# Stanford OpenAlex MCP > Stanford OpenAlex gives you open access to the global research catalog. It lets you analyze over 250 million academic works and trace connections between authors, institutions, concepts, and funding bodies worldwide. Check a researcher's full impact profile, map out scientific concept hierarchies, or find every paper funded by a specific organization. ## Overview - **Category:** education - **Price:** Free - **Tags:** openalex, academic-research, bibliometrics, institutions, journals, open-access, research-metrics ## Description Working with modern academic research means dealing with massive datasets—millions of papers, thousands of institutions, and complex citation graphs. This MCP connects you directly to the OpenAlex API, giving your AI client deep access to this global knowledge catalog. You don't need an API key because OpenAlex is free and open. Instead of manually hopping between Google Scholar, university websites, and journal portals, you ask your agent to do the heavy lifting. You can profile a scholar using metrics like h-index or i10-index; check which organizations are funding specific fields of study; or narrow down papers that have been published under open access licenses. It's the power of having all the academic world’s metadata available in one place, accessible through Vinkius and your preferred AI client. ## Tools ### get_author Retrieves a scholar's full profile, including citation count, h-index, i10-index, and publication trends over time. ### get_author_works Lists all papers written by a specific author, letting you sort the results by most cited or newest date. ### get_concept Provides detailed information on scientific concepts, including their ancestors and related fields of study. ### get_funder Shows which organizations fund specific research areas along with statistical details about the funding. ### get_institution Gathers detailed metrics for a university or lab, including its overall research output and collaborative partners. ### get_source Evaluates the quality of journals or conferences by retrieving their impact metrics and coverage details. ### get_work Fetches a paper's title, abstract, authors, and citation count using its DOI, OpenAlex ID, or PubMed ID. ### search_authors Searches the database of over 90 million authors by name and filters results based on citations or country code. ### search_concepts Finds specific scientific concepts within the knowledge hierarchy, showing associated works counts and citation rates. ### search_funders Searches for funding organizations worldwide, detailing their grants count, funded works, and overall citation impact. ### search_institutions Finds research institutions across the globe by name or filters them by type, country, or high citation counts. ### search_open_access Filters all available works to show only papers that have freely accessible PDFs for reading and meta-analysis. ### search_publishers Analyzes the academic publishing market by listing major publishers, their country of origin, and citation counts. ### search_sources Searches over 240,000 journals and conferences, providing details like ISSNs and open access availability. ### search_topics Maps the entire landscape of science by searching topic classifications across all domains and parent fields. ### search_works Performs a full-text search or structured filter on 250 million works, allowing sorting by relevance, citation count, or date. ## Prompt Examples **Prompt:** ``` Which universities have the highest research output in AI? ``` **Response:** ``` I've searched OpenAlex for institutions with the highest works count in artificial intelligence concepts. The top institutions include MIT, Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon, UC Berkeley, and Tsinghua University. ``` **Prompt:** ``` What are the most cited open access papers on CRISPR? ``` **Response:** ``` I've found the most cited open access papers on CRISPR from OpenAlex, sorted by citation count. The foundational papers by Doudna and Charpentier lead the list. ``` **Prompt:** ``` Show me the concept hierarchy for machine learning ``` **Response:** ``` I've retrieved the Machine Learning concept from OpenAlex. It sits at level 1 under Computer Science (level 0), and has child concepts including Deep Learning, Neural Networks, Reinforcement Learning, and Natural Language Processing at finer granularity levels. ``` ## Capabilities ### Assess Academic Impact Retrieve detailed profiles for authors, including their total citation count, h-index, i10-index, and historical publication trends. ### Map Research Connections Explore how scientific concepts relate to one another by viewing the concept hierarchy or tracing related research areas. ### Analyze Funding Streams Determine which specific organizations fund research, allowing you to map funding sources against academic topics. ### Deep Dive into Works Get comprehensive details on any paper using its DOI, OpenAlex ID, or PubMed ID, including abstracts and citation information. ## Use Cases ### Assessing a Collaborator’s Standing A PI needs to prove that a new collaborator has deep expertise in AI. They ask their agent to use `search_authors` with filters like 'works_count:>500' and then run `get_author_works` to confirm the most cited papers are all within neural network concepts. ### Tracking Policy Shifts A policy maker needs to know if climate research funding is shifting from government sources to private foundations. They use `search_funders` and then cross-reference the results with papers found using `search_works` filtered by 'climate change'. ### Curating a Review Article A librarian is writing an overview of CRISPR technology. Instead of searching journal by journal, they use `get_work` multiple times with different IDs and then use `search_sources` to ensure the journals are high-impact before adding them. ### Mapping a New Field A PhD student is exploring the boundaries of quantum computing. They ask their agent to run `search_topics`, which maps out the full concept hierarchy, showing related fields like particle physics and high-energy theory. ## Benefits - Pinpoint scholarly impact immediately. Instead of compiling CVs from multiple sites, use `get_author` to instantly gather a scholar's full citation history and h-index metrics. - Trace research funding paths. Use `search_funders` or `get_funder` to understand which organizations are investing in specific topics, helping policy makers track global science money. - Find literature easily. If you only need free papers, use `search_open_access`. This saves time and eliminates the frustrating step of paywall checking before citing a source. - Understand field relationships. When analyzing a niche topic, run `get_concept` to see its parent fields and related concepts, giving you context beyond just keywords. - Benchmark institutions accurately. Compare multiple universities' research strength by querying `search_institutions`, letting you compare works counts or citation metrics side-by-side. ## How It Works The bottom line is you get structured data about global research fields and people, delivered directly to your AI client for immediate analysis. 1. Subscribe to this MCP within Vinkius. No API key is required because the source data is openly available. 2. Connect your AI client (Claude, Cursor, etc.) to the catalog via the MCP connection point. 3. Ask your agent a specific question—like 'Show me all papers on deep learning funded by the NSF'—and it executes the necessary queries. ## Frequently Asked Questions **How do I use Stanford OpenAlex for citation metrics?** Use the `get_author` tool. This retrieves a scholar’s full profile, including their total citation count, h-index, and i10-index, giving you immediate impact assessment. **Can I find out who is funding a specific research topic using Stanford OpenAlex?** Yes, use `get_funder` or `search_funders`. These tools map funding organizations to specific research areas, allowing you to trace the financial backing of science. **What is the best way to find open access papers with Stanford OpenAlex?** The dedicated `search_open_access` tool filters all works and returns only those academic papers that have freely available PDFs, saving you time on paywalls. **How do I compare multiple universities' research output using Stanford OpenAlex?** Use `search_institutions` to find the schools. Then, for a direct comparison of metrics across them, run `get_institution` on each one you want to benchmark. **Does Stanford OpenAlex cover patents or just academic papers?** It covers works that include papers, books, datasets, and patents. Use the `search_works` tool with specific filters if you are looking for a particular type of output.