# OpenAlex Help

> Unified help, documentation, API reference, and tutorials for OpenAlex,
> the open catalog of the global research system.

Every page on this site has a raw-markdown sibling: append `.md` to its path.

## Help

- [About us](https://help.openalex.org/help/about-us/): Inspired by the Library of Alexandria, we catalog 474 million scholarly works, linking them to authors, institutions, funders, and more—all fully open. ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/about-us.md))
- [Conferences and other events](https://help.openalex.org/help/conferences-and-other-events/): Here's a list of the conferences we expect to attend in 2025 (we will add more as we confirm participation). Come say hi if you'll also be there! ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/conferences-and-other-events.md))
- [Export results from the OpenAlex website](https://help.openalex.org/help/export-results-from-the-openalex-website/): Above any Works result set, you will see an export button !(https://help.openalex.org/hc/articleattachments/24829724230167) that you can click to download a file with OpenAlex's… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/export-results-from-the-openalex-website.md))
- [Fix errors in OpenAlex](https://help.openalex.org/help/fix-errors-in-openalex/): There are lots of ways that errors can get into OpenAlex. There may be an error in one of our upstream data sources (like Crossref or a repository). It's also possible an error… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/fix-errors-in-openalex.md))
- [How can I cite OpenAlex?](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-can-i-cite-openalex/): This is really important for us because it allows us to understand how the community is using OpenAlex and helps us demonstrate impact to our funders, which in turn helps keep O… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-can-i-cite-openalex.md))
- [How can I correct institutional affiliations for a work?](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-can-i-correct-institutional-affiliations-for-a-work/): If you see that an institution is incorrectly attributed to a work, you can using the works-magnet tool(https://works-magnet.esr.gouv.fr/) to fix that affiliation. We have made… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-can-i-correct-institutional-affiliations-for-a-work.md))
- [How can I correct the Open Access status of journals in Unpaywall?](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-can-i-correct-the-open-access-status-of-journals-in-unpaywall/): If you've found a journal in Unpaywall whose Open Access status is incorrect, you can quickly make submit corrections using our Journal Curation page(https://openalex.org/curate… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-can-i-correct-the-open-access-status-of-journals-in-unpaywall.md))
- [How can I fix errors in an OpenAlex author profile?](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-can-i-fix-errors-in-an-openalex-author-profile/): Claim your OpenAlex author profile to fix errors: add or remove works, correct your name, and merge duplicate profiles. ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-can-i-fix-errors-in-an-openalex-author-profile.md))
- [How can I fix errors in an OpenAlex Source profile?](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-can-i-fix-errors-in-an-openalex-source-profile/): Disambiguating text about publication venues into the correct Sources is foundational to most bibliometric and research intelligence use case. Our approach is to use the informa… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-can-i-fix-errors-in-an-openalex-source-profile.md))
- [How can I get my journal indexed in OpenAlex?](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-can-i-get-my-journal-indexed-in-openalex/): OpenAlex doesn't index journals-- we index works (publications, datasets, etc). We index works which have records in at least one of our main, trusted repositories: Crossref, Da… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-can-i-get-my-journal-indexed-in-openalex.md))
- [How can I get my repository indexed in OpenAlex?](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-can-i-get-my-repository-indexed-in-openalex/): Currently, OpenAlex doesn't mint new works for institutional repositories. Instead, when we get information about a new publication we look through institutional repositories to… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-can-i-get-my-repository-indexed-in-openalex.md))
- [How do I find a publication's OpenAlex work ID?](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-do-i-find-a-publications-openalex-work-id/): The OpenAlex Work ID is a unique identifier that refers to an OpenAlex work (e.g., publication, dataset, thesis, etc). All work IDs begin with a W and are followed by numbers, l… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-do-i-find-a-publications-openalex-work-id.md))
- [How do I find my OpenAlex author ID?](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-do-i-find-my-openalex-author-id/): OpenAlex author IDs are the unique identifier we use for author profiles. They start with "A" and are followed by a unique number. For instance, the author profile ID for our CO… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-do-i-find-my-openalex-author-id.md))
- [How do I find the most cited publications?](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-do-i-find-the-most-cited-publications/): In the OpenAlex user interface and API, you can sort any works search by the number of citations received. In fact, the default sort is descending citation count, so you'll get… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-do-i-find-the-most-cited-publications.md))
