Sourcely API

The academic search and citation API

Send text and get back ranked academic sources, claim-level suggestions and formatted citations as JSON. Add the same search that powers Sourcely to your own product.

citation styles
750+
search modes, quick and deep
2
per quick retrieval track
$0.005
for citation checks and formatting
$0

Your first search in a few lines

Create a search, poll for the result, or set a webhook and get a POST when it finishes.

Terminal
curl -X POST https://api.sourcely.net/search \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOURCELY_API_KEY" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{"text":"How do urban green spaces affect mental health?","mode":"quick","citation_formats":["apa7"]}'

# 202 Accepted: { "job_id": "src_example", "status": "queued" }

curl https://api.sourcely.net/search/src_example \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SOURCELY_API_KEY"
Example response, shortened
{
  "job_id": "src_example",
  "status": "completed",
  "document": {
    "source_ids": ["src_paper_example"],
    "page": 1,
    "has_more": false,
    "status": "done"
  },
  "sources": {
    "src_paper_example": {
      "title": "Example study of urban green space and mental health",
      "authors": ["A. Example", "B. Sample"],
      "year": 2024,
      "venue": "Example Research Journal",
      "url": "https://example.org/papers/urban-green-space",
      "score": 1
    }
  },
  "usage": { "currency": "USD", "actual_cost": 0.005 }
}

What the Sourcely API can do

One API for finding sources, checking references and writing citations.

Search

  • POST/search

    Create a search from a question, claim or draft, with filters, citation formats and an optional webhook.

  • GET/search/{job_id}

    Read the status and results: ranked sources, citations and analysis.

  • POST/search/{job_id}/next-page

    Add the next page of document sources.

  • POST/search/{job_id}/claims/{claim_id}

    Search one claim, get more sources for it, or search again with feedback.

  • DELETE/search/{job_id}

    Delete a search and its stored text and results.

CitationsFree

  • POST/verify

    Check that a reference or DOI names a real paper and that its details match the record.

  • GET/papers/{doi}

    Get a paper's registry record and formatted citations by DOI.

  • POST/citations/format

    Format a citation from a DOI or from your own metadata.

  • GET/citations/styles

    Find the id of any of the 750+ citation styles.

What you can build

Writing and editing tools

Suggest sources for the paragraph a user is writing, and insert citations in the format they need.

AI agents and assistants

Ground your agent's answers in the literature, and check its references before showing them.

Reference checking

Compare reference lists with Crossref and Semantic Scholar to catch wrong details and invented citations.

Research discovery

Let users search by research question, and show papers with authors, year, links and relevance.

Control every search

Choose how deep to go, what to analyze and which sources count.

Quick or deep

Quick mode returns in seconds. Deep mode searches more widely, reads a shortlist in full and ranks it again, in a few minutes.

Document or claim

Find sources for a text as a whole, for each of its citation-worthy claims, or both.

Filters and analysis

Filter by year, citations, open access, venue, keywords and paper type, and choose how much analysis each source gets.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Sourcely API do?

It takes a text and returns ranked academic sources as JSON, with optional claim-level suggestions, relevance analysis and formatted citations. It also checks references, looks up papers by DOI and formats citations in 750+ styles.

How much does the Sourcely API cost?

You pay per request from prepaid credits, with no subscription required. A quick retrieval costs $0.005 per track, and analysis costs up to $0.035 per returned source. Citation formats are free, and a failed search costs nothing. Subscribers get 15% to 50% off.

How do I get an API key?

Sign in to Sourcely, open the API and MCP page, add credits (the minimum top-up is $20) and create a key. Use it from your application's server as a Bearer token.

How do I get the results of a search?

POST /search returns a job_id. Poll GET /search/{job_id} until the status is completed or failed, or set webhook_url to get a POST when the search finishes.

What are the rate limits?

Creating searches is limited to 10 per minute and 100 per hour per key, and reading or deleting them to 120 per minute and 4,000 per hour. Over the limit, the API returns 429 with a Retry-After header.

Which citation styles are supported?

APA 7, MLA 9, IEEE, Harvard and BibTeX by name, plus 750+ CSL styles such as Chicago, Vancouver, Nature and journal house styles. GET /citations/styles finds a style's id.

How long are results stored?

Results are kept for one hour by default. You can delete a search sooner with DELETE /search/{job_id}.

Start building with the Sourcely API

Want sources in ChatGPT or Claude without writing code? Connect the Sourcely MCP server instead.

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Go home

Welcome to Sourcely! Our AI-powered source finding tool is built by students for students, allowing us to truly understand the needs of the academic community. This student perspective keeps us up-to-date with the latest research and trends, while our collaborative approach ensures that Sourcely is continually improving and evolving.

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