scientific-skills/paper-lookup/references/biorxiv.md
bioRxiv is a preprint server for biology. The API provides metadata for preprints, including title, authors, abstract, DOI, and publication status.
Important: The bioRxiv API has no keyword search. It supports date-range browsing and DOI lookup only. For keyword search of bioRxiv preprints, use Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, or CORE instead.
https://api.biorxiv.org
None required. Fully public API.
GET /details/biorxiv/{interval}/{cursor}/{format}
| Parameter | Values | Description |
|---|---|---|
interval | YYYY-MM-DD/YYYY-MM-DD | Date range (inclusive). Keep ranges narrow (1-3 days) to avoid timeouts. |
N (integer) | N most recent preprints | |
Nd (integer + "d") | Last N days | |
cursor | Integer (default 0) | Pagination offset (100 results per page) |
format | json (default), xml | Response format |
Optional query parameter: ?category=neuroscience (filter by category, use underscores for spaces)
Examples:
https://api.biorxiv.org/details/biorxiv/2024-01-01/2024-01-31/0
https://api.biorxiv.org/details/biorxiv/5
https://api.biorxiv.org/details/biorxiv/10d
https://api.biorxiv.org/details/biorxiv/2024-01-01/2024-01-31?category=neuroscience
GET /details/biorxiv/{doi}/na/{format}
Example:
https://api.biorxiv.org/details/biorxiv/10.1101/2024.01.16.575895/na/json
GET /pubs/biorxiv/{interval}/{cursor}
GET /pubs/biorxiv/{doi}/na
Links preprints to their published journal versions. Accepts both preprint DOI and published DOI.
GET /publisher/{prefix}/{interval}/{cursor}
Find bioRxiv papers published by a specific publisher (by DOI prefix).
Example:
https://api.biorxiv.org/publisher/10.15252/2024-01-01/2024-06-01/0
{
"messages": [{
"status": "ok",
"count": 100,
"total": "1029",
"cursor": 0
}],
"collection": [{
"title": "Paper title...",
"authors": "Surname, A.; Surname, B.",
"author_corresponding": "Full Name",
"author_corresponding_institution": "Institution",
"doi": "10.1101/2024.01.16.575895",
"date": "2024-01-20",
"version": "1",
"type": "new results",
"license": "cc_no",
"category": "cancer biology",
"jatsxml": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/.../source.xml",
"abstract": "Full abstract text...",
"published": "10.1158/2159-8290.CD-24-0187",
"server": "bioRxiv"
}]
}
published is "NA" if not yet published in a journal, or the published DOI if it has been.type values: new results, confirmatory results, contradictory resultsAll multi-result endpoints return 100 results per page. Use cursor to paginate. The messages object tells you the total count.
No documented rate limits. No authentication required. Be reasonable with request frequency.
animal-behavior-and-cognition, biochemistry, bioengineering, bioinformatics, biophysics, cancer-biology, cell-biology, clinical-trials, developmental-biology, ecology, epidemiology, evolutionary-biology, genetics, genomics, immunology, microbiology, molecular-biology, neuroscience, paleontology, pathology, pharmacology-and-toxicology, physiology, plant-biology, scientific-communication-and-education, synthetic-biology, systems-biology, zoology