- [How do I find the OpenAlex Source ID?](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-do-i-find-the-openalex-source-id/): The OpenAlex Source ID is a unique identifier that refers to venue hosting the work. This includes journals, conferences, repositories, ebook platform, book series, and other. T… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-do-i-find-the-openalex-source-id.md))
- [How do I find the Publisher ID for a journal's host organization?](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-do-i-find-the-publisher-id-for-a-journals-host-organization/): In OpenAlex, publishers are identified with a unique Publisher ID, starting with a P (e.g., P4310320595). You can find this number a few different ways in OpenAlex. ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-do-i-find-the-publisher-id-for-a-journals-host-organization.md))
- [How do I import OpenAlex data into VOSviewer?](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-do-i-import-openalex-data-into-vosviewer/): VOSviewer(https://www.vosviewer.com/) is an open source software tool that constructs and visualizes bibliometric network data. It's a powerful tool trusted by bibliometricians… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-do-i-import-openalex-data-into-vosviewer.md))
- [How do I limit my results to only the top 100 cited publications?](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-do-i-limit-my-results-to-only-the-top-100-cited-publications/): The easiest way to do this in the user interface is to add a filter to your search that specifies a threshold of number of citations needed to be included in the search and matc… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-do-i-limit-my-results-to-only-the-top-100-cited-publications.md))
- [How long does it take for you to respond to support tickets?](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-long-does-it-take-for-you-to-respond-to-support-tickets/): We check the help desk daily. We read every ticket that comes in, but unfortunately don't have the capacity to respond to every ticket. For context, our team is 6 people and we… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/how-long-does-it-take-for-you-to-respond-to-support-tickets.md))
- [I think my institution is missing works in OpenAlex. What can I do?](https://help.openalex.org/help/i-think-my-institution-is-missing-works-in-openalex-what-can-i-do/): We match works to institutions algorithmically by using author affiliation text in the work's record against institutional records in ROR. The most common errors we find are when: ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/i-think-my-institution-is-missing-works-in-openalex-what-can-i-do.md))
- [Is there a limit to the length of queries in OpenAlex?](https://help.openalex.org/help/is-there-a-limit-to-the-length-of-queries-in-openalex/): Queries in OpenAlex are currently limited to URLs with a total length of 2,048 characters. We're working on a new way of querying the database that is not limited by URL length… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/is-there-a-limit-to-the-length-of-queries-in-openalex.md))
- [Office Hours](https://help.openalex.org/help/office-hours/): We have regular office hours on Zoom: alternating between Wednesday at 12pm Eastern and Thursday at 9am Eastern. These are 1-hour informal drop-in/drop-off sessions to have conv… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/office-hours.md))
- [Omit retracted works from my analysis](https://help.openalex.org/help/omit-retracted-works-from-my-analysis/): You may want to remove from your analysis all works that have been retracted. ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/omit-retracted-works-from-my-analysis.md))
- [OpenAlex in the News](https://help.openalex.org/help/openalex-in-the-news/): January 2025. Can the World’s Research Ecosystem be Openly Indexed? | Katina Magazine(https://katinamagazine.org/content/article/resource-reviews/2024/can-the-worlds-research-ec… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/openalex-in-the-news.md))
- [Pricing](https://help.openalex.org/help/pricing/): OpenAlex is free. The website, API, and data snapshot are all available at no charge. The data is licensed as CC0(https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) so it is fr… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/pricing.md))
- [Projects Using OpenAlex](https://help.openalex.org/help/projects-using-openalex/): We're excited about the growing number of projects using OpenAlex and think it's important to profile them. This page is new so bear with us as we start adding more projects to… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/projects-using-openalex.md))
- [User Meeting](https://help.openalex.org/help/user-meeting/): The User Conference was a great success! We had a fantastic showing of presentations from around the world on May 30 and May 31, 2024. The video recordings are now available her… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/user-meeting.md))
- [Webinars](https://help.openalex.org/help/webinars/): 30-minute presentations on topics of broad relevance (recorded) followed by 15-minutes of Q&A on the topic. Recordings of previous webinars available at https://www.youtube.com/… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/webinars.md))
