search_sources, then use its name, ISSN, or ID here.
- **get_top_venues_for_field** — Get the top journals and conferences for a specific research field ranked by h-index. Essential first step before searching for citations — use this to identify credible venues, then use search_works_in_venue to restrict searches to them.
- **check_venue_quality** — Check the quality and prestige metrics of a journal or conference. Returns h-index, citation impact, and indexing status. Use before citing a paper to confirm the venue is reputable.
- **get_author_profile** — Get a comprehensive research profile for an author: h-index, i10-index, total citations, top-cited works, recent works, and main research topics. Use this to identify key researchers, potential reviewers, or to study an expert's body of work.
- **search_authors_by_expertise** — Find leading researchers/experts in a specific topic or research area, ranked by h-index or citation count. More useful than search_authors when you do not know names but need to identify key figures in a field.
- **find_review_articles** — Find review articles, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses on a topic. Reviews summarize the state-of-the-art and are high-value citations that establish context in top papers. Optionally restrict to specific high-impact journals.
- **find_seminal_papers** — Find seminal/foundational papers in a research area — those published more than 5 years ago with very high citations. These are the "must-cite" papers that establish the intellectual lineage of a field. Use to identify citations that reviewers expect to see.
- **batch_resolve_references** — Resolve a list of DOIs or work IDs to full work metadata in one call. Useful for checking reference lists: validate that a set of citations are real, credible, and appropriately cited.
- **find_open_access_version** — Find freely available (open access) versions of papers, including preprints on arXiv, bioRxiv, and institutional repositories. Useful for accessing full text without a subscription.
- **health_check** — Check the health status of the OpenAlex MCP server and API connectivity. Returns cache status and configuration information.

## Claude Desktop Quick Installation
Install path detected from listing signals. Uses `npx` (confidence: high):

```json
"mcpServers": {
  "openalex-research-mcp": {
    "command": "npx",
    "args": ["-y","openalex-research-mcp"],
    "env": {
      "OPENALEX_EMAIL": "",
      "OPENALEX_API_KEY": ""
    }
  }
}
```

**Requires environment variables:** `OPENALEX_EMAIL`, `OPENALEX_API_KEY` — the values above are empty placeholders; fill in real credentials before running (see the repository for what each one is for).

## Documentation

## What openalex-research-mcp does

openalex-research-mcp exposes OpenAlex research data to MCP-compatible AI assistants. It is intended for work with a large scholarly catalog covering more than 240 million works, along with author, institution, source, topic, and citation information.

The server supports literature discovery and review tasks such as finding papers, retrieving work metadata, locating related studies, identifying review articles and seminal papers, and finding open-access versions. It also supports analysis across authors, institutions, venues, citations, geography, topics, and time.

A distinctive part of the server is its curated search presets. These presets represent journal and conference groups such as UTD24, FT50, AJG/ABS tiers, selected management and operations venues, leading AI and computer science conferences, and the Nature and Science families. Institution groups include Ivy League universities, selected US research universities, business schools, INSEAD and London schools, leading global business schools, and top Chinese universities.

## How it works

The server communicates with OpenAlex through MCP tools. Search inputs are validated with Zod schemas before requests are made. An in-memory cache with time-to-live can reuse recent results, while retry handling with exponential backoff helps recover from transient API failures.

The tool set includes a health check for monitoring connectivity. Searches can use Boolean operators, venue and institution filters, citation thresholds, sorting, date ranges, and named presets. Citation tools can inspect forward citations, references, or broader citation networks.

The repository also includes a separate Claude Skill. That option uses a small command-line program and loads only when invoked, rather than keeping the MCP server active. The MCP server is intended for MCP clients such as Claude Desktop and TypingMind; the skill is positioned for coding agents that already have shell access.

## Setup and configuration

The quickest installation path is:

```bash
npx openalex-research-mcp setup
```

The setup command detects the Claude Desktop configuration, asks for an email address and optional API key, writes the MCP configuration, and checks connectivity. Claude Desktop must be restarted after setup.

Useful setup options include `--print` to output configuration JSON without modifying a file, `--config-path` to show the detected configuration path, and `--email` with `--api-key` for scripted or non-interactive setup. The package can also be installed globally with npm, run directly through `npx`, or built from a cloned source checkout.

For the separate skill, set `OPENALEX_EMAIL` if you want to use the faster polite request pool, then invoke the `openalex` command after placing its directory on `PATH`.

## Tools and capabilities

- Search works, topics, authors, institutions, and sources.
- Retrieve complete work records, author profiles, publication histories, and entity details.
- Find related, review, seminal, highly cited, and open-access papers.
- Inspect references, forward citations, citation networks, and co-author relationships.
- Search named journal, conference, and institution presets.
- Compare research areas, track topic trends, find emerging topics, and analyze geographic distribution.
- Resolve up to 20 DOI or identifier references in one request.

## Limitations and notes

Preset definitions are curated in the source code. Additional journal groups can be requested through GitHub issues or contributed through pull requests. API access is subject to the configuration and connectivity used by OpenAlex, including the optional API key and email settings.

_Full upstream README: https://allmcps.com/mcp/openalex-research-mcp/readme_