# Find Research Papers

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.

- MCP server · `type=mcp` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf (Devin Desktop), Cline, Zed, Gemini CLI · ★ 6
- Author: surendranb
- License: MIT · policy=link-only · description only; the file stays with the author
- Source: https://github.com/surendranb/find-research-papers-mcp
- Updated: 2026-10-03
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/find-research-papers

## What it 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.

## Requirements
- Needs: Node.js (commands run via npx)
- Environment variables: `FIND_RESEARCH_PAPERS_MCP_S2_API_KEY` — keys and tokens: ask the human for the values, never commit them or put them in shared files.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

**Platform CLI**
```bash
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 <…> with your own values

### Codex

**Platform CLI**
```bash
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-mcp
```
Replace <…> with your own values

### Cursor

**Config file**
File `.cursor/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "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

### GitHub Copilot

**Config file**
File `.vscode/mcp.json`:
```json
{
    "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

### Gemini CLI

**Platform CLI**
```bash
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-mcp
```
Replace <…> with your own values

## When to use it
- 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
- Find recent arXiv preprints on transformer attention mechanisms with `search_papers`
- Check if DOI `10.1038/nature12373` has been retracted using `verify_paper`
- Fetch the reference list for this publication using `get_references`

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