- [What are alternate names and how I do change them?](https://help.openalex.org/help/what-are-alternate-names-and-how-i-do-change-them/): The alternate names field for OpenAlex author profiles (display\name\alternatives(https://docs.openalex.org/api-entities/authors/author-objectdisplaynamealternatives)) are the v… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/what-are-alternate-names-and-how-i-do-change-them.md))
- [What's on OpenAlex's Roadmap?](https://help.openalex.org/help/whats-on-openalexs-roadmap/): We know how important having a development roadmap is to our users and we’re committed to creating one so that you know what we’re working on and where we’re going. ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/whats-on-openalexs-roadmap.md))
- [Where can I find a non-technical explanation of how Open Alex works?](https://help.openalex.org/help/where-can-i-find-a-non-technical-explanation-of-how-open-alex-works/): A few places that might be helpful: ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/where-can-i-find-a-non-technical-explanation-of-how-open-alex-works.md))
- [Where can I find information about which issue of a journal an article is in?](https://help.openalex.org/help/where-can-i-find-information-about-which-issue-of-a-journal-an-article/): You can find issue-level metadata for an article either by exporting search results from the user interface or in the "biblio" field(https://docs.openalex.org/api-entities/works… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/where-can-i-find-information-about-which-issue-of-a-journal-an-article.md))
- [Why are my open access curation requests getting rejected?](https://help.openalex.org/help/why-are-my-open-access-curation-requests-getting-rejected/): Before submitting a correction to https://unpaywall.org/fix(https://unpaywall.org/fix), check the actual article with your own eyes, from a non-university network. Let’s break i… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/why-are-my-open-access-curation-requests-getting-rejected.md))
- [Why are only some of my repository records showing up in openalex?](https://help.openalex.org/help/why-are-only-some-of-my-repository-records-showing-up-in-openalex/): OpenAlex mints new records when one of our trusted repositories (Crossref, PubMed, DataCite, HAL, etc) registers a new work. We then look for open access versions of that work i… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/why-are-only-some-of-my-repository-records-showing-up-in-openalex.md))
- [Why are the counts_by_year numbers different than what I see in the user interface?](https://help.openalex.org/help/why-are-the-counts-by-year-numbers-different-than-what-i-see-in-the-us/): Users often want to know the total number of publications and citations of each entity (e.g., author, institution, source) in a large list of entities. For instance, of all the… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/why-are-the-counts-by-year-numbers-different-than-what-i-see-in-the-us.md))
- [Why can’t I find the right publisher for a journal in OpenAlex?](https://help.openalex.org/help/why-cant-i-find-the-right-publisher-for-a-journal-in-openalex/): We link research outputs to their sources (e.g., journals) using metadata available in the output's record (e.g., text describing journal or ISSN number). We then rely on the so… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/why-cant-i-find-the-right-publisher-for-a-journal-in-openalex.md))
- [Why does the abstract field have text that isn't part of the abstract?](https://help.openalex.org/help/why-does-the-abstract-field-have-text-that-isnt-part-of-the-abstract/): We get abstract metadata from diverse sources and sometimes we have to source it from fulltext articles using text mining techniques. Our processes usually do a great job collec… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/why-does-the-abstract-field-have-text-that-isnt-part-of-the-abstract.md))
- [Why is the date field wrong and how can I fix it?](https://help.openalex.org/help/why-is-the-date-field-wrong-and-how-can-i-fix-it/): Date metadata is surprisingly complex. For instance, a paper can have dates for when a journal mints a DOI for it, the date it is accepted, the date it is 'published', and the d… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/why-is-the-date-field-wrong-and-how-can-i-fix-it.md))
- [Why is this publication labeled as 'closed' when it is clearly Open Access?](https://help.openalex.org/help/why-is-this-publication-labeled-as-closed-when-it-is-clearly-open-acce/): To determine the Open Access status of a work, we try to find a PDF of other fulltext format of the work on the landing page of the journal and also by looking through instituti… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/help/why-is-this-publication-labeled-as-closed-when-it-is-clearly-open-acce.md))
## Docs

- [About the data](https://help.openalex.org/docs/about-the-data/): OpenAlex is more than just a catalog of research publications. We do the work of disambiguating and connecting scholarly works, authors, institutions, sources, and other entitie… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/about-the-data.md))
- [Aboutness](https://help.openalex.org/docs/aboutness/): "Aboutness" refers to what the stuff in OpenAlex is about. Most of the works in OpenAlex are "about" something, and this aboutness can aggregate up as well to characterize autho… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/aboutness.md))
- [API and Data Snapshot](https://help.openalex.org/docs/api-and-data-snapshot/): We offer a fast, modern REST API to get OpenAlex data programmatically, with generous free daily rate limits. We also offer periodic snapshots of the full data set. To learn mor… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/api-and-data-snapshot.md))
