SERP API · Google Scholar

Google Scholar API

The papers Google Scholar shows for a query, returned as JSON: title, link, authors, year, publication, snippet, the cited-by count and the PDF link when there is one. Google Scholar has no official API; this is the SERP API with search_type: "scholar", billed per search.

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A Google Scholar search for web scraping legal: the first paper in the middle with its title, author line and site marked, and the real scholar[0] JSON: title, authors masked, year 2020, cited_by 347 and source. The answer came from the plain page: $0.0009 per search, $0.002 when rendered. — Google Scholar results as JSON: each paper with its title, authors, year, citation count and source.

What you get

One paper, one object.

Fields of each Scholar result
Field	What it holds
`rank`	1-based position
`title`	Paper title
`link`	URL of the paper
`publication_info`	Authors, year and venue as shown
`authors`	Author names
`year`	Year
`snippet`	Excerpt
`cited_by`	Number of citing documents
`cited_by_link`	Scholar page of those citations
`resource_link`	Direct PDF or HTML link when shown
`source`	Host of the resource

The cited-by count lets you rank a literature list by impact; the resource link points to the full text when Scholar has one.

Example

One request, one JSON answer.

curl -X POST https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/serp \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"query":"web scraping legal","search_type":"scholar","country":"us","num":10}'

cURL: papers on "web scraping legal"

import requests

r = requests.post("https://api.quanticdata.io/v1/scraper/serp",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"},
    json={"query": "web scraping legal", "search_type": "scholar", "country": "us", "num": 10})
for p in r.json()["payload"]["scholar"]:
    print(p["year"], p["cited_by"], p["title"])

Python: year, citations and title

{
  "rank": 1,
  "title": "Tutorial: Legality and ethics of web scraping",
  "link": "https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/faculty/86/",
  "publication_info": "V Krotov, L Johnson, L Silva - 2020 - digitalcommons.murraystate.edu",
  "authors": [
    "V Krotov",
    "L Johnson"
  ],
  "year": 2020,
  "snippet": "… list of broad legal issues and frameworks applicable to Web Scraping, but also to sum…",
  "cited_by": 347,
  "resource_link": "https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1071&context=faculty",
  "source": "digitalcommons.murraystate.edu"
}

The first paper of the real answer to this request, 30 October 2026 (long URLs shortened).

The answer is the usual envelope: payload.scholar holds the list above, payload.search_metadata says which tier answered and how long it took.

Parameters

What, how many, which page.

Request parameters for search_type: scholar
Parameter	Meaning
`query`	Topic, title or author
`num`, `page`	Results per call and the page to read
`country`	Proxy exit and Google locale (`gl`), ISO code: us, gb, de, it…
`lang`	Interface language (`hl`): en, de, it…
`device`	`desktop` (default), `mobile`, `ios` or `android`

Every parameter, for every vertical, is in the API reference.

Price

Per search, nothing monthly.

A successful search costs $0.0009 when Google's plain page answers and $0.002 when the rendered page is needed; search_metadata.path in the answer says which one you got. In our test on 30 October 2026 the call answered from the plain page in 1.53 seconds.

Failed searches are not charged. There is no subscription: a $2 free credit every month covers the first calls, then you top up your balance by card, PayPal or crypto.

Every price per search and per vertical: SERP API pricing.

Official API or this one

Google Scholar publishes no API.

Google Scholar has no public API; researchers either browse it or read its results page.

This endpoint returns that page as JSON, billed per successful search. For open metadata on works and citations, the OpenAlex collector reads the OpenAlex catalogue.

Use cases

What teams build with it.

Literature reviews: the most cited papers on a topic, with links to the full text.

Research agents: ground an answer in papers, then read them as Markdown.

Academic monitoring: new papers that mention your field or product.

Before you call it

Questions developers ask

Is there an official Google Scholar API?

No. Google Scholar has no public API; this endpoint returns its results as JSON.

Can I get the PDF?

When Scholar shows a direct file, resource_link carries it; send it to the web scraping API to read it as Markdown.

Can I sort by citations?

Google Scholar orders by relevance; sort the results by cited_by on your side.

How many results per call?

Up to 10 per page, as on Scholar; page for more.

Is there an open alternative?

Yes, OpenAlex publishes open metadata on works and citations; we read it with the OpenAlex collector.

Start with the free credit.

Create an API key, run the example above and read the JSON. Pay per search after the $2 monthly credit, no subscription.

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