ScholarScope MCP
Server Configuration
Describes the environment variables required to run the server.
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| OPENALEX_MAILTO | Yes | Your email address for OpenAlex API |
Instructions
Guidance the server publishes about itself, which clients place ahead of the tool catalog so the model reads it before choosing anything.
This server publishes no instructions, or was last inspected before Glama recorded them.
Capabilities
Server capabilities have not been inspected yet.
Tools
Functions exposed to the LLM to take actions
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| search_papersB | Searches for academic papers using the OpenAlex API. Args: query: The search term or keywords to look for in the papers. search_by: The field to search in ("default", "title", or "title_and_abstract"). sort_by: The sorting criteria ("relevance_score", "cited_by_count", or "publication_date"). institution_name: An optional institution or affiliation name to filter search results. author_id: An optional OpenAlex Author ID to filter search results. e.g., "https://openalex.org/A123456789" page: The page number of the results to retrieve (default: 1). Returns: A JSON object containing a list of searched papers+ids, or an error message if the search fails. |
| search_authorsB | Searches for authors using the OpenAlex API. Args: query: The search name to look for the authors. sort_by: The sorting criteria ("relevance_score" or "cited_by_count"). institution_id: An optional institution id to filter search results. e.g., "https://openalex.org/I123456789" page: The page number of the results to retrieve (default: 1). Returns: A JSON object containing a list of authors+ids, or an error message if the search fails. |
| search_institutionsC | Searches for institutions using the OpenAlex API. Args: query: The search name to look for the institutions. sort_by: The sorting criteria ("relevance_score" or "cited_by_count"). page: The page number of the results to retrieve (default: 1). Returns: A JSON object containing a list of institutions+ids, or an error message if the search fails. |
| papers_by_authorB | Searches for academic papers by a particular author using the OpenAlex API. Args: author_id: An OpenAlex Author ID of target author. e.g., "https://openalex.org/A123456789" sort_by: The sorting criteria ("cited_by_count", or "publication_date"). page: The page number of the results to retrieve (default: 1). Returns: A JSON object containing a list of papers+ids by the specified author, or an error message if the search fails. |
| referenced_works_in_paperA | Gets referenced works used in the specified paper using the OpenAlex API. Note: May return empty if the paper's full text is inaccessible. Args: paper_id: An OpenAlex Work ID of the target paper. e.g., "https://openalex.org/W123456789" Returns: A JSON object containing a list of paper ids used in the work, or an error message if the fetch fails. |
| related_works_of_paperA | Gets related works used to the specified paper using the OpenAlex API. Note: May return empty if the paper's full text is inaccessible. Args: paper_id: An OpenAlex Work ID of the target paper. e.g., "https://openalex.org/W123456789" Returns: A JSON object containing a list of paper ids related to the work, or an error message if the fetch fails. |
| works_citing_paperA | Retrieves works that cite a given paper from the OpenAlex API. Args: paper_id: An OpenAlex Work ID of target paper. e.g., "https://openalex.org/W123456789" sort_by: The sorting criteria ("cited_by_count", or "publication_date"). page: The page number of the results to retrieve (default: 1). Returns: A JSON object containing a list of papers+ids citing the specific paper, or an error message if the retrieval fails. |
| fetch_fulltextA | Retrieves the contents of a paper or work from its preferred full-text URL and returns the response body as plain text. Note: In some cases, the target content may be paywalled, require authentication, or otherwise restrict access. In such situations, the returned output may consist of partial content, metadata, or an access notice rather than the complete text. Args: preferred_fulltext_url: Preferred full-text URL of the paper or work. Returns: Plaintext representation of the retrieved content. This may be the complete text, or a limited excerpt if access to the full resource is restricted. |
Prompts
Interactive templates invoked by user choice
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
No prompts | |
Resources
Contextual data attached and managed by the client
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
No resources | |
TDQS
Scored across 8 tools
Each tool has a clearly distinct purpose with no ambiguity. The tools cover different aspects of academic research: fetching full text, searching for papers/authors/institutions, getting author papers, and analyzing paper relationships (references, related works, citations). There is no overlap in functionality.
All tools follow a consistent verb_noun pattern with snake_case throughout. The naming is predictable and readable: fetch_fulltext, papers_by_author, referenced_works_in_paper, related_works_of_paper, search_authors, search_institutions, search_papers, works_citing_paper.
With 8 tools, this is well-scoped for an academic research server. Each tool earns its place by covering essential operations: searching across different entity types, fetching content, and analyzing paper relationships. The count is neither too thin nor too heavy for the domain.
The tool surface provides excellent coverage for academic research workflows: searching, fetching, and relationship analysis. Minor gaps exist, such as no direct tools for updating metadata or managing user collections, but agents can accomplish core research tasks effectively with the provided tools.