xiaolai Academic Search
Multi-source literature search, citation verification, citation format conversion, and reference management via MCP tools.
MCP Tools
Core Search
| Tool | Source | Best For |
|---|---|---|
pubmed_search_articles |
PubMed MCP | Biomedical, MeSH, clinical trials |
search_crossref |
paper-search MCP | Cross-disciplinary, citation counts |
search_arxiv |
paper-search MCP | Preprints (physics, math, CS, biology) |
Extended Search
| Tool | Source | Best For |
|---|---|---|
search_google_scholar |
paper-search MCP | Broad academic search (scraped) |
search_semantic_scholar |
paper-search MCP | Citation graph, field-of-study filters |
search_biorxiv |
paper-search MCP | Biology preprints |
search_medrxiv |
paper-search MCP | Medical preprints |
search_webofscience |
paper-search MCP | Curated index, citation reports |
search_scopus |
paper-search MCP | Broad scholarly database |
PubMed Utilities
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
pubmed_fetch_articles |
Full metadata by PMID |
pubmed_find_related |
Related article discovery |
pubmed_format_citations |
APA / MLA / BibTeX / RIS formatting |
pubmed_convert_ids |
DOI ↔ PMID ↔ PMCID conversion |
pubmed_lookup_mesh |
MeSH term exploration and hierarchy |
pubmed_lookup_citation |
Bibliographic citation → PMID lookup |
Source Routing
See Source Tiers & Reliability for the complete reliability classification and fallback routing rules. The T1→T2→T3 fallback chain is the standard execution order across all workflows.
Quick guide:
| User need | Primary (T1) | Secondary (T2) | Last Resort (T3) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical / clinical | PubMed | Semantic Scholar | Google Scholar |
| Cross-disciplinary | CrossRef | Semantic Scholar | Scopus |
| Preprints / CS / physics | arXiv | bioRxiv / medRxiv | — |
| Exhaustive review | PubMed + CrossRef + arXiv | Semantic Scholar + bioRxiv/medRxiv | WoS / Scopus |
| Citation count sensitive | Semantic Scholar | CrossRef | — |
| Chinese literature | — | — | CNKI / 万方 (manual) |
Workflows
| # | Workflow | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Multi-Source Literature Search | wf1 |
| 2 | Citation Verification | wf2 |
| 3 | MeSH Search Strategy | wf3 |
| 4 | Citation File Management | wf4 |
| 5 | Reference Management | wf5 |
Shared Modules
| Module | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Dedup Engine | Unified deduplication (WFs 1, 2, 5a) |
| Citation Parser | Extract citations from documents (WF 2) |
| Search Strategy | Query construction, source selection, ranking |
| RIS/BibTeX Format | Format specifications and field mappings |
| Format Converter | Multi-source .nbib/.ris/.bib downloader |
Environment Setup
API Keys (optional but recommended)
| Service | Env Var | Register At | Free Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semantic Scholar | SEMANTIC_SCHOLAR_API_KEY |
api.semanticscholar.org | 100 req/s with key (1/s without) |
| NCBI E-utilities | NCBI_API_KEY |
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/account | 10 req/s with key (3/s without) |
Set via export or .env file.
Proxy (if behind firewall)
export http_proxy=http://127.0.0.1:7890
export https_proxy=http://127.0.0.1:7890
Pre-flight Check
python scripts/preflight.py
Run before batch operations to verify API endpoints are reachable.
Format Converter Dependencies
The format converter (scripts/format-converter.py) uses Python stdlib only — no extra dependencies. Run python scripts/format-converter.py --test to verify the conversion pipeline.
Error Handling
- MCP tool unavailable: report specific failure, continue with remaining tools.
- No results: broaden terms, try alternative sources, suggest user refine query.
- Script failure (2x): fall back to manual generation from MCP-fetched metadata.
Limitations
- Google Scholar and Semantic Scholar are scraped (not API-backed) — results may vary.
- Chinese literature (CNKI / 万方) not indexed by CrossRef or PubMed.
- Citation counts may be delayed (CrossRef updates monthly).