Elsevier Developer Portal

ScienceDirect APIs expose peer-reviewed full-text scientific, technical and medical content from all scholarly publications indexed by ScienceDirect, Elsevier's premier scientific platform.

Who can use ScienceDirect APIs?

Anyone can obtain an API Key and use the APIs free of charge, provided that our policies for using APIs and the data are honored. Full ScienceDirect APIs access is only granted to clients that run within the networks of organizations with ScienceDirect subscription. Clients without ScienceDirect subscriptions have access to a limited basic metadata, basic search functionality and full access to OpenAccess content.

Where do I start?

Where do I get an API key?

You can obtain an API Key on Elsevier Developer Portal. If you do not already have an Elsevier user ID, you will have to register prior to obtaining an API Key.

What do I get access to with my API key?

Who to contact for APIs questions and support?

Please email your questions to integration support. If you already have an API Key, please include it in the email.

What are the benefits of using ScienceDirect APIs?

Please refer to the table below for a quick overview of ScienceDirect APIs, their corresponding purpose and response formats.

#	ScienceDirect API Name	What it does	Response formats
1	Serial Title API	Returns metadata about serial title given ISSN document identifier.	application/json application/xml text/xml image/gif
2	Nonserial Title API	Returns metadata about nonserial title given ISBN document identifier.	application/json application/xml text/xml image/gif
3	Subject Classifications API	Returns subject classifications associated with ScienceDirect content.	application/json application/xml text/xml
4	Article Retrieval API	Returns ScienceDirect article [abstract or full-text, depending on entitlements] given a document identifier. Article Retrieval API response includes links various resources or objects associated with an article.	text/xml application/json application/pdf image/png text/plain application/rdf+xml
5	Article Entitlement API	Returns ScienceDirect article entitlement given unique article identifier in context of user authetication.	application/json text/xml
6	Object Retrieval API	Returns objects associated with ScienceDirect full-text article.	application/json application/rdf+xml text/xml
7	Object Search API	[Note: No longer available after October 2017] Allows to search ScienceDirect objects/attachments associated with ScienceDirect full-text article.	application/json application/xml application/atom+xml
8	ScienceDirect Search API	Allows to search ScienceDirect content given a search criteria.	application/json application/xml application/atom+xml

Elsevier Developers

Elsevier ScienceDirect APIs