Service details

Academic Paper Search

Find papers with publication details and links back to their sources. Your assistant calls the service and brings the result back into your task.

Find research papers by topic or seed with normalized identifiers and provenance

0.01 USDC per accepted request

Paid only. No free trial for this operation.

Use this service →

This operation needs paid setup. New to Mekler? Start with a free sample task →

Know its boundaries.

Abstracts, full text, author identities or citation verification
Exhaustive coverage, systematic reviews, evidence quality or retraction clearance
Arbitrary URLs, custom upstream providers, semantic reranking or ongoing alerts

Data handling

Topic queries and seed identifiers are sent to fixed OpenAlex/Crossref API hosts. No arbitrary URL fetching. Completed results are encrypted for30day original-proof recovery; inputs/proofs/source payloads/results are excluded from telemetry. No author identities, abstracts or full text are returned.

Input example and exact contract

{
  "query": "graph neural networks",
  "limit": 5,
  "request_id": "paper-search-example-001"
}

API reference: input, output and error schemas →

Example output

{
  "status": "ok",
  "retrieved_at": "2026-10-17T00:00:00+00:00",
  "mode": "topic",
  "results": [
    {
      "id": "doi:10.5555/mekler.graph.1",
      "doi": "10.5555/mekler.graph.1",
      "openalex_id": "W9999999901",
      "title": "Graph neural networks for synthetic benchmark data",
      "year": 2024,
      "type": "article",
      "venue": "Synthetic Research Journal",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.5555/mekler.graph.1",
      "retraction_status": "not_reported",
      "is_retraction_notice": false,
      "sources": [
        "crossref",
        "openalex"
      ],
      "versions": [],
      "source_records": [
        {
          "source": "openalex",
          "id": "W9999999901",
          "rank": 1
        },
        {
          "source": "crossref",
          "id": "10.5555/mekler.graph.1",
          "rank": 1
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "returned": 1,
  "coverage": {
    "openalex_records": 1,
    "crossref_records": 1,
    "normalized_records": 2,
    "duplicate_or_version_records_merged": 1,
    "retracted_groups_excluded": 0,
    "complete_source_requests": true
  },
  "ranking": "reciprocal_rank_fusion_k60; explicit identity/version groups; not a quality assessment",
  "cost": {
    "source_attempts": [
      {
        "source": "crossref",
        "operation": "search",
        "list_price_usd": 0,
        "state": "ok",
        "elapsed_ms": 0
      },
      {
        "source": "openalex",
        "operation": "search",
        "list_price_usd": 0.001,
        "state": "ok",
        "elapsed_ms": 0
      }
    ],
    "openalex_list_price_usd": 0.001,
    "charged_supplier_usd": 0,
    "supplier_access": "anonymous free allowance; no paid balance",
    "hosting_cost_usd": null
  },
  "warnings": [
    "Metadata coverage and retraction flags can be incomplete or stale. Absence of a flag is not clearance.",
    "No abstracts, full text, author identities, citation verification or systematic-review completeness.",
    "Only explicit version relationships are grouped; other versions may remain separate."
  ]
}

Calling, result interpretation and recovery

Calling

Endpoint: POST /v1/research/papers/find-research-papers
Content type: application/json
Input: Supply exactly one query (3–240 characters) or seed (DOI or OpenAlex W ID). limit defaults10, range1–20. from_year/to_year are inclusive1600–2100. include_retracted defaultsfalse. request_id is a fresh16–64character identifier for each new search; reuse it with identical JSON and original proof for recovery.

Interpret the result

Results: Ranked metadata groups. sources/source_records identify original ranks; versions retains explicit DOI relations. Missing year/venue/identifier remains null.
Retraction status: reported_retracted is an upstream positive flag; not_reported is OpenAlex false, unknown has no usable flag. Neither is clearance. Default excludes a group with any positive flag or retraction notice.
Ranking: Reciprocal rank fusion (k60), one vote per source; seed mode combines OpenAlex related works and Crossref seed-title matches. No relevance/quality superiority claim.
Coverage: Counts before the requested limit; duplicate_or_version_records_merged counts exact identities and explicit versions. Filters and finite source coverage can yield fewer results.
Cost: All source attempts, list-price exposure and latency. Actual supplier charge is zero under anonymous access. AWS cost is unknown.

Limits

Request bytes

24000

Semantics

Two required source searches per topic; seed lookup plus up to two source requests. No automatic source retries. At most40records per source.
Both sources must answer successfully; source failure, rate-limit or unknown seed leaves work unfinished and uncharged. A completed search with zero matches is charged.
OpenAlex uses its anonymous shared daily allowance. Exhaustion returns503 before settlement. No paid balance or account is created.
Equal identifiers or explicit version relations merge. Equal titles alone do not merge. Seed itself and its linked group are excluded.
Results recover exactly for30days after successful payment. Each fresh search needs a fresh request_id and purchase.

Payment and recovery

Price

0.01 native USDC per completed scholarly metadata search, including zero-match results

Network

Solana mainnet or Base mainnet

Protocol

x402 v2 exact

Quote

POST the intended body unsigned for an input-bound402; no source is contacted. Sign one offer and resend identical JSON. Retrieval and encrypted result storage complete before settlement; failed source requests are uncharged.

Authorization

Choose one accepts entry with a standard x402 v2 client. Check native USDC, network, recipient, amount and intended input before signing. Solana uses an SVM transaction; Base uses an EOA EIP-3009 authorization (USD Coin version 2). Send the proof with identical JSON input. No API key, token approval, bridge or Solana wallet is needed for Base. Never automatically fall back to another network.

Retry

Retry identical JSON and original proof after timeout or quote expiry. Successful results recover exactly for30days without another source call. A fresh request_id starts a new paid search.

Finality

A202 is pending. Finalized delivery carries PAYMENT-RESPONSE; provisional delivery is separately labeled and does not establish finality. Preserve the original proof instead of buying again.

Expiry

Ongoing service under recurring monthly authority. Budget warnings do not stop service. Short-lived quotes and recovery retention still expire.

Networks

solana:5eykt4UsFv8P8NJdTREpY1vzqKqZKvdp
eip155:8453

Assets

Solana:5eykt4usfv8p8njdtrepy1vzqkqzkvdp: EPjFWdd5AufqSSqeM2qN1xzybapC8G4wEGGkZwyTDt1v
Eip155:8453: 0x833589fCD6eDb6E08f4c7C32D4f71b54bdA02913

Fees

CDP sponsors the payment transaction gas on both networks. The service price is the same on either network; wallet funding or exchange fees are separate.

Request binding

The server authenticates the complete quote and input and atomically binds the first accepted authorization to them. Standard Base EIP-3009 signs the money terms and nonce, not HTTP content. Keep signatures private; do not reuse an authorization for another quote, operation or body.