- [Author disambiguation](https://help.openalex.org/docs/author-disambiguation/): How OpenAlex identifies and links authors across millions of scholarly works. ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/author-disambiguation.md))
- [Can I search exact terms?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/can-i-search-exact-terms/): Our text searching defaults to stemming, which means that if you search "research" or "researcher" in the fulltext search field, you'll get the same results because both searche… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/can-i-search-exact-terms.md))
- [Can I search patents in OpenAlex?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/can-i-search-patents-in-openalex/): We don't currently index patents and so you can't search for them in OpenAlex. We continue to receive feedback from users on features to develop and so far indexing patents has… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/can-i-search-patents-in-openalex.md))
- [Changelog](https://help.openalex.org/docs/changelog/): Recent updates and changes to the OpenAlex API. ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/changelog.md))
- [Data ingest pipeline](https://help.openalex.org/docs/data-ingest-pipeline/): OpenAlex's data ingest pipeline—including getting works;(https://help.openalex.org/hc/en-us/articles/24347019383191) finding affiliations and citations; and tagging aboutness(ht… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/data-ingest-pipeline.md))
- [Do you index DataCite DOIs?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/do-you-index-datacite-dois/): We have started work to include DataCite(https://datacite.org/) as a core, trusted repository to mint new works in OpenAlex, but we've run into a number of issues that are preve… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/do-you-index-datacite-dois.md))
- [Does OpenAlex index books?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/does-openalex-index-books/): Yes! Books are a foundational form of research output for all types of scholarship, but especially so for the social sciences, humanities, and arts. At the time of writing this,… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/does-openalex-index-books.md))
- [Field Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI)](https://help.openalex.org/docs/field-weighted-citation-impact-fwci/): Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) is a snowball metric(https://arma.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Snowball-Metrics-Recipe-Book-edition-2.pdf) that takes into account diff… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/field-weighted-citation-impact-fwci.md))
- [French affiliation structures are complex-- how does OpenAlex handle them?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/french-affiliation-structures-are-complex-how-does-openalex-handle-the/): We match affiliation text from publications to ROR records. So for instance, when a UMR has a ROR record, we are able to match to the text to that ROR record. Then based on the… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/french-affiliation-structures-are-complex-how-does-openalex-handle-the.md))
- [How accurate is OpenAlex?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-accurate-is-openalex/): Our users typically think of accuracy along two axes: content coverage and correctness of metadata. ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-accurate-is-openalex.md))
- [How are documents located from repository records?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-are-documents-located-from-repository-records/): In each OAI-PMH record, we’ll look for a URL that leads to either ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-are-documents-located-from-repository-records.md))
- [How are repository records matched to published articles?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-are-repository-records-matched-to-published-articles/): We try to match the articles we find to a published article with a Crossref DOI(https://support.unpaywall.org/a/solutions/articles/44001900286) in one of two ways: by DOI, or by… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-are-repository-records-matched-to-published-articles.md))
- [How can I see if OpenAlex has the same papers as other databases?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-can-i-see-if-openalex-has-the-same-papers-as-other-databases/): Individually, you can search for paper titles or DOIs in the openalex.org(http://openalex.org/) search bar. For instance, try pasting doi:10.1111/j.1529-8817.2012.01224.x into t… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-can-i-see-if-openalex-has-the-same-papers-as-other-databases.md))
- [How do I make the Unpaywall extension work on my site?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-do-i-make-the-unpaywall-extension-work-on-my-site/): The Unpaywall browser extension(https://unpaywall.org/products/extension) gets open access locations by calling our REST API.(https://unpaywall.org/products/api) The API is call… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-do-i-make-the-unpaywall-extension-work-on-my-site.md))
- [How do I read JSONL files?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-do-i-read-jsonl-files/): The Simple Query Tool(http://unpaywall.org/products/simple-query-tool) and database snapshot(http://unpaywall.org/products/snapshot) provide results in the JSON Lines text forma… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-do-i-read-jsonl-files.md))
