# Academic Literature Search

> Query design across arXiv / Semantic Scholar / OpenAlex / CrossRef / PubMed / Unpaywall via the unified academic_search tool.

- Skill: `poly-gents/academic-literature-search` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add poly-gents/academic-literature-search`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/poly-gents/academic-literature-search/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Research & Search
- Author: poly-gents (https://skillmd.com/u/poly-gents)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/poly-gents/academic-literature-search

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# Academic literature search

- Use **`academic_search`** — it fans out across arXiv, Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, CrossRef, and (when relevant) PubMed, then dedupes by DOI and reciprocal-rank-merges.
- **Google Scholar has no public API.** Do not pretend to call it; the unified search covers essentially the same corpus.
- Iterate the query: start broad, then add field-of-study, year, or author filters; widen if 0 hits.
- For a known paper, prefer **`academic_get_paper`** with a DOI / arXiv id / S2 id over re-searching.
- For citation graph hops, use **`academic_get_citations`** and **`academic_get_references`**.
- To read the actual paper: **`academic_find_pdf`** (Unpaywall + arXiv fallback). If no OA copy exists, say so and offer the abstract/citation.