Semantic Scholar MCP Server

Note: A lightweight CLI alternative is available at semantic-scholar-cli. It is designed for LLM tool-use workflows with strict typed inputs, stable JSON envelopes, and small default payloads — usable without an MCP server.

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides access to Semantic Scholar’s academic paper database through their API.

Features

• Paper Search: Search for academic papers with filters for year, fields of study, and open access
• Paper Details: Get comprehensive information about specific papers including abstracts, authors, and citation counts
• Author Information: Retrieve detailed author data including affiliations, h-index, and citation metrics
• Citation Export: Generate citations in multiple formats (BibTeX, APA, MLA, Chicago)

Usage

Get API Key

While the Semantic Scholar API can be used without authentication, having an API key provides higher rate limits. To get an API key:

1. Visit Semantic Scholar API
2. Request an API key

Add to Claude Code configuration

Run the following command to add the Semantic Scholar MCP server to your project-scope Claude Code configuration:

claude mcp add semantic-scholar-mcp -s project -e SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY="your-api-key-here" -- uv run --with "git+https://github.com/FujishigeTemma/semantic-scholar-mcp" semantic-scholar-mcp serve

Or manually add it to your .mcp.json configuration file:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "semantic-scholar-mcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "run",
        "--with",
        "git+https://github.com/FujishigeTemma/semantic-scholar-mcp",
        "semantic-scholar-mcp",
        "serve"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY": "your-api-key-here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Available Tools

1. search_paper - Search for papers

   • Required: query (search terms)
   • Optional: fields, limit, offset, year, fieldsOfStudy, openAccessPdf

2. get_paper - Get detailed paper information

   • Required: paper_id (supports multiple ID types: DOI, ArXiv ID, S2 Paper ID, etc.)
   • Optional: fields (customize returned data, see: Field Customization)

3. get_authors - Get author information for a paper

   • Required: paper_id
   • Optional: fields, limit, offset

4. get_citation - Generate formatted citations

   • Required: paper_id
   • Optional: format (bibtex, apa, mla, chicago)

CLI Examples

Search for papers:

semantic-scholar-mcp tools search_paper "machine learning" --limit 5 --year "2020-2023"

Get paper details:

semantic-scholar-mcp tools get_paper "10.1038/nature12373"

Get authors for a paper:

semantic-scholar-mcp tools get_authors "649def34f8be52c8b66281af98ae884c09aef38b"