Université libre de Bruxelles Scholar API

openapi: 3.2.0
info:
  title: DI-fusion Export Scholar API
  version: '2023.03'
  summary: Publication-list export service for DI-fusion, the institutional research repository of the Université libre de Bruxelles.
  description: DI-fusion is the institutional research repository of the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB).
  contact:
    name: DI-fusion, Bibliothèques de l'ULB
    email: di-fusion@ulb.be
    url: https://bib.ulb.be/en/find-documents/di-fusion
  license:
    name: DI-fusion terms of use
    url: https://bib.ulb.be/en/find-documents/di-fusion/terms-of-use
  termsOfService: https://bib.ulb.be/en/find-documents/di-fusion/terms-of-use
servers:
- url: https://difusion-svc.ulb.ac.be
  description: Production export service, operated by the Université libre de Bruxelles
tags:
- name: Scholar
  description: Publication lists for one identified ULB scholar.
paths:
  /scholar:
    get:
      tags:
      - Scholar
      operationId: exportScholarPublications
      summary: Export the publication list of one scholar
      description: 'Returns the publication list for a single scholar identified by ULB matricule or DAI

        (Digital Author Identifier, `http://difusion.ulb.ac.be/dai/{matricule}`). Verified live on

        2026-08-30 for `reftype` values xml-brief (text/xml), apa (application/pdf), bibtex

        (text/x-bibtex), ris and csv (text/plain).'
      parameters:
      - $ref: '#/components/parameters/scholarID'
      - $ref: '#/components/parameters/scholarInst'
      - $ref: '#/components/parameters/query'
      - $ref: '#/components/parameters/reftype'
      - $ref: '#/components/parameters/filetype'
      - $ref: '#/components/parameters/groupByScholar'
      - $ref: '#/components/parameters/roles'
      - $ref: '#/components/parameters/markupScholar'
      - $ref: '#/components/parameters/language'
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Publication list in the requested reference format and file type.
          content:
            text/xml:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/PublicationList'
            application/pdf:
              schema:
                type: string
                format: binary
            text/x-bibtex:
              schema:
                type: string
            text/plain:
              schema:
                type: string
        '403':
          description: 'Forbidden. Returned by the Apache front end for `reftype=xml-full`, which the published

            documentation describes but which is not publicly reachable. Body is an Apache HTML

            error page, not XML.

            '
          content:
            text/html:
              schema:
                type: string
        '500':
          description: 'Internal server error. Returned by the Tomcat back end for a missing mandatory

            parameter, an unknown `scholarID`, or `reftype=xml-brief-ext`. The service does not

            emit 4xx for client error.

            '
          content:
            text/html:
              schema:
                type: string
components:
  parameters:
    filetype:
      name: filetype
      in: query
      required: false
      description: File type of the resulting file. Valid combinations with `reftype` are listed in `vocabulary/ulb-difusion-vocabulary.yml`.
      schema:
        type: string
        enum:
        - pdf
        - rtf
        - bibtex
        - csv
        - ris
        - xml
    reftype:
      name: reftype
      in: query
      required: false
      description: 'Bibliographic reference format of the resulting publication list. `xml-full` returns

        HTTP 403 and `xml-brief-ext` returns HTTP 500 on the live service (probed 2026-08-30).

        '
      schema:
        type: string
        enum:
        - apa
        - bibtex
        - ris
        - csv
        - xml-brief
        - xml-brief-ext
        - xml-full
        default: xml-brief
    groupByScholar:
      name: groupBy
      in: query
      required: false
      description: Grouping applied to the publication list. A secondary grouping on descending year of publication is implicit except for `year`.
      schema:
        type: string
        enum:
        - genrecvulb
        - genredifusion
        - genrefnrs1
        - genrefnrs2
        - genrefnrs3
        - year
        default: genrecvulb
    scholarID:
      name: scholarID
      in: query
      required: true
      description: Unique identifier of a scholar — an ULB matricule or a DAI.
      schema:
        type: string
      example: '19262'
    query:
      name: query
      in: query
      required: false
      description: Any valid Apache Solr query, Solr-encoded (a literal `:` must be escaped as `\:`). Combined with the selection on the scholar's DAI.
      schema:
        type: string
    markupScholar:
      name: markup
      in: query
      required: false
      description: 'Any combination of the markup letters — a (abstract), b (scholar''s name in bold),

        h (grouping headers), l (full-text links), o (ORCID iD under the title), c (counts),

        s (continuous sequence numbering), t (per-group numbering). `b` and `o` are available on

        this operation only. Which letters take effect depends on the reftype/filetype pair.

