Academic Search
Academic Paper Search MCP Server for Claude Desktop integration. Allows Claude to access data from Semantic Scholar and Crossref.
What is Academic Search?
Academic Search is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that allows AI assistants like Claude, Cursor, and VS Code to academic paper search mcp server for claude desktop integration. allows claude to access data from semantic scholar and crossref.
Academic Paper Search MCP Server for Claude Desktop integration. Allows Claude to access data from Semantic Scholar and Crossref.
This server falls under the Search & Data Extraction category on MCPgee, the world's largest MCP server directory with 33,000+ servers.
Features
- Academic Paper Search MCP Server for Claude Desktop integrat
Use Cases
Maintainer
Works with
Installation
Manual Installation
npx academic-searchConfiguration
Configuration Details
claude_desktop_config.json
Performance
Response Metrics
Resource Usage
How to Set Up and Use Academic Search
Academic Search MCP Server connects AI assistants to Semantic Scholar and Crossref, two of the largest academic paper databases, enabling real-time literature search and metadata retrieval from within any MCP-compatible client. It provides tools to search by query, filter by publication year, and fetch full paper details including abstracts, TL;DR summaries, open access status, and PDF links where available. Researchers and analysts use it to incorporate peer-reviewed evidence directly into their AI-assisted workflows without switching between tools.
Prerequisites
- Python 3.10 or later
- uv package manager or pip
- An MCP-compatible client such as Claude Desktop
- Optional: Free Semantic Scholar API key from semanticscholar.org for higher rate limits
- Optional: Free Crossref API key from crossref.org for improved throughput
Clone the repository
Download the server code from GitHub to a local directory.
git clone https://github.com/afrise/academic-search-mcp-server.git
cd academic-search-mcp-serverInstall Python dependencies
Use uv to install the MCP SDK and httpx library required by the server.
uv add "mcp[cli]" httpxObtain API keys (optional but recommended)
Register for free API keys to avoid rate limiting. Semantic Scholar keys are available at semanticscholar.org/product/api and Crossref keys at crossref.org.
Configure Claude Desktop
Add the server entry to your Claude Desktop config file (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS). Use the absolute path to server.py.
{
"mcpServers": {
"academic-search": {
"command": "uv",
"args": ["run", "/absolute/path/to/academic-search-mcp-server/server.py"],
"env": {
"SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY": "your_key_here",
"CROSSREF_API_KEY": "your_key_here"
}
}
}
}Restart Claude Desktop
Quit and relaunch Claude Desktop. The academic search server will connect automatically and its tools will be available in your conversations.
Academic Search Examples
Client configuration for Claude Desktop
Full configuration block for the academic search server with both API keys set.
{
"mcpServers": {
"academic-search": {
"command": "uv",
"args": ["run", "/Users/yourname/academic-search-mcp-server/server.py"],
"env": {
"SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY": "your_semantic_scholar_key",
"CROSSREF_API_KEY": "your_crossref_key"
}
}
}
}Prompts to try
Prompts that use search_papers, search_by_topic, and fetch_paper_details tools exposed by this server.
- "Search for papers about quantum computing error correction published after 2021"
- "Find the top 10 papers on deep learning for medical imaging and summarize them"
- "Get detailed information for the paper with DOI 10.1145/3442188.3445922"
- "Search Semantic Scholar for papers on reinforcement learning from human feedback"
- "Find papers about climate change and machine learning from 2019 to 2023"Troubleshooting Academic Search
Claude Desktop cannot find the uv command
The PATH in Claude Desktop's environment may differ from your shell. Use the full path to uv in the command field (e.g., /Users/yourname/.cargo/bin/uv), or install uv globally. Find the path with: which uv
search_by_topic returns too many irrelevant results
The topic parameter is limited to 300 characters. Use precise academic terminology and narrow the search with year_start and year_end parameters. Setting limit to a smaller number (e.g., 5) also improves relevance of the top results.
Paper abstracts are missing from results
Not all papers in Crossref and Semantic Scholar have stored abstracts. Use fetch_paper_details with source='semantic_scholar' for papers that are likely to have TL;DR summaries and open access PDFs, as Semantic Scholar coverage of abstracts is more comprehensive.
Frequently Asked Questions about Academic Search
What is Academic Search?
Academic Search is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that academic paper search mcp server for claude desktop integration. allows claude to access data from semantic scholar and crossref. It connects AI assistants to external tools and data sources through a standardized interface.
How do I install Academic Search?
Follow the installation instructions on the Academic Search GitHub repository. Clone the repo, install dependencies, and add the server config to your AI client.
Which AI clients work with Academic Search?
Academic Search works with all major MCP-compatible AI clients including Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code (GitHub Copilot), Windsurf, and Cline.
Is Academic Search free to use?
Yes, Academic Search is open source and available under the AGPL-3.0 license. You can use it freely in both personal and commercial projects.
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