OpenAlex

You can access a vast OpenAlex catalog of scholarly works through this MCP server, enabling literature reviews, trend analysis, and network visualizations with easy-to-use clients. It exposes a suite of tools to search, analyze, and map scholarly literature, making it a practical foundation for AI-assisted research workflows.

How to use

Connect to the OpenAlex MCP server using an MCP-compatible client. You can issue literature searches, retrieve metadata for works, analyze citations, explore author and institution data, and track topic trends. Start with broad queries and progressively refine with filters such as year ranges, citation counts, and open-access status. Use the process to build citation networks, compare research areas, and map geographic distribution. When you perform a search, you’ll typically obtain essential identifiers, metadata, a citation count, and a concise abstract preview suitable for quick review.

How to install

Prerequisites: Node.js and npm, or a Node.js runtime capable of executing JavaScript/TypeScript builds. If you plan to run the MCP server locally from source, you will need a Node.js environment and Git to clone the repository.

# Install globally (recommended for quick try):
npm install -g openalex-research-mcp

# Or run directly with npx (no installation needed):
npx openalex-research-mcp

# If you prefer to run from source, clone and build:
# git clone https://github.com/oksure/openalex-research-mcp.git
# cd openalex-research-mcp
# npm install
# npm run build

# Start the server (example for built source):
npm start

Configuration and startup options

You can configure how the MCP server runs by selecting either a remote execution (http) or a local runtime (stdio). The recommended approach is to run the server locally in stdio mode for development or testing. Environment variables support optional API keys and an email for rate-limit improvements.

If you install via npm/npx you can run the server with a command that uses the MCP package directly, while installing from source lets you point to the built index file.

Additional configuration snippets

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openalex": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "openalex-research-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "OPENALEX_EMAIL": "your.email@example.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "openalex": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/openalex-research-mcp/build/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "OPENALEX_EMAIL": "your.email@example.com"
      }
    }
  }
}

Security and access notes

If you plan to use an API key for premium access, keep the API key secure and do not share it in public configurations. Use environment variables to keep sensitive values out of source control and consider rotating credentials periodically.

Usage examples and common patterns

Example workflows include performing a literature review to identify influential works, building a citation network for a key paper, analyzing topic trends over time, mapping collaboration networks, and comparing activity across research areas.

Troubleshooting and tips

If you encounter rate-limit issues, provide your email via OPENALEX_EMAIL to join the polite pool for better throughput. For premium users with an API key, ensure the API key is set in OPENALEX_API_KEY and that your client passes the key with requests.

Notes on tools and capabilities

The server exposes a broad set of capabilities, including literature search, metadata retrieval, citation analysis, author and institution insights, topic trend analysis, geographic distribution, and direct entity lookups.

Available tools

search_works

Advanced search for scholarly works with Boolean operators, filters, and sorting to locate relevant papers.

get_work

Retrieve detailed metadata for a specific work by ID or DOI.

get_related_works

Find papers related to a given work based on citations and topics.

search_by_topic

Explore literature within a specific research topic or domain.

autocomplete_search

Provide fast typeahead search across all OpenAlex entity types.

get_work_citations

Forward citation analysis to see who cites a given work.

get_work_references

Backward citation analysis to see what a work cites.

get_citation_network

Build a complete citation network for visualization.

get_top_cited_works

Identify the most influential papers in a field by citation count.

search_authors

Find researchers with publication and citation metrics.

get_author_works

Analyze an author's publication history.

get_author_collaborators

Map co-authorship networks.

search_institutions

Find leading academic institutions by activity and impact.

analyze_topic_trends

Track how research topics evolve over time.

compare_research_areas

Compare activity across different fields.

get_trending_topics

Discover emerging research areas.

analyze_geographic_distribution

Map global research activity by country.

get_entity

Lookup detailed information for any OpenAlex entity.

search_sources

Find journals, conferences, and publication venues.