MCP server for scholarly search and citation verification over Crossref, OpenAlex, arXiv and doi.org: checks that a DOI resolves and its metadata matches, audits .bib files, flags retractions, walks the citation graph.
Installing only copies or configures. Nothing is executed for you. The Skills CLI verifies the checksum before writing files.
An MCP server that lets an agent look references up instead of recalling them: search the scholarly record, check that a citation is real and correctly described, audit a whole bibliography, and spot retracted work. It reads four public services — Crossref, OpenAlex, arXiv and doi.org — and needs no account.
The rule it enforces: a citation is verified when its DOI resolves and the registered title, first author and year agree with what is cited. A DOI that merely exists verifies nothing; a real DOI pasted onto the wrong paper is reported as a mismatch.
| Tool | What it does | Services |
|---|---|---|
verify_doi | DOI resolves and the record matches the citation | Crossref, doi.org, arXiv |
verify_bibliography | One status per entry of a .bib file, BibTeX text or reference list | Crossref, doi.org, arXiv |
resolve_reference | Finds the record of a reference without DOI, or says there is none | Crossref, arXiv |
check_retractions | Retractions, expressions of concern, corrections for up to 200 DOIs | Crossref, OpenAlex |
search_works | Search by text, title, author, year, type | Crossref (default) or OpenAlex |
get_work | Registered metadata of one work | Crossref, doi.org, arXiv, OpenAlex |
search_arxiv | Search or look up preprints | arXiv |
get_citations | Works citing a work | OpenAlex |
get_references | What a work cites | Crossref, OpenAlex |
related_works | Works related by shared concepts | OpenAlex |
author_works | Works of an author by ORCID, id or name | OpenAlex |
get_open_access | Legal open copies of a work | OpenAlex, arXiv |
format_citation | APA, Chicago, MLA, BibTeX, RIS, CSL-JSON from registry metadata | as get_work |
bibtex_from_doi | BibTeX from the registration agency, or generated | doi.org, Crossref |
parse_bibtex | Offline: entries, missing DOIs, duplicate keys, syntax errors | none |
scholarly_status | Configuration, counters, OpenAlex budget left | none |
Every tool is read-only. Statuses returned by the verification tools: verified,
doi_missing_found, metadata_mismatch, doi_not_found, doi_invalid, ambiguous,
not_found, retracted, unverifiable, error. A registry outage is reported as error,
never as not_found.
Node.js 20 or newer.
npm install
node server.mjs # speaks MCP on stdio
Claude Code:
claude mcp add scholarly -- node /absolute/path/to/scholarly-mcp/server.mjs
Any MCP client:
{ "mcpServers": { "scholarly": { "command": "node", "args": ["/absolute/path/to/scholarly-mcp/server.mjs"], "env": { "SCHOLARLY_ROOT": "/path/to/your/papers" } } } }
| Variable | Default | Effect |
|---|---|---|
SCHOLARLY_ROOT | working directory | Only directory bibliography files may be read from |
OPENALEX_API_KEY | unset | Your own OpenAlex key, for a larger allowance on OpenAlex-backed tools |
SCHOLARLY_MAILTO | unset | Contact address sent to Crossref and OpenAlex ("polite pool") |
SCHOLARLY_TIMEOUT_MS | 20000 | Per-request timeout |
scholarly-mcp/1.0 and the query itself (a DOI, a title,
an author name). Nothing about the user, the machine or the project is added.SCHOLARLY_MAILTO. It then goes to Crossref and
OpenAlex only.OPENALEX_API_KEY is sent to OpenAlex only and never appears in tool output..bib, .bibtex, .txt and .md inside SCHOLARLY_ROOT, 5 MB at most,
symbolic links resolved before the check. The server writes nothing.rate_limited. Verification tools do not depend on OpenAlex.not_found means "not in these registries".lib/match.mjs; every verdict includes the compared values.no_notice is not a guarantee.get_open_access reports authorised copies only.npm test # 17 offline tests, recorded registry answers, no network
npm run test:live # 10 tests against the real services through the MCP protocol
Live tests need the network and no account. The OpenAlex test skips when the key-less budget is exhausted.
Checked once by hand on 2026-11-10 but not in the automated suite, to spare the shared OpenAlex
budget: related_works, author_works (by ORCID and by name), search_works with source
openalex, get_references with source openalex, get_open_access for a journal article and
a pmid: lookup. Each returned a plausible answer; a later change in OpenAlex would not be caught
by npm run test:live.
Not tested: bibliographies above a few dozen entries in one call; references in non-Latin
scripts; BibLaTeX constructs such as crossref inheritance; behaviour under a real OpenAlex
budget exhaustion (the rate_limited path is tested with a simulated HTTP 429 only).
@spboucher/citation-verification packages the same engine as a command-line tool with the
rules for reading its results.
MIT licence.
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
| scholarly_status | Configuration, request counters and remaining OpenAlex budget |
| search_works | Search works by text, title, author, year and type |
| get_work | Registered metadata of one work by DOI, arXiv id, OpenAlex id or PMID |
| verify_doi | Check that a DOI resolves and its record matches the citation |
| resolve_reference | Find the record for a reference without a DOI, or say there is none |
| verify_bibliography | Audit a .bib file or reference list, one status per entry |
| check_retractions | Retractions, expressions of concern and corrections for a list of DOIs |
| get_citations | Works citing a work |
| get_references | Reference list of a work |
| related_works | Works related by shared concepts |
| author_works | Works of an author by ORCID, id or name |
| search_arxiv | Search or look up arXiv preprints |
| get_open_access | Legal open-access copies of a work |
| format_citation | APA, Chicago, MLA, BibTeX, RIS or CSL-JSON from registry metadata |
| bibtex_from_doi | BibTeX entry for a DOI |
| parse_bibtex | Parse BibTeX offline: entries, missing DOIs, duplicate keys, errors |
| Variable | Required | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| SCHOLARLY_ROOT | optional | Only directory bibliography files (.bib, .bibtex, .txt, .md) may be read from (default: working directory). |
| OPENALEX_API_KEYsecret | optional | Optional OpenAlex API key of the operator. Without it, OpenAlex-backed tools share a small daily budget per IP address. |
| SCHOLARLY_MAILTO | optional | Optional contact address sent to Crossref and OpenAlex (their polite pools). Unset by default: nothing identifying is sent. |
| SCHOLARLY_TIMEOUT_MS | optional | Per-request timeout in milliseconds (default 20000). |
Select a file to preview it. Files are shown as plain text and never executed.
test/offline.test.mjsStatic checks are advisory. They never certify that a package is safe. Compatibility entries are publisher claims unless marked verified.
| Version | Published | Size | SHA-256 | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0.0latest | Nov 10, 2026 | 68 kB | 3be0a7e776e9… | published |
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