IEEE Xplore Metadata Search API

openapi: 3.2.0
info:
  title: IEEE Xplore Metadata Search API
  description: The IEEE Xplore API suite provides programmatic access to over 6 million documents spanning engineering, computer science, electronics, and technology.
  version: 1.0.0
  termsOfService: https://developer.ieee.org/terms_of_use
  contact:
    name: IEEE Xplore API Support
    email: onlinesupport@ieee.org
    url: https://developer.ieee.org/
  license:
    name: IEEE Terms of Use
    url: https://developer.ieee.org/terms_of_use
servers:
- url: https://ieeexploreapi.ieee.org/api/v1
  description: IEEE Xplore API production server
security:
- ApiKeyQuery: []
tags:
- name: Metadata Search
  description: Query and retrieve metadata records and abstracts for IEEE documents
paths:
  /search/articles:
    get:
      operationId: searchArticles
      summary: Search IEEE Xplore article metadata
      description: Query and retrieve metadata records and abstracts for more than 6 million documents in IEEE Xplore including journals, conference proceedings, standards, books, and courses. Supports free-text, Boolean, and fielded searches. Returns up to 200 records per request with JSON (default) or XML output. The apikey query parameter is required on every request.
      tags:
      - Metadata Search
      parameters:
      - $ref: '#/components/parameters/ApiKey'
      - name: querytext
        in: query
        description: Free-text search across all configured metadata fields and abstract text. Use for general keyword searches.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
        example: deep learning neural network
      - name: abstract
        in: query
        description: Search text within the abstract field only.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: affiliation
        in: query
        description: Search by author institutional affiliation text.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: article_number
        in: query
        description: IEEE unique identifier for a specific article. Use to retrieve a single known document.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
        example: '9147599'
      - name: article_title
        in: query
        description: Search within the article title field.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: author
        in: query
        description: Search by author name.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: booleantext
        in: query
        description: Boolean query against all configured metadata fields, abstract, and document text. Supports AND, OR, NOT operators.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
        example: (machine learning) AND (robotics OR automation)
      - name: content_type
        in: query
        description: Filter results by content type.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - Journals
          - Conference Publications
          - Standards
          - Books
          - Courses
          - Magazines
      - name: d_au
        in: query
        description: Faceted author search using Open Author Facet data field.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: d_pubtype
        in: query
        description: Faceted content-type filter using Open Content Type Facet data field.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: d_year
        in: query
        description: Faceted publication year filter.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
          example: 2024
      - name: doi
        in: query
        description: Search or retrieve a document by its Digital Object Identifier.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
        example: 10.1109/TNET.2020.3001245
      - name: end_date
        in: query
        description: 'Upper bound for publication date filter. Format: YYYYMMDD or YYYY.'
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
        example: '20241231'
      - name: index_terms
        in: query
        description: Search within author keywords, IEEE Terms, and MeSH Terms.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: isbn
        in: query
        description: Search by International Standard Book Number.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: issn
        in: query
        description: Search by International Standard Serial Number.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: is_number
        in: query
        description: IEEE internal journal issue identifier.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: max_records
        in: query
        description: Maximum number of records to return per request. Default is 25; maximum is 200.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
          minimum: 1
          maximum: 200
          default: 25
      - name: publication_number
        in: query
        description: IEEE unique publication record number (journal or conference).
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: publication_title
        in: query
        description: Search within the publication title (journal, conference, or book name).
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
      - name: publication_year
        in: query
        description: Filter results by publication year.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
          example: 2023
      - name: sort_field
        in: query
        description: Field to sort results by.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - article_number
          - article_title
          - publication_title
      - name: sort_order
        in: query
        description: Sort direction.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - asc
          - desc
          default: asc
      - name: start_date
        in: query
        description: 'Lower bound for publication date filter. Format: YYYYMMDD or YYYY.'
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
        example: '20200101'
      - name: start_record
        in: query
        description: Sequence number of the first record to return. Used for pagination. Default is 1.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: integer
          minimum: 1
          default: 1
      - name: format
        in: query
        description: Response format. Default is json.
        required: false
        schema:
          type: string
          enum:
          - json
          - xml
          default: json
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Successful search response containing matching article records.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/SearchResponse'
              example:
                total_records: 1
                total_searched: 6000000
                articles:
                - article_number: '9147599'
                  title: Deep Learning for Natural Language Processing
                  abstract: This paper presents a comprehensive survey of deep learning techniques applied to NLP tasks.
                  doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3012345
                  authors:
                    authors:
                    - full_name: Smith, J.
                      author_order: 1
                      affiliation: MIT
                  publication_title: IEEE Access
                  publication_year: 2020
                  content_type: Journals
                  is_open_access: true
                  pdf_url: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=9147599
                  html_url: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9147599
                  abstract_url: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9147599
        '400':
          description: Bad request. Invalid query parameters or missing required fields.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
        '401':
          description: Unauthorized. Invalid or missing API key.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
        '403':
          description: Forbidden. API key lacks permission for this resource.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
        '429':
          description: Rate limit exceeded.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
        '500':
          description: Internal server error.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/ErrorResponse'
components:
  parameters:
    ApiKey:
      name: apikey
      in: query
      required: true
      description: API key issued by the IEEE Developer Portal. Required on every request.
      schema:
        type: string
      example: YOUR_API_KEY_HERE
  schemas:
    SearchResponse:
      type: object
      description: Response envelope for article search results.
      properties:
        total_records:
          type: integer
          description: Total number of matching documents found.
          example: 1482
        total_searched:
          type: integer
          description: Total number of documents searched in the index.
          example: 6000000
        articles:
          type: array
          description: Array of article metadata records.