- [How do I use the title search API?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-do-i-use-the-title-search-api/): The Unpaywall title search endpoint gives you the full DOI API(https://unpaywall.org/products/apiget-doi) response for articles with titles matching your query. 50 results are r… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-do-i-use-the-title-search-api.md))
- [How do we decide if a given journal is fully OA?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-do-we-decide-if-a-given-journal-is-fully-oa/): We set the oa\status of an article to “gold” if that article is published in a fully OA journal. We have three steps to decide if a given journal is fully OA. ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-do-we-decide-if-a-given-journal-is-fully-oa.md))
- [How do you assign papers to specific countries?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-do-you-assign-papers-to-specific-countries/): We get information on an author's affiliation from many sources (e.g., Crossref, PDFs, repositories) but always as text, not linked to specific institutions or countries. We use… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-do-you-assign-papers-to-specific-countries.md))
- [How do you classify works as contributing to the UN SDGs?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-do-you-classify-works-as-contributing-to-the-un-sdgs/): OpenAlex tags scholarly works with relevant United Nations Sustainable Development Goals(https://sdgs.un.org/goals) (SDGs). These are the 17 global goals adopted by the UN in 20… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-do-you-classify-works-as-contributing-to-the-un-sdgs.md))
- [How do you determine work type?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-do-you-determine-work-type/): Work type is shockingly complex for something that seems so simple. In the upstream data sources that we use (datacite, crossref, hal, etc) there are different taxonomies for wh… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-do-you-determine-work-type.md))
- [How does OpenAlex handle predatory and "lower-quality" journals?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-does-openalex-handle-predatory-and-lower-quality-journals/): Unlike legacy indexes, OpenAlex does not try to maintain an arbitrary "quality" bar. We cover all scholarly works. ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-does-openalex-handle-predatory-and-lower-quality-journals.md))
- [How does OpenAlex work?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-does-openalex-work/): OpenAlex is a map of the world's research ecosystem, linking components (like papers, institutions, journals, topics, SDGs, authors, etc.) to one another. ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-does-openalex-work.md))
- [How is OpenAlex "open?"](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-is-openalex-open/): Open Science is an international movement to make science (and its benefits) accessible to all of society (scientists, entrepreneurs, non-profits, the public, etc.). For some in… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-is-openalex-open.md))
- [How is the best OA location determined?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-is-the-best-oa-location-determined/): When an article has more than one OA location, we need to decide which is the most current, authoritative version, which is first in oa\locations and is called the best\oa\locat… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-is-the-best-oa-location-determined.md))
- [How sustainable is OpenAlex?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-sustainable-is-openalex/): Ensuring that OpenAlex continues to be completely open and free means putting a lot of care into our sustainability plan, which relies heavily on the Principles of Open Scholarl… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/how-sustainable-is-openalex.md))
- [Institutions and Raw Affiliation String Parsing](https://help.openalex.org/docs/institutions-and-raw-affiliation-string-parsing/): This page contains all information related to our institution parsing. This help page will be updated with the latest information as it becomes available. ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/institutions-and-raw-affiliation-string-parsing.md))
- [Is OpenAlex data used in University rankings?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/is-openalex-data-used-in-university-rankings/): Currently, we know about three different mainstream University Rankings that are using our data: ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/is-openalex-data-used-in-university-rankings.md))
- [Keywords](https://help.openalex.org/docs/keywords/): Keywords in OpenAlex are short phrases that describe what a work is about. There are over 26,000 keywords in the system, and each work can be tagged with up to 5 of them. Keywor… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/keywords.md))
- [Link Resolver Integrations](https://help.openalex.org/docs/link-resolver-integrations/): Unpaywall is used as a data source in several third-party link resolvers, for example SFX(https://knowledge.exlibrisgroup.com/SFX/KnowledgeArticles/HowtoEnabletheUnpaywall\(form… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/link-resolver-integrations.md))
- [Open Access (OA)](https://help.openalex.org/docs/open-access-oa/): There are many ways to define OA(https://peerj.com/articles/4375/literature-review). OpenAlex uses a broad definition: having a URL where you can read the fulltext of this work… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/open-access-oa.md))
