# Openalex Database

Query and analyze scholarly literature using the OpenAlex database.

- Repository: https://github.com/LeonChaoX/qinyan-academic-skills (996 stars)
- Category: Data and ML
- License: Unknown
- Last updated: 2026-07-20
- Runs scripts: yes, review before use

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add LeonChaoX/qinyan-academic-skills --skill openalex-database -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add LeonChaoX/qinyan-academic-skills --skill openalex-database -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add LeonChaoX/qinyan-academic-skills --skill openalex-database -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add LeonChaoX/qinyan-academic-skills --skill openalex-database -g -a gemini-cli -y`

## Description

Query and analyze scholarly literature using the OpenAlex database. This skill should be used when searching for academic papers, analyzing research trends, finding works by authors or institutions, tracking citations, discovering open access publications, or conducting bibliometric analysis across 240M+ scholarly works. Use for literature searches, research output analysis, citation analysis, and academic database queries.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# OpenAlex Database

## Overview

OpenAlex is a comprehensive open catalog of 240M+ scholarly works, authors, institutions, topics, sources, publishers, and funders. This skill provides tools and workflows for querying the OpenAlex API to search literature, analyze research output, track citations, and conduct bibliometric studies.

## Quick Start

### Basic Setup

Always initialize the client with an email address to access the polite pool (10x rate limit boost):

```python
from scripts.openalex_client import OpenAlexClient

client = OpenAlexClient(email="your-email@example.edu")
```

### Installation Requirements

Install required package using uv:

```bash
uv pip install requests
```

No API key required - OpenAlex is completely open.

## Core Capabilities

### 1. Search for Papers

**Use for**: Finding papers by title, abstract, or topic

```python
# Simple search
results = client.search_works(
    search="machine learning",
    per_page=100
)

# Search with filters
results = client.search_works(
    search="CRISPR gene editing",
    filter_params={
        "publication_year": ">2020",
        "is_oa": "true"
    },
    sort="cited_by_count:desc"
)
```

### 2. Find Works by Author

**Use for**: Getting all publications by a specific researcher

Use the two-step pattern (entity name → ID → works):

```python
from scripts.query_helpers import find_author_works

works = find_author_works(
    author_name="Jennifer Doudna",
    client=client,
    limit=100
)
```

**Manual two-step approach**:
```python
# Step 1: Get author ID
author_response = client._make_request(
    '/authors',
    params={'search': 'Jennifer Doudna', 'per-page': 1}
)
author_id = author_response['results'][0]['id'].split('/')[-1]

# Step 2: Get works
works = client.search_works(
    filter_params={"authorships.author.id": author_id}
)
```

### 3. Find Works from Institution

**Use for**: Analyzing research output from universities or organizations

The rest: https://github.com/LeonChaoX/qinyan-academic-skills/blob/HEAD/skills/01-论文检索与文献管理/openalex-database/SKILL.md