research-mcp
Server Configuration
Describes the environment variables required to run the server.
| Name | Required | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| SCOPUS_API_KEY | Yes | Your free Scopus API key from dev.elsevier.com. | |
| UNPAYWALL_EMAIL | No | Your email address required by Unpaywall for the get_pdf_link tool. Optional but recommended. |
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
Features and capabilities supported by this server
Protocol revision2025-11-25
| Capability | Details |
|---|---|
| tools | {
"listChanged": false
} |
| experimental | {} |
Tools
Functions exposed to the LLM to take actions
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| search_scopusA | Search for documents in Scopus by query string. Returns title, DOI, Scopus ID, citation count and journal for each match. |
| get_abstract_detailsA | Retrieve metadata for a Scopus document (authors, journal, citations) plus the abstract text from CrossRef when available. |
| get_author_profileA | Look up an author's h-index, citation count, paper count, ORCID and affiliations via OpenAlex. Provide the author's full name; returns the top 3 matches to disambiguate. |
| get_citing_papersA | Forward citations: papers that CITE a given document, most-cited first. Defaults to OpenAlex (free, no quota, wide coverage, accepts a DOI or OpenAlex ID). source='scopus' uses REFEID(), a restricted field that only works with an institutional Scopus subscription. |
| get_referencesA | Backward citations: the works a given paper CITES (its reference list), via OpenAlex with a CrossRef fallback. Free and does not consume Scopus quota — Scopus itself cannot serve reference lists without an institutional subscription. Returns the most-cited references first. |
| assess_relevanceA | Screen one or more papers against a research context. Returns, per paper, the abstract (from OpenAlex — broader coverage than CrossRef), scored topics and keywords, and which of your context's terms do and do not appear. Use it to triage a whole search result set in one call, then judge relevance yourself: the server deliberately returns evidence, not a verdict or score. |
| get_pdf_linkA | Find an open-access PDF for an article by DOI via Unpaywall. Returns the PDF URL if one is legally available, otherwise a note. |
| get_journal_metricsA | Journal quality metrics for an ISSN: the quartile (Q1-Q4) per subject category, plus CiteScore, SJR and SNIP. Uses the Scopus Serial Title API and falls back to the bundled Scimago table when that is unavailable. Get an ISSN from search_scopus or get_abstract_details. |
| get_quota_statusA | Report the Scopus API rate-limit (weekly quota) from the most recent response headers. Returns a note if no Scopus call has been made yet. |
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 9 tools
Purposes are largely distinct: search vs. citation graph (backward/forward) vs. author vs. journal metrics vs. PDF lookup are cleanly separated, and get_references vs. get_citing_papers are explicitly contrasted. The only mild overlap is that both assess_relevance and get_abstract_details return abstract text, which could confuse an agent wanting just an abstract.
Consistent snake_case verb_noun pattern throughout (get_abstract_details, get_author_profile, get_journal_metrics, get_citing_papers, etc.). The two non-'get' verbs (search_scopus, assess_relevance) still follow the same verb_noun convention and read naturally.
Nine tools is well-scoped for a literature-research workflow, with no redundant or trivial entries. Each tool (search, metadata, citations, author, journal metrics, PDF, relevance, quota) earns its place.
Covers the core research-discovery lifecycle: search, metadata/abstracts, backward and forward citations, author profiles, journal quality, OA PDF, and relevance triage, plus a quota utility. Minor gaps exist around saving/exporting results or citation formatting, but nothing that blocks typical workflows.