How to Search OpenAlex Research Papers
Search scholarly works and export DOI, authors, institutions, abstracts, topics, citations, and access status.
Scholarly search results are useful interactively, but literature analysis needs structured records, reproducible filters, and preserved provenance. The OpenAlex Research Scraper turns research queries into dataset rows with authorship, institutions, topics, access data, and citation indicators.
Begin with a specific question
Use a topic phrase that reflects the review scope and keep the initial result count small.
{
"queries": ["agentic artificial intelligence"],
"fromPublicationYear": 2024,
"toPublicationYear": 2026,
"openAccessOnly": false,
"maxResultsPerQuery": 50
}Each row includes an OpenAlex ID, DOI when available, title, dates, work type, language, authors, institutions, reconstructed abstract, citation count, retraction flag, access status, source, topics, and landing links.
Verify relevance and metadata
Read titles and abstracts before assuming a keyword hit belongs in the review. Open the landing page or DOI for important works and compare authors, publication details, and access links. Aggregated metadata can be incomplete or corrected later.
Use the OpenAlex ID as the stable record key and DOI as a cross-system identifier where present. Do not deduplicate on title alone; legitimate works can share titles, and versions can differ.
For recurring discovery, save the input as an Apify Task and retain timestamped datasets. Citation counts are OpenAlex-specific snapshots, not universal totals. If the returned count reaches your cap, label the dataset truncated. Document query, years, access filter, cap, and collection time alongside any conclusion so another researcher can reproduce the population instead of seeing only a final chart.
Frequently asked questions
Does every work have a DOI?
No. OpenAlex includes works without DOIs, so preserve the OpenAlex ID as the primary source identifier.
Can I restrict publication years?
Yes. Set inclusive start and end years in the Actor input.