        '
      schema:
        type: string
        pattern: ^[abhlocst]{1,8}$
    roles:
      name: roles
      in: query
      required: false
      description: 'Any combination of the role letters to be considered — a (author), e (editor), p (promotor),

        m (jury member), d (jury president).

        '
      schema:
        type: string
        pattern: ^[aepmd]{1,5}$
        default: aepmd
    scholarInst:
      name: scholarInst
      in: query
      required: true
      description: Identifier of an institution taking part in DI-fusion. Case insensitive.
      schema:
        type: string
        enum:
        - ULB
        - UMons
      example: ULB
    language:
      name: language
      in: query
      required: false
      description: Language of the headers, footers and grouping labels in the resulting file.
      schema:
        type: string
        enum:
        - fr
        - en
        default: fr
  schemas:
    GroupLevel:
      type: object
      description: A grouping wrapper. `title` carries the label in the requested language; `count` is present when markup=c.
      properties:
        title:
          type: string
        count:
          type: integer
        grouplevel2:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/GroupLevel'
        doc:
          type: array
          items:
            $ref: '#/components/schemas/Publication'
    Publication:
      type: object
      description: One publication, expressed as `arr name="..."` element lists in the XML rendering.
      properties:
        seqno:
          type: integer
          description: Present when sequence numbering is requested (markup=s or t).
        genre:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
            description: DI-fusion publication type URI.
          example:
          - info:ulb-repo/semantics/conferencePoster
        genrecvulb:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
            description: Publication type as known in the ULB CV vocabulary.
        author:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
        pubdate:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
            description: Publication date
            ISO-like `YYYY-MM-DD`.: null
        title:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
        apa:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
            description: The APA-formatted reference.
        startpage:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
            format: uri
            description: Handle System URL of the record's DI-fusion detail page, e.g. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/151029
        abstract:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
          description: Present only when markup=a.
        ftlink_unrestrictedaccess:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
            format: uri
          description: Open-access full-text URLs. Present only when markup=l.
        ftlink_restrictedaccess:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
            format: uri
          description: Intranet or embargoed full-text URLs. Present only when markup=l.
        ftlink_closedaccess:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
            format: uri
          description: Closed-access full-text URLs. Present only when markup=l.
    PublicationList:
      type: object
      title: publist
      description: 'Root of an xml-brief response. Rendered as XML; the shape below describes the element tree

        captured in `examples/ulb-difusion-scholar-xml-brief.xml`.

        '
      properties:
        header:
          type: object
          properties:
            logoInst:
              type: string
              description: Server-side path to the institution logo used in rendered output.
            logoApplication:
              type: string
              description: Server-side path to the DI-fusion logo used in rendered output.
            title:
              type: string
              example: Liste de publications de 19262
            subtitle:
              type: string
            FullName:
              type: string
              description: Resolved display name of the scholar.
        body:
          type: object
          description: Contains either `doc` elements directly or `grouplevel1`/`grouplevel2` wrappers when a grouping is requested.
          properties:
            grouplevel1:
              type: array
              items:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/GroupLevel'
            doc:
              type: array
              items:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Publication'
externalDocs:
  description: DI-fusion – Download & API (ULB Libraries, rev. 03/2023, PDF)
  url: https://bib.ulb.be/medias/fichier/difusion-download-and-api_1678451163130-pdf?ID_FICHE=10054&INLINE=FALSE
x-generated: '2026-08-30'
x-method: derived
x-source: Derived from DI-fusion – Download & API (Bibliothèques de l'ULB, rev. 03/2023, 15pp, HTTP 200, application/pdf, 374,444 bytes, retrieved 2026-08-30 from https://bib.ulb.be/medias/fichier/difusion-download-and-api_1678451163130-pdf?ID_FICHE=10054&INLINE=FALSE) and from live probes of https://difusion-svc.ulb.ac.be on 2026-08-30. ULB publishes no OpenAPI of its own; this description is API Evangelist's, not the institution's.
x-operator: institution