---
title: Google Scholar Citation API
emoji: 📚
colorFrom: blue
colorTo: green
sdk: docker
app_port: 7860
pinned: false
---

# Google Scholar Citation API

A lightweight API that fetches **Google Scholar author citation metrics** via [SerpAPI](https://serpapi.com/), with **24-hour caching** to minimize API calls.

## Features

- **Citation Metrics**: Retrieve h-index, i10-index, total citations, citation graph, and article list for any Google Scholar author.
- **Daily Cache**: Each author's data is cached for 24 hours — at most 1 SerpAPI call per author per day, no matter how many requests hit the API.
- **Fast & Lightweight**: Built with FastAPI + uvicorn, deployed as a Docker-based HuggingFace Space.

## API Endpoints

| Endpoint | Method | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `/` | GET | Welcome message & usage hint |
| `/citations?author_id=XXX` | GET | Get citation data for an author |
| `/cache/status?author_id=XXX` | GET | Check cache freshness for an author |
| `/health` | GET | Health check |
| `/docs` | GET | Interactive Swagger UI |

## Setup

### 1. Create a HuggingFace Space

1. Go to [huggingface.co/new-space](https://huggingface.co/new-space)
2. Choose **Docker** as the SDK
3. Push this repo to the Space

### 2. Set the SerpAPI Key

Go to **Space Settings → Secrets** and add:

| Secret Name | Value |
|---|---|
| `SERPAPI_KEY` | Your SerpAPI API key |

### 3. Usage Example

```bash
# Replace YOUR_SPACE_URL and AUTHOR_ID
curl "https://YOUR-USERNAME-YOUR-SPACE.hf.space/citations?author_id=JicYPdAAAAAJ"
```

### Python Example

```python
import requests

resp = requests.get(
    "https://YOUR-USERNAME-YOUR-SPACE.hf.space/citations",
    params={"author_id": "JicYPdAAAAAJ"},
)
data = resp.json()
print(data["citation_stats"]["table"])  # h-index, i10-index, citations
print(data["author"]["name"])
```

## How Caching Works

```
Request → Is there a cache file for this author_id?
  ├─ YES & age < 24h → return cached data  (_source: "cache")
  └─ NO or expired   → call SerpAPI → save to cache → return  (_source: "serpapi")
```

Cache is stored as JSON files under `/tmp/scholar_cache/` inside the container.

## Response Schema

```json
{
  "author": {
    "name": "...",
    "affiliations": "...",
    "thumbnail": "...",
    "interests": [{"title": "...", "link": "..."}]
  },
  "citation_stats": {
    "table": [
      {"citations": {"all": 12345, "since_2021": 6789}},
      {"h_index": {"all": 50, "since_2021": 30}},
      {"i10_index": {"all": 100, "since_2021": 60}}
    ],
    "graph": [{"year": 2020, "citations": 500}, ...]
  },
  "articles": [
    {
      "title": "...",
      "link": "...",
      "authors": "...",
      "publication": "...",
      "cited_by_value": 123,
      "year": "2023"
    }
  ],
  "_source": "cache | serpapi",
  "_cached_at": 1700000000,
  "_cached_at_human": "2025-01-01T00:00:00+00:00"
}
```

## Local Development

```bash
export SERPAPI_KEY="your_key_here"
pip install -r requirements.txt
uvicorn app:app --reload --port 7860
```

## License

MIT