bioRxiv Details API

openapi: 3.2.0
info:
  title: bioRxiv REST Details API
  description: REST API providing programmatic access to preprint metadata, full text, publication information, and usage statistics for biological research papers posted to bioRxiv and medRxiv. Supports filtering by date range, DOI, subject category, funder, and publisher.
  version: 1.0.0
  contact:
    name: bioRxiv Support
    url: https://www.biorxiv.org/about-biorxiv
  license:
    name: bioRxiv Terms of Service
    url: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/about-biorxiv
servers:
- url: https://api.biorxiv.org
  description: bioRxiv REST API server
tags:
- name: Details
paths:
  /details/{server}/{interval}/{cursor}/{format}:
    get:
      operationId: getContentDetails
      summary: Get preprint content details by date interval
      description: Returns metadata for up to 30 preprints from bioRxiv or medRxiv within a specified date range or recent N papers. Supports optional subject category filtering.
      parameters:
      - name: server
        in: path
        required: true
        description: Preprint server to query
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - biorxiv
          - medrxiv
        example: biorxiv
      - name: interval
        in: path
        required: true
        description: 'Date range (YYYY-MM-DD/YYYY-MM-DD), numeric count of recent papers (e.g. 30), or N days ago (e.g. 7d)

          '
        schema:
          type: string
        example: 2021-06-01/2021-06-15
      - name: cursor
        in: path
        required: true
        description: Pagination cursor (0-based start position)
        schema:
          type: integer
          minimum: 0
          default: 0
        example: 0
      - name: format
        in: path
        required: true
        description: Response format
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - json
          - xml
          - html
          default: json
        example: json
      - name: category
        in: query
        required: false
        description: Optional subject category filter (URL-encoded or underscore-separated)
        schema:
          type: string
        example: neuroscience
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Successful response with preprint metadata
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ContentDetailsResponse'
        '400':
          description: Bad request - invalid parameters
        '404':
          description: No results found
      tags:
      - Details
  /details/{server}/{doi}/na/{format}:
    get:
      operationId: getContentDetailsByDOI
      summary: Get preprint content details by DOI
      description: Returns metadata for a specific preprint identified by its DOI from bioRxiv or medRxiv.
      parameters:
      - name: server
        in: path
        required: true
        description: Preprint server to query
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - biorxiv
          - medrxiv
        example: biorxiv
      - name: doi
        in: path
        required: true
        description: DOI of the preprint (e.g. 10.1101/339747)
        schema:
          type: string
        example: 10.1101/339747
      - name: na
        in: path
        required: true
        description: Literal "na" placeholder for cursor position when querying by DOI
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - na
        example: na
      - name: format
        in: path
        required: true
        description: Response format
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - json
          - xml
          - html
          default: json
        example: json
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Successful response with preprint metadata
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ContentDetailsResponse'
        '404':
          description: DOI not found
      tags:
      - Details
components:
  schemas:
    ContentDetailsResponse:
      type: object
      description: Response from content details endpoint
      properties:
        messages:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/ResponseMessage'
        collection:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/PreprintMetadata'
    PreprintMetadata:
      type: object
      description: Metadata for a single preprint
      properties:
        doi:
          type: string
          description: Digital Object Identifier for the preprint
          example: 10.1101/339747
        title:
          type: string
          description: Title of the preprint
          example: Example Biology Preprint Title
        authors:
          type: string
          description: Semicolon-separated list of authors
          example: Smith, John; Doe, Jane
        author_corresponding:
          type: string
          description: Corresponding author name
          example: Smith, John
        author_corresponding_institution:
          type: string
          description: Institution of corresponding author
          example: University of Example
        date:
          type: string
          format: date
          description: Date the preprint was posted
          example: '2021-06-01'
        version:
          type: string
          description: Version number of the preprint
          example: '1'
        type:
          type: string
          description: Type of submission (new result, confirmatory result, etc.)
          example: new results
        license:
          type: string
          description: License type
          example: cc_by
        category:
          type: string
          description: Subject category
          example: neuroscience
        jatsxml:
          type: string
          format: uri
          description: URL to JATS XML full text
        abstract:
          type: string
          description: Abstract of the preprint
        published:
          type: string
          description: Published DOI if the preprint has been published, "NA" if not
          example: NA
        server:
          type: string
          description: Server hosting the preprint (biorxiv or medrxiv)
          example: biorxiv
    ResponseMessage:
      type: object
      description: Status message included in API responses
      properties:
        status:
          type: string
          description: Status of the request (ok, error)
          example: ok
        interval:
          type: string
          description: The interval queried
          example: 2021-06-01/2021-06-15
        cursor:
          type: integer
          description: Current cursor position
          example: 0
        count:
          type: integer
          description: Number of results returned
          example: 30
        total:
          type: integer
          description: Total number of results available
          example: 342