- [Paper version definitions](https://help.openalex.org/docs/paper-version-definitions/): Unpaywall reports three categories of paper version, based on the DRIVER Guidelines v2.0 VERSION(https://wiki.surfnet.nl/display/DRIVERguidelines/DRIVER-VERSION+Mappings) standa… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/paper-version-definitions.md))
- [Preventing Code Injection - Using Text From Unpaywall Safely](https://help.openalex.org/docs/preventing-code-injection-using-text-from-unpaywall-safely/): Some fields in Unpaywall records include text from external sources like Crossref. If you're simply viewing an Unpaywall API response in a browser or reading a spreadsheet from… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/preventing-code-injection-using-text-from-unpaywall-safely.md))
- [Recommendation for IRs: License reporting](https://help.openalex.org/docs/recommendation-for-irs-license-reporting/): Unpaywall can report the license terms articles in your repository are distributed under. If you know the license, you can include it in the OAI-PMH record in a rights element l… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/recommendation-for-irs-license-reporting.md))
- [Recommendation for IRs: Version reporting](https://help.openalex.org/docs/recommendation-for-irs-version-reporting/): Unpaywall reports the version(https://help.openalex.org/hc/en-us/articles/41193818736663-Paper-version-definitions) of the full-text papers it finds. ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/recommendation-for-irs-version-reporting.md))
- [Should I use Subfields or Concepts for my search?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/should-i-use-subfields-or-concepts-for-my-search/): Concepts(https://docs.openalex.org/api-entities/works/work-objectconcepts) and Subfields (linked to Topics(https://docs.openalex.org/api-entities/topics)) are both different way… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/should-i-use-subfields-or-concepts-for-my-search.md))
- [Sources in OpenAlex](https://help.openalex.org/docs/sources-in-openalex/): Works are associated with sources, such as journals or repositories. In many cases, a work can have multiple sources. For example, it may have been published in a journal, but a… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/sources-in-openalex.md))
- [The reference counts in OpenAlex seem off. Why is that?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/the-reference-counts-in-openalex-seem-off-why-is-that/): For each Work in OpenAlex, we have a field called referenced\works(https://docs.openalex.org/api-entities/works/work-objectreferencedworks) that is meant to list the works that… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/the-reference-counts-in-openalex-seem-off-why-is-that.md))
- [Topics](https://help.openalex.org/docs/topics/): OpenAlex organizes scholarly works into roughly 4,500 research topics, arranged in a four-level hierarchy: domains (4), fields (26), subfields (254), and topics (~4,500). Every… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/topics.md))
- [Unpaywall Change Notes](https://help.openalex.org/docs/unpaywall-change-notes/): This page will summarize important changes to our methodology and data sources that we expect to significantly affect the Unpaywall dataset. ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/unpaywall-change-notes.md))
- [What are CWTS Core sources and how are they different from Web of Science Core Collection?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/what-are-cwts-core-sources-and-how-are-they-different-from-web-of-scie/): The CWTS Core Source filter(https://openalex.org/works?page=1&filter=primarylocation.source.iscore%3Atrue) in OpenAlex can be used to return only publications from sources that… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/what-are-cwts-core-sources-and-how-are-they-different-from-web-of-scie.md))
- [What content does OpenAlex include and how does it compare to other databases?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/what-content-does-openalex-include-and-how-does-it-compare-to-other-da/): OpenAlex takes inspiration from the Library of Alexandria, wanting to centralize all research information in one place. Likewise, OpenAlex generally covers everything in other d… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/what-content-does-openalex-include-and-how-does-it-compare-to-other-da.md))
- [What counts as an Open Access location?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/what-counts-as-an-open-access-location/): We're pretty flexible. In general, if a page makes the full text of an article available for free, either directly on the page, through a PDF link, or in an embedded reader, we'… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/what-counts-as-an-open-access-location.md))
- [What do the fields in the API response and snapshot records mean?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/what-do-the-fields-in-the-api-response-and-snapshot-records-mean/): Glad you asked! Documentation for the shared schema is here: https://unpaywall.org/data-format(https://unpaywall.org/data-format) ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/what-do-the-fields-in-the-api-response-and-snapshot-records-mean.md))
