APIs for Scholarly Resources

The Web of Science API Lite supports simple searching across the Web of Science to retrieve core item-level metadata. To get the full functionality of this API, you will need an API key. The University of Calgary does not subscribe to any of the other WoS APIs.

How to get an API Key

1. Go to the Clarivate Developer Portal
2. Click on Sign Up and then Register to create a new account if you don't have one yet. Be sure to use your University of Calgary email for the registration. If you already have an account, click Sign in instead.
3. Once you sign in, go to Applications from the top menu. Click on Register a new Application.
4. Fill in the Application ID, Application Name, and Application Description.
   • For the description field, describe how you intend to use the API, and what data you are looking to display. Be sure to mention the institution name (University of Calgary) as well in the field.
   • Choose Public: Single Page Application (browser based app) for Client Type.
   • Do not check This application will use OAuth2.0 Flows (other than the Client Credentials flow, i.e. using redirects)
5. Once you have completed the application registration, go to APIs on the top menu and click Information under Web of Science API Lite box.
6. Scroll down a little until you see "Application" section. Click on Subscribe on the application that you want to connect to the API.
7. It may take up to two days for your subscription to activate. You will be notified via email once your application is approved.

Return Format

The API supports JSON and XML responses. You can specify this in the HTTP header under Accept field. The API returns the following information:

•     UT (Unique Identifier)
•     Authors
•     Author keywords
•     Document type
•     Title
•     Issue
•     Pages
•     Publication date
•     Source title
•     Volume
•     DOI
•     ISBN
•     ISSN

Limitations

• The Web of Science documents per year that can be retrieved through the API is unlimited, but the number of API requests that can be made is limited to 2 requests per second, with up to 200 requests per day.

Useful Links

• Interactive documentation
• API Usage Information - track how many requests have been made

API Wrappers

Wrappers are API-specific packages that streamline the process of making API calls. Available wrappers for Elsevier API:

• woslite_py_client (Python)
• woslite_r_client (R)
• woslite_csharp_client (C#)