• DATA
  • SOURCE
  • HUMAN
  • RECAP

How to extract bibliographies from DOIs with your AI

Connect Stanford CrossRef to your AI client once. From there, your agent can pull entire citation lists from any DOI you provide.

Ask AI about this page

Short answer

How can I get a full bibliography from a DOI?

Your agent uses the Stanford CrossRef MCP to resolve a DOI and then fetches the associated reference list. This gives you a structured set of citations for your research. You'll see the specific steps and outcomes below.

Research outcomes

Where your data lands

The specific results your agent produces after processing a DOI.

DATA

Structured citation lists

The AI pulls metadata from CrossRef and organizes it into a bibliography. You get clean text ready for your paper.

SOURCE

Verified DOI links

Every reference includes its original DOI. This ensures your citations point to the right published works.

HUMAN

Style verification

The AI provides the raw citation data, but you must check that the formatting matches your specific journal requirements.

RECAP

Research foundations

The extracted lists build a base for your literature review. You can use these lists to find related papers later.

The workflow

What your AI does when a DOI arrives.

The agent moves from a single identifier to a complete list of sources.

  1. Identify the work

    The agent takes your DOI and finds the specific metadata for that publication in the CrossRef database.

    resolve_doi

  2. Fetch references

    After finding the work, the agent requests the full list of works cited by that paper.

    get_reference_list

  3. Parse citations

    The AI processes the returned reference data into a readable format.

    get_reference_list

  4. Validate links

    The agent checks that the retrieved references are valid and can be resolved.

    resolve_doi

Try it

Copy these to start.

Use these prompts to trigger the extraction process.

Starting points

Swap the bracketed text for your actual DOI or a file path.

CrossRef Connector

You're all set. Choose your MCP client and follow the setup instructions.

Connector linkhttps://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_AljYBYn8CbbL6RdCzlq0XEJ4G5Gemg5NaPOectA4/mcp

Claude Desktop

Follow the steps below to connect in seconds.

  1. 1In Claude Desktop, open Settings → Connectors.
  2. 2Click “Add custom connector” and paste the connector link above as the remote MCP server URL.
  3. 3Click Add and start a new chat — CrossRef capabilities are ready to use.
Configuration · claude_desktop_config.jsonCopy
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "stanford-crossref-mcp": {
      "url": "https://edge.vinkius.com/vk_preview_AljYBYn8CbbL6RdCzlq0XEJ4G5Gemg5NaPOectA4/mcp"
    }
  }
}
Copy into chat04

  • Extract the bibliography for this DOI: [insert DOI here]

  • Use the Stanford CrossRef connector to get the reference list for [insert DOI here]

  • I have a list of DOIs in this text file. Can you pull the reference lists for all of them?

  • Find the works cited in the paper with DOI [insert DOI here] and format them as a list.

  • Claude
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Start here

Connect Stanford CrossRef once, then ask.

One link connects this MCP to your agent. Your login stays encrypted on our side, and the full walkthrough lives on the Connector page.

Connect Stanford CrossRef to your AI

FAQ

How this task behaves

  • 01

    Can the AI format the bibliography in APA style?

    The AI can organize the data, but you must verify the final output against your specific style guide.

  • 02

    Does the AI automatically update my Word document?

    No. The AI provides the text, but you have to paste it into your document yourself.

  • 03

    What happens if a DOI is invalid?

    The agent will tell you it cannot resolve that DOI through CrossRef.

  • 04

    Can the AI download the full PDF of the cited works?

    No. This MCP only retrieves metadata and reference lists, not the actual PDF files.

  • 05

    Can I use this to find papers that haven't been published yet?

    No. The agent can only retrieve data for works that are already in the CrossRef database.

  • More questions about Stanford CrossRef? The Connector page answers them. See everything the Stanford CrossRef Connector can do

Connect CrossRef to Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT & more