openalex-js

A JavaScript client for the OpenAlex API. OpenAlex is an open and comprehensive catalog of scholarly papers, authors, institutions, and more.

Installation

npm install openalex-js

Usage

const OpenAlex = require("openalex-js");

// Initialize the client
const openalex = new OpenAlex({
  email: "[e-mail]", // Optional but recommended
});

// Get a specific work by ID
const work = await openalex.getWork("W2741809807");

// Search for works with filters
const works = await openalex.getWorks({
  filter: "publication_year:2020",
  search: "machine learning",
});

// Get an author by ID
const author = await openalex.getAuthor("A2208157607");

// Search for authors
const authors = await openalex.getAuthors({
  filter: "works_count:>100",
  search: "Smith",
});

API Reference

Configuration

The OpenAlex client accepts the following configuration options:

• email (optional): Your email address for the polite pool
• perPage (optional): Number of results per page (default: 25)

Methods

All methods return promises that resolve to the API response.

Works

• getWork(id): Get a single work by ID
• getWorks(params): Get a list of works with optional parameters

Authors

• getAuthor(id): Get a single author by ID
• getAuthors(params): Get a list of authors with optional parameters

Sources

• getSource(id): Get a single source by ID
• getSources(params): Get a list of sources with optional parameters

Institutions

• getInstitution(id): Get a single institution by ID
• getInstitutions(params): Get a list of institutions with optional parameters

Topics

• getTopic(id): Get a single topic by ID
• getTopics(params): Get a list of topics with optional parameters

Publishers

• getPublisher(id): Get a single publisher by ID
• getPublishers(params): Get a list of publishers with optional parameters

Funders

• getFunder(id): Get a single funder by ID
• getFunders(params): Get a list of funders with optional parameters

Parameters

All list methods accept an optional parameters object that can include:

• filter: Filter results using OpenAlex syntax
• search: Search within results
• sort: Sort results
• page: Page number for pagination
• per_page: Results per page (overrides constructor setting)

Examples

// Get works from a specific institution
const works = await openalex.getWorks({
  filter: "institutions.id:I136199984", // Harvard University
  sort: "cited_by_count:desc",
});

// Search for authors at a specific institution
const authors = await openalex.getAuthors({
  filter: "last_known_institution.id:I136199984",
  search: "biology",
});

// Get highly-cited papers from 2023
const papers = await openalex.getWorks({
  filter: "publication_year:2023,cited_by_count:>100",
});

Rate Limits

OpenAlex has a rate limit of 100,000 requests per day and 10 requests per second. For better performance, provide your email address when initializing the client to get into the "polite pool."

License

MIT

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.