Crossref vs Crossref MCP Server
A side-by-side look at the Crossref and Crossref MCP Server MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Crossref for research work as a local process; choose Crossref MCP Server for research as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Crossref when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Research domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
search_works, get_work, get_journal.
Choose Crossref MCP Server when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Research domain.
- You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
- You want tools like
crossref_get_work, crossref_search_works, crossref_get_references.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Research | Research |
| Quality signal | 59/100 · Good | 53/100 · Good |
| Install command | Confirmed | Confirmed |
| Transport | Local subprocess (stdio) | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | Not declared | Not declared |
| Pricing | Not declared | Not declared |
| Required env vars | None listed | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 0 | 3 |
| Directory activity | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 0 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 3 | 7 |
| Full listing | View Crossref | View Crossref MCP Server |
Tools & capabilities
Crossref tools 3
search_worksSearch academic papers, books, and datasets via Crossref. For "search works titled X" / finding a SPECIFIC paper by its title, pass `title` (title-scoped — ranks the exact paper first). Beyond keyword search you can SORT by citation count or publication date and FILTER by date range, work type, author, and JOURNAL (`journal` = a journal name like "Progress in Materials Science" or an ISSN; results are restricted to that journal only) — e.g. "most-cited papers on transformers" (sort=citations), "papers on LLMs since 2024" (from_date=2024-01-01), "recent journal articles by an author". Returns titles, authors, journal, DOIs, citation counts, and dates.get_workGet full metadata for a publication by DOI (e.g., "10.1038/nature12373"). Returns title, authors, abstract, journal, publisher, citations, and subjects.get_journalGet the 5 most recent works from a journal by ISSN (e.g., "2041-1723"). Returns titles, authors, DOIs, and publication dates.
Crossref MCP Server tools 7
crossref_get_workResolve a DOI to its full Crossref metadata record: title, authors, editors, affiliations, abstract, journal with volume/issue/pages, ISSNs and ISBNs, publication date, license, full-text links, funder acknowledgements, post-publication updates, and related identifierscrossref_search_worksSearch the Crossref works index by free text and/or structured filters, with field-scoped query parameters, sort, field selection, and offset or cursor-based pagingcrossref_get_referencesReturn the outgoing reference list for a DOI — the works cited by this paper, with citation strings and resolved DOIs where availablecrossref_search_journalsFind Crossref journal records by ISSN or title query; optionally retrieve a page of the journal's most recent workscrossref_search_fundersFind funders in the Crossref Funder Registry by name, registry ID, or funder DOI; optionally retrieve a page of funded workscrossref_get_memberResolve a Crossref member ID to its publisher record — name, owned DOI prefixes, DOI counts, and per-category metadata deposit coveragecrossref_get_prefixResolve a DOI prefix (e.g. `10.1038`) to its owning publisher, chaining into `crossref_get_member
Ready-to-paste client configs
Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.
Crossref
{
"mcpServers": {
"crossref-2": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-crossref"
]
}
}
}
Crossref MCP Server
{
"mcpServers": {
"crossref-mcp-server-2": {
"command": "bunx",
"args": [
"@cyanheads/crossref-mcp-server@latest"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Crossref is categorized under Research and uses a local stdio subprocess. Crossref MCP Server belongs to Research and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Crossref for research work and Crossref MCP Server for research.
Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.
Crossref has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. Crossref MCP Server has no declared pricing — check the project's own site. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.
Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add crossref-2 and crossref-mcp-server-2 as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Crossref has a quality signal of 59/100 (Good) with 2 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. Crossref MCP Server has 53/100 (Good) with 0 views, 0 installs and 3 GitHub stars.