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Data Sources

papertrail supports two publication sources.

OpenAlex (Default)

  • No token required
  • Broad multidisciplinary coverage
  • Good for general bibliometric workflows

CLI default:

papertrail metrics "Marie Curie" --source openalex

NASA ADS (Astrophysics Focus)

  • Uses the official ads Python client
  • Requires ADS_API_TOKEN
  • Typically better coverage for astronomy and astrophysics
  • Exposes refereed/non-refereed metadata used in metrics

Example:

# .env
# ADS_API_TOKEN="your_ads_token"

papertrail metrics "Marie Curie" --source ads --ads-author-query "Curie, M."

papertrail loads .env automatically, so a project-root .env file is sufficient.

ADS and SciX

SciX is the evolution of ADS, extending those capabilities into additional domains. ADS is still the backend integrated in papertrail today via the official ads Python client, but SciX is expected to become the sole interface in late 2026.

The current plotting layer is intentionally built on papertrail's internal metrics rather than hard-coding ADS UI responses, so it can be adapted to future SciX-backed retrieval with minimal surface change.

Choosing a Source

  • Use OpenAlex for general-purpose workflows and ease of setup.
  • Use ADS if you work in astronomy/astrophysics-specific subjects.

Note

More sources can be added of course, so if I do not do it before, feel free to start a contribution!