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/Article'
    ErrorResponse:
      type: object
      description: Error response returned for failed API requests.
      properties:
        error:
          type: string
          description: Error type or code.
        message:
          type: string
          description: Human-readable description of the error.
    Article:
      type: object
      description: Metadata record for a single IEEE document.
      properties:
        abstract:
          type: string
          description: Brief summary of the document contents. Available for journals, conference papers, standards, books, and courses.
        abstract_url:
          type: string
          format: uri
          description: IEEE Xplore URL linking to the abstract page.
        access_type:
          type: string
          description: Content availability category. One of Open Access, Ephemera, Locked, or Plagiarized.
          enum:
          - Open Access
          - Ephemera
          - Locked
          - Plagiarized
        article_number:
          type: string
          description: IEEE unique identifier for this specific article.
          example: '9147599'
        author_terms:
          type: array
          description: Keywords provided by the authors describing document topics.
          items:
            type: string
        authors:
          type: object
          description: Author information including names, order, and affiliations.
          properties:
            authors:
              type: array
              items:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Author'
        citing_paper_count:
          type: integer
          description: Number of papers that cite this article.
        citing_patent_count:
          type: integer
          description: Number of patents that cite this article.
        conference_dates:
          type: string
          description: Event dates for conference publications. Format varies by publication.
        conference_location:
          type: string
          description: City, state, or country where the conference was held.
        content_type:
          type: string
          description: Publication category.
          enum:
          - Journals
          - Conference Publications
          - Standards
          - Books
          - Courses
          - Magazines
        doi:
          type: string
          description: Digital Object Identifier from CrossRef.
          example: 10.1109/TNET.2020.3001245
        end_page:
          type: string
          description: Final page number in the print version.
        html_url:
          type: string
          format: uri
          description: IEEE Xplore URL for the full-text HTML version.
        ieee_terms:
          type: array
          description: Keywords assigned from IEEE's controlled vocabulary for journal articles and conference papers.
          items:
            type: string
        index_terms:
          type: object
          description: Combined index terms from author keywords and IEEE terms.
        insert_date:
          type: string
          description: Date of last update in YYYYMMDD format.
          example: '20230815'
        is_number:
          type: string
          description: IEEE internal journal issue identifier.
        isbn:
          type: string
          description: International Standard Book Number.
        issn:
          type: string
          description: International Standard Serial Number.
        issue:
          type: string
          description: Journal issue number.
        is_open_access:
          type: boolean
          description: Whether the article is available as open access.
        pdf_url:
          type: string
          format: uri
          description: IEEE Xplore URL for the full-text PDF.
        publication_date:
          type: string
          description: Article publication date. Format varies.
        publication_number:
          type: string
          description: IEEE unique publication record number for the parent journal or conference.
        publication_title:
          type: string
          description: Name of the journal, conference, or book.
          example: IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems
        publication_year:
          type: integer
          description: Year of publication.
          example: 2023
        publisher:
          type: string
          description: Publishing organization name.
          example: IEEE
        rank:
          type: integer
          description: Relevance ranking position based on IEEE's algorithm.
        standard_number:
          type: string
          description: Standard designation number (e.g., IEEE 802.11u-2011).
        standard_status:
          type: string
          description: Current status of the standard.
          enum:
          - Active
          - Draft
          - Inactive
          - Superseded
        start_page:
          type: string
          description: Initial page number in the print version.
        title:
          type: string
          description: Title of the individual document.
        volume:
          type: string
          description: Volume detail for journal and conference publications.
    Author:
      type: object
      description: Author metadata for a document contributor.
      properties:
        full_name:
          type: string
          description: Full name of the author.
          example: Smith, John A.
        author_order:
          type: integer
          description: Numerical position of this author in the author list.
          example: 1
        affiliation:
          type: string
          description: Institutional affiliation of the author.
          example: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
        author_url:
          type: string
          format: uri
          description: IEEE Xplore URL providing additional author details.
  securitySchemes:
    ApiKeyQuery:
      type: apiKey
      in: query
      name: apikey
      description: API key obtained by registering at https://developer.ieee.org/member/register. Must be appended to every request as the apikey query parameter.
externalDocs:
  description: IEEE Xplore Developer Portal
  url: https://developer.ieee.org/docs