Find Research Papers — Claude Code MCP server: setup
Connects AI assistants to arXiv, PubMed, OpenAlex, CrossRef, and Semantic Scholar. Use it whenever an agent needs direct access to verified scholarly papers or citation trees.
claude mcp add find-research-papers-mcp -e FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY=<FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY> -- npx -y find-research-papers-mcpWhat Find Research Papers does
The server connects models to 250M+ scientific articles. With search_papers and get_citations, an assistant can retrieve papers and map citation graphs via OpenAlex. The verify_paper tool checks if the target landing page responds and inspects DOI records for retractions.
Execution relies on npx or uvx. The package transmits basic diagnostic metrics. You can stop this by exporting DO_NOT_TRACK=1. Full Semantic Scholar queries require setting FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY in your environment.
What it helps with
- search scientific literature across arXiv, PubMed, and OpenAlex
- inspect DOIs against retraction databases before citing
- retrieve open-access PDF links and paper abstracts
- fetch bibliographies directly from CrossRef records
Example prompts for the agent
- Find recent arXiv preprints on transformer attention mechanisms with
search_papers - Check if DOI
10.1038/nature12373has been retracted usingverify_paper - Fetch the reference list for this publication using
get_references
How to install Find Research Papers
Platform CLI
claude mcp add find-research-papers-mcp -e FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY=<FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY> -- npx -y find-research-papers-mcpReplace <…> with your own values
Platform CLI
codex mcp add find-research-papers --env FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY=<FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY> -- npx -y find-research-papers-mcpReplace <…> with your own values
Config file
{
"mcpServers": {
"find-research-papers": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"find-research-papers-mcp"
],
"env": {
"FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY": "<FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values
Config file
{
"servers": {
"find-research-papers": {
"type": "stdio",
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"find-research-papers-mcp"
],
"env": {
"FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY": "<FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY>"
}
}
}
}Replace <…> with your own values
Platform CLI
gemini mcp add -e FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY=<FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY> find-research-papers npx -y find-research-papers-mcpReplace <…> with your own values
Step by step, with commands for each platform: How to add an MCP server to Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini CLI and more
Questions about Find Research Papers
How do I install Find Research Papers in Claude Code?
Run claude mcp add find-research-papers-mcp -e FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY=<FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY> -- npx -y find-research-papers-mcp. Replace the placeholder with your actual Semantic Scholar API key.
Which academic databases does the server query?
It queries five indexes: arXiv, PubMed, OpenAlex, CrossRef, and Semantic Scholar. You can inspect response times and availability across all five using the list_sources tool.
How can I disable diagnostic telemetry?
Set DO_NOT_TRACK=1 or MCP_TELEMETRY_OPT_OUT=1 in your environment before launching. The server then stops sending latency and error reports.
