Academic Research Hub

A powerful OpenClaw skill for searching and retrieving academic papers from multiple sources.

Features

✅ Multi-Source Search

• arXiv (physics, CS, math, biology, finance, stats)
• PubMed (biomedical & life sciences)
• Semantic Scholar (CS & interdisciplinary)

✅ Advanced Filtering

• Date ranges
• Author names
• Categories/fields
• Citation counts
• Publication types

✅ Multiple Output Formats

• Plain text (human-readable)
• JSON (structured data)
• BibTeX (LaTeX citations)
• RIS (reference managers)
• Markdown (documentation)

✅ PDF Download

• Download papers from arXiv
• Batch download support
• Organized file naming

✅ Citation Management

• Extract citations
• Generate bibliographies
• Export to reference managers

Installation

Prerequisites

1. Install OpenClawCLI for Windows or MacOS

2. Install Python dependencies:

# Standard installation
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Or install individually
pip install arxiv scholarly biopython semanticscholar requests

Using Virtual Environment (Recommended):

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

⚠️ Never use --break-system-packages - use virtual environments instead!

Quick Start

Basic Searches

# Search arXiv
python scripts/research.py arxiv "quantum computing"

# Search PubMed
python scripts/research.py pubmed "cancer immunotherapy"

# Search Semantic Scholar
python scripts/research.py semantic "machine learning"

Advanced Usage

# Filter by date
python scripts/research.py arxiv "neural networks" --year 2023

# Download papers
python scripts/research.py arxiv "transformers" --download --max-results 5

# Generate BibTeX citations
python scripts/research.py arxiv "deep learning" --format bibtex --output refs.bib

# Highly cited papers
python scripts/research.py semantic "reinforcement learning" --min-citations 500

Usage Examples

Literature Review Workflow

# Step 1: Search multiple sources
python scripts/research.py arxiv "graph neural networks" --max-results 20 --format json --output arxiv_gnn.json
python scripts/research.py semantic "graph neural networks" --max-results 20 --format json --output semantic_gnn.json

# Step 2: Download key papers
python scripts/research.py arxiv "graph neural networks" --download --max-results 10 --output-dir papers/gnn/

# Step 3: Generate bibliography
python scripts/research.py arxiv "graph neural networks" --format bibtex --output gnn_refs.bib

Tracking Recent Research

# This year's papers
python scripts/research.py arxiv "large language models" --year 2024 --sort-by date

# Last 3 months in biomedicine
python scripts/research.py pubmed "gene editing" --start-date 2024-01-01 --end-date 2024-03-31

Building Reference Library

# Create organized structure
mkdir -p references/{papers,citations}

# Download papers by topic
python scripts/research.py arxiv "computer vision" --download --max-results 15 --output-dir references/papers/cv/

# Generate citations
python scripts/research.py arxiv "computer vision" --format bibtex --output references/citations/cv.bib

Command Reference

python scripts/research.py <source> "<query>" [OPTIONS]

SOURCES:
  arxiv              Search arXiv repository
  pubmed             Search PubMed database
  semantic           Search Semantic Scholar

OPTIONS:
  -n, --max-results  Maximum results (default: 10)
  -f, --format       Output format (text|json|bibtex|ris|markdown)
  -o, --output       Save to file
  --sort-by          Sort by (relevance|date|citations)
  
FILTERS:
  --year            Specific year (YYYY)
  --start-date      Start date (YYYY-MM-DD)
  --end-date        End date (YYYY-MM-DD)
  --author          Author name
  --min-citations   Minimum citations (Semantic Scholar)
  --category        arXiv category (e.g., cs.AI)
  --publication-type PubMed publication type
  
DOWNLOAD:
  --download        Download PDFs (arXiv only)
  --output-dir      Download directory (default: downloads/)

Output Formats

Text (Default)

Human-readable format with all metadata

JSON

{
  "title": "Paper Title",
  "authors": ["Author 1", "Author 2"],
  "published": "2024-01-15",
  "abstract": "...",
  "pdf_url": "https://..."
}

BibTeX

@article{author2024title,
  title={Paper Title},
  author={Author, First and Author, Second},
  year={2024},
  ...
}

RIS

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Paper Title
AU  - Author, First
PY  - 2024
...

Markdown

Formatted documentation with headers and links

Data Sources

arXiv

• Best for: Physics, CS, math, quantitative fields
• Coverage: 2M+ preprints since 1991
• PDF Download: ✅ Yes
• Full Text: ✅ Yes

PubMed

• Best for: Biomedical, life sciences, medicine
• Coverage: 35M+ citations
• PDF Download: ❌ Links only
• Full Text: Sometimes (via PMC)

Semantic Scholar

• Best for: CS, interdisciplinary research
• Coverage: 200M+ papers
• PDF Download: ✅ When available
• Full Text: ✅ When open access

Best Practices

Search Strategy

1. Start with broad terms
2. Use multiple sources for comprehensive coverage
3. Apply date filters for recent research
4. Filter by citations for influential papers

Download Guidelines

1. Respect rate limits
2. Only download papers you need
3. Check licensing before redistribution
4. Use organized directory structures

Citation Management

1. Export citations as you search
2. Use BibTeX for LaTeX documents
3. Use RIS for reference managers
4. Keep abstracts for later review

Troubleshooting

"Library not installed"

pip install arxiv scholarly biopython semanticscholar requests

"Rate limit exceeded"

• Wait a few minutes
• Reduce max-results
• Space out requests

"Download failed"

• Check internet connection
• Some papers may not have PDFs
• Try individual downloads

"No results found"

• Try broader search terms
• Remove restrictive filters
• Check spelling

Limitations

• Not all papers have downloadable PDFs
• Some content requires institutional access
• Rate limits apply to prevent abuse
• Citation counts may be outdated
• Google Scholar not included (no API)

Support

• Documentation: See SKILL.md
• Issues: Check troubleshooting section
• Dependencies: See requirements.txt
• Updates: Check OpenClawCLI updates

License

Proprietary - See LICENSE.txt

Credits

Built for OpenClaw using:

• arxiv - arXiv API wrapper
• scholarly - Google Scholar scraper
• biopython - PubMed access
• semanticscholar - Semantic Scholar API