- [What do the host_type values "publisher" and "repository" mean?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/what-do-the-host-type-values-publisher-and-repository-mean/): In general, publisher means this location is provided by the article's original publisher, through the canonical doi.org URL, as a Published or Accepted version. For example, th… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/what-do-the-host-type-values-publisher-and-repository-mean.md))
- [What does is_paratext mean in the API?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/what-does-is-paratext-mean-in-the-api/): Almost anything can have a DOI, so Unpaywall indexes a lot of things besides the journal articles most people use it for. This can be a problem for analyses that use Unpaywall.… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/what-does-is-paratext-mean-in-the-api.md))
- [What does oa_date mean and how is it determined?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/what-does-oa-date-mean-and-how-is-it-determined/): In each oa\location, the purpose of oa\date is to tell you when the full text of this version of the article was first available at this location. Here’s an example of an articl… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/what-does-oa-date-mean-and-how-is-it-determined.md))
- [What is an OA license?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/what-is-an-oa-license/): There are many definitions of what constitutes an OA license, including the BOAI(https://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), OSI(http://osiglobal.org/2018/11/15/osi-brie… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/what-is-an-oa-license.md))
- [What is the difference between topics and topic_share in OpenAlex entities?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/what-is-the-difference-between-topics-and-topic-share-in-openalex-enti/): Within some of the OpenAlex entities (institutions, authors, sources), we have separate fields for topics and topic\shares. ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/what-is-the-difference-between-topics-and-topic-share-in-openalex-enti.md))
- [When I look at my repository as a Source in OpenAlex, why is it missing most of our works?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/when-i-look-at-my-repository-as-a-source-in-openalex-why-is-it-missing/): We don't currently index works from institutional repositories, but instead if we have record of a work from another source (e.g., Crossref, DataCite, HAL, PubMed, etc), we scan… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/when-i-look-at-my-repository-as-a-source-in-openalex-why-is-it-missing.md))
- [Where do works in OpenAlex come from?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/where-do-works-in-openalex-come-from/): Works are scholarly documents like journal articles, conference papers, books and book chapters, datasets, and theses. ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/where-do-works-in-openalex-come-from.md))
- [Where do you get APC paid metadata from?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/where-do-you-get-apc-paid-metadata-from/): We pull APC paid data for publications directly from OpenAPC(https://openapc.net/). But when that information is not available, we estimate it from APC list prices for the journ… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/where-do-you-get-apc-paid-metadata-from.md))
- [Where does your citation information come from?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/where-does-your-citation-information-come-from/): When we create a new work record, we source information on the papers referenced by that work from the source of the record (Crossref, PubMed, etc.). When the work is open acces… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/where-does-your-citation-information-come-from.md))
- [Which DOIs does Unpaywall cover?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/which-dois-does-unpaywall-cover/): DOIs can be created by one of several Registration Agencies(https://www.doi.org/registrationagencies.html). The Unpaywall dataset only covers articles issued by one: Crossref(ht… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/which-dois-does-unpaywall-cover.md))
- [Why are some authors assigned to "NULL AUTHOR_ID" (A9999999999)?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/why-are-some-authors-assigned-to-null-author-id-a9999999999/): There are two different scenarios where OpenAlex uses an author ID which falls outside of the normal author ID process. You may come across an OpenAlex Author with these IDs par… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/why-are-some-authors-assigned-to-null-author-id-a9999999999.md))
- [Why are the counts_by_year numbers different than the count of works in a year?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/why-are-the-counts-by-year-numbers-different-than-the-count-of-works-i/): The counts\by\year field is pre-calculated and then stored in entities (like institution, author, source) as a shortcut for users. It gets updated every few months, but it is ou… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/why-are-the-counts-by-year-numbers-different-than-the-count-of-works-i.md))
- [Why does the Unpaywall plugin say this paywalled article is Open Access?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/why-does-the-unpaywall-plugin-say-this-paywalled-article-is-open-acces/): In addition to using our API(http://unpaywall.org/products/api), the browser extension looks for a PDF link directly in the page content and, if one is found, displays it as a B… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/why-does-the-unpaywall-plugin-say-this-paywalled-article-is-open-acces.md))
