Journal MCP Server

6 Tools powered by OpenAlex & Crossref

The journal-server.js MCP server provides 6 specialized tools for real-time journal data retrieval. No API keys required — just an optional email for faster rate limits.

Tool Details

All 6 specialized tools provided by journal-server.js:

journal_search_by_field

Search journals by academic field or discipline. Returns sources sorted by citation count.

PARAMETERS

field — Academic discipline or research area to searchper_page — Number of results to return (default: 10)

API SOURCE

OpenAlex /sources

RETURNS — Journals sorted by citation count with metadata

id, display_name — Journal identifier and name

cited_by_count — Total citation volume

works_count — Number of published works

is_oa — Open access status flag

journal_metrics

Retrieve detailed metrics for a specific journal by ID or ISSN.

PARAMETERS

journal_id — OpenAlex source ID (e.g. S1234567890)issn — ISSN-L or ISSN as alternative identifier

API SOURCE

OpenAlex /sources/{id}

RETURNS — Comprehensive journal quality indicators

h_index — H-index impact measure

cited_by_count — Total citations received

works_count — Total published articles

is_oa, apc_usd — Open access % and APC cost

journal_publication_trends

Analyze publication volume trends for a journal over a specified year range.

PARAMETERS

journal_id — OpenAlex source IDyears — Number of past years to include (default: 5)

API SOURCE

OpenAlex /sources/{id} with counts_by_year

RETURNS — Year-by-year publication and citation counts

year — Publication year

works_count — Papers published that year

cited_by_count — Citations received that year

trend — Calculated growth direction

journal_editor_info

Retrieve top authors and contributors associated with a journal.

PARAMETERS

journal_id — OpenAlex source IDper_page — Number of top authors to return (default: 10)

API SOURCE

OpenAlex /authors?filter=last_known_source.id

RETURNS — Top authors ranked by citation count

id, display_name — Author identifier and name

cited_by_count — Author citation impact

works_count — Total works published

last_known_institution — Affiliated organization

journal_compare

Compare 2 to 5 journals side-by-side across key quality metrics.

PARAMETERS

journal_ids — Array of 2–5 OpenAlex source IDs

API SOURCE

Parallel OpenAlex /sources/{id} calls

RETURNS — Comparative table of metrics across journals

display_name — Journal name per entry

h_index, cited_by_count — Impact comparison

is_oa, apc_usd — Access model comparison

works_count — Volume comparison

journal_special_issues

Discover recent special issues and themed publications for a journal.

PARAMETERS

journal_name — Full journal name for queryissn — ISSN as alternative identifier

API SOURCE

Crossref /works?filter=container-title

RETURNS — Recent themed publications and special issues

title — Special issue or paper title

published — Publication date

subject — Thematic classification

DOI — Direct article identifier

API Architecture

The journal-server.js routes requests across two external APIs:

OpenAlex

https://api.openalex.org/

Primary source for journal metadata, citation metrics, author data, and publication trends.

Crossref

https://api.crossref.org/

Secondary source for publication records and special issue discovery.

Email Resolution Order

Environment VariableOPENALEX_EMAIL

Highest priority — set in shell or .env file

OMC Config File.omc/config.json → openalex_email

Project-level config file override

No Emailnone

Falls back to standard rate limit pool

Rate Limit Tiers

With email (polite pool)

Faster responses, higher concurrency

Without email (standard)

Lower throughput, may be throttled

Error Handling

The server implements graceful degradation across all failure modes:

Network Failures

Graceful error messages returned to the MCP caller without crashing the server.

Missing Parameters

Input validation runs before any API call. Clear error messages indicate which params are required.

Rate Limiting

Automatic retry with exponential backoff when 429 responses are received from OpenAlex or Crossref.

Ready to Query Journal Data?

Connect the journal-server.js MCP to your AI assistant and start retrieving live journal metrics in seconds.

Pipeline Docs View on GitHub