OpenAlex

The OpenAlex engine integrates the OpenAlex Works API to return scientific paper results using the Paper Results class. It is an “online” JSON engine that uses the official public API and does not require an API key.

Key features

  • Uses the official Works endpoint (JSON)

  • Paging support via page and per-page

  • Relevance sorting (sort=relevance_score:desc)

  • Language filter support (maps SearXNG language to filter=language:<iso2>)

  • Maps fields commonly used in scholarly results: title, authors, abstract (reconstructed from inverted index), journal/venue, publisher, DOI, tags (concepts), PDF/HTML links, pages, volume, issue, published date, and a short citations comment

  • Supports OpenAlex “polite pool” by adding a mailto parameter

Configuration

Minimal example for settings.yml:

- name: openalex
  engine: openalex
  shortcut: oa
  categories: science, scientific publications
  timeout: 5.0
  # Recommended by OpenAlex: join the polite pool with an email address
  mailto: "[email protected]"

Notes

  • The mailto key is optional but recommended by OpenAlex for better service.

  • Language is inherited from the user’s UI language; when it is not all, the engine adds filter=language:<iso2> (e.g. language:fr). If OpenAlex has few results for that language, you may see fewer items.

  • Results typically include a main link. When the primary landing page from OpenAlex is a DOI resolver, the engine will use that stable link. When an open access link is available, it is exposed via the PDF and/or HTML links in the result footer.

What is returned

Each result uses the Paper Results class and may include:

  • title and content (abstract; reconstructed from the inverted index)

  • authors (display names)

  • journal (host venue display name) and publisher

  • doi (normalized to the plain DOI, without the https://doi.org/ prefix)

  • tags (OpenAlex concepts display names)

  • pdf_url (Open access PDF if available) and html_url (landing page)

  • publishedDate (parsed from publication_date)

  • pages, volume, number (issue)

  • type and a brief comments string with citation count

Rate limits & polite pool

OpenAlex offers a free public API with generous daily limits. For extra courtesy and improved service quality, include a contact email in each request via mailto. You can set it directly in the engine configuration as shown above. See: OpenAlex API overview.

Troubleshooting

  • Few or no results in a non-English UI language: Ensure the selected language has sufficient coverage at OpenAlex, or set the UI language to English and retry.

  • Preference changes fail while testing locally: Make sure your server.secret_key and server.base_url are set in your instance settings so signed cookies work; see server:.

Implementation