- [Why is affiliation history metadata incomplete?](https://help.openalex.org/docs/why-is-affiliation-history-metadata-incomplete/): In the author endpoint, we nest a lot of metadata as helpful shortcuts that aren't always complete and up to date. For instance, the citation counts for an author are only recal… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/docs/why-is-affiliation-history-metadata-incomplete.md))
## API

- [API overview](https://help.openalex.org/api/overview/): Placeholder article — the API tab holds REST/OQL mechanics, ported from the Mintlify api-reference. ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/api/overview.md))
## Learn

- [Break-down of my institution’s outputs by subject area (subfield)](https://help.openalex.org/learn/break-down-of-my-institutions-outputs-by-subject-area-subfield/): 1. Search for your institution by typing it into the search bar. 2. Select your institution; this will create a filter. 3. Under “Stats,” look for a panel labeled “subfield”. If… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/learn/break-down-of-my-institutions-outputs-by-subject-area-subfield.md))
- [Check if a journal’s works are in OpenAlex](https://help.openalex.org/learn/check-if-a-journals-works-are-in-openalex/): 1. Search for the journal name. 2. If it appears, click on it: this will apply a filter for the works whose primary location is in the selected.journal. You can browse through t… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/learn/check-if-a-journals-works-are-in-openalex.md))
- [Count incoming citations to any results set](https://help.openalex.org/learn/count-incoming-citations-to-any-results-set/): Once you have a search results set, with whatever searches and filters you've chosen, you can see a count of the total number of citations received by all of the works in that set: ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/learn/count-incoming-citations-to-any-results-set.md))
- [Estimate the APC fees my institution has paid to make research Open Access](https://help.openalex.org/learn/estimate-the-apc-fees-my-institution-has-paid-to-make-research-open-ac/): Calculating the exact amount of money an institution has spent on APC fees is not currently possible. We outline below an approach that estimates these spends: ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/learn/estimate-the-apc-fees-my-institution-has-paid-to-make-research-open-ac.md))
- [How many of each type of output does my institution have?](https://help.openalex.org/learn/how-many-of-each-type-of-output-does-my-institution-have/): 1. Search for your institution by typing it into the search bar 2. Select your institution; this will create a filter. 3. Under “Stats,” look for a panel labeled “type”. If you… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/learn/how-many-of-each-type-of-output-does-my-institution-have.md))
- [How many outputs does my institution have?](https://help.openalex.org/learn/how-many-outputs-does-my-institution-have/): 1. Search for your institution by typing it into the search bar. 2. Select your institution; this will create a filter. 3. Under “Stats,” you will see the total number of result… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/learn/how-many-outputs-does-my-institution-have.md))
- [How much is my institution’s work cited?](https://help.openalex.org/learn/how-much-is-my-institutions-work-cited/): 1. Search for your institution by typing it into the search bar. 2. Select your institution; this will create a filter. 3. Under “Stats,” look for a panel listing the total numb… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/learn/how-much-is-my-institutions-work-cited.md))
- [Identify other institutions that collaborate with researchers from my institution](https://help.openalex.org/learn/identify-other-institutions-that-collaborate-with-researchers-from-my/): 1. Search for your institution by typing it into the search bar. 2. Select your institution; this will create a filter. 3. Under “Stats,” look for a panel labeled “institution”.… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/learn/identify-other-institutions-that-collaborate-with-researchers-from-my.md))
- [What percentage of my institution’s outputs are Open Access (OA)?](https://help.openalex.org/learn/what-percentage-of-my-institutions-outputs-are-open-access-oa/): 1. Search for your institution by typing it into the search bar. 2. Select your institution; this will create a filter. 3. Under “Stats,” look for a panel labeled “open access”.… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/learn/what-percentage-of-my-institutions-outputs-are-open-access-oa.md))
- [Which journals do researchers at my institution publish in?](https://help.openalex.org/learn/which-journals-do-researchers-at-my-institution-publish-in/): 1. Search for your institution by typing it into the search bar 2. Select your institution; this will create a filter. 3. Filter for only works that are in journals: click the “… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/learn/which-journals-do-researchers-at-my-institution-publish-in.md))
- [Which of my institution’s outputs are contributions to UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?](https://help.openalex.org/learn/which-of-my-institutions-outputs-are-contributions-to-un-sustainable-d/): 1. Search for your institution by typing it into the search bar. 2. Select your institution; this will create a filter. 3. Under “Stats,” look for a panel labeled “Sustainable D… ([markdown](https://help.openalex.org/learn/which-of-my-institutions-outputs-are-contributions-to-un-sustainable-d.md))