Literature tools

search_literature is the core Scite MCP tool. One tool covers three jobs: finding papers, reading inside them, and pulling the Smart Citation statements that cite them. Requires a Scite premium subscription.

What it returns

Every hit carries the paper’s identity plus the evidence attached to it.

Field	Contents
`doi`, `title`, `authors`, `abstract`, `journal`, `year`, `volume`, `issue`, `page`	Paper metadata; `authors` returns the first three
`fulltextExcerpts`	Up to 5 passages (~500 characters each) from the paper matching your query, open access only
`citations`	Smart Citation statements, each with `snippet`, `type`, `section`, `sourceDoi`, `targetDoi`
`tally`	Citation metrics: `total`, `supporting`, `contrasting`, `mentioning`, `citingPublications`
`editorialNotices`	Retractions, corrections, concerns, and errata, each with `status`, `noticeDoi`, `date`
`access`	Resolved access link with `url`, `accessType` (open, institutional, purchase), `contentType`, and pricing
`isOa`, `oaStatus`, `license`	Open access status

A type of unclassified means the citation statement exists but the classifier hasn’t assigned it a category. It isn’t a fourth citation category — see Citation model.

Three ways to call it

Search for papers

Pass term with domain-specific vocabulary. The index spans every academic field, so broad phrases return noise.

{
  "name": "search_literature",
  "arguments": {
    "term": "\"PAC learning\" AND \"generalization bounds\"",
    "limit": 10,
    "supporting_from": 5
  }
}

Fetch metadata for known papers

Pass dois (preferred) or titles without a term. No search runs; you get the records back.

{
  "name": "search_literature",
  "arguments": {
    "dois": ["10.1038/s41586-020-2649-2"]
  }
}

Read inside a specific paper

Pass dois with a term. Each call returns up to 5 matching excerpts, so vary the term across calls to walk through a paper section by section.

{
  "name": "search_literature",
  "arguments": {
    "dois": ["10.1038/s41586-020-2649-2"],
    "term": "limitations OR confounding"
  }
}

If fulltextExcerpts comes back empty, the full text either isn’t indexed or your terms didn’t match. Use the access field to reach the PDF instead.

Query syntax

term searches across title, abstract, and full text, and supports:

Boolean operators: AND, OR, NOT
Phrase search: "exact phrase"
Proximity: "term1 term2"~5

Parameters

Calling search_literature with no arguments browses the whole corpus, relevance-sorted. That’s allowed but rarely useful — pass at least a term, dois, or titles.

Query and pagination

Parameter	Type	Description
`term`	string	Cross-field query. Optional when `dois` or `titles` is given
`dois`	string[]	Restrict to specific DOIs. Exact match, so prefer this over `titles`
`titles`	string[]	Restrict to papers matching these titles. Use when DOIs aren’t available
`limit`	integer	Results per call. Default `10`, maximum `1000`
`offset`	integer	Pagination offset. Default `0`

Keep limit small. Every hit can carry excerpts and citation statements, so large limits produce payloads that consume a lot of model context. Use 10–50 with offset to page.

Metadata filters

Parameter	Type	Description
`title`	string	Text in the publication title
`abstract`	string	Text in the abstract
`author`	string	Author name; partial names work
`affiliation`	string	Author institutional affiliation
`journal`	string	Journal name
`publisher`	string	Publisher name
`topic`	string	Research topic or subject area
`paper_type`	string	Publication type, e.g. `Article`, `Review`, `Meta-Analysis`
`year`	integer	Exact publication year. Can’t be combined with `date_from`/`date_to`
`date_from`	string	Published on or after. `YYYY` or `YYYY-MM-DD`
`date_to`	string	Published on or before. `YYYY` or `YYYY-MM-DD`
`collection_slug`	string	Restrict the search to one of your Collections

Citation filters

Each filter is a range bound. tally counts citation statements; citingPublications counts distinct publications.

Parameter	Type	Description
`supporting_from` / `supporting_to`	integer	Bounds on supporting Smart Citations
`contrasting_from` / `contrasting_to`	integer	Bounds on contradicting Smart Citations
`mentioning_from` / `mentioning_to`	integer	Bounds on mentioning Smart Citations
`citing_publications_from` / `citing_publications_to`	integer	Bounds on total citing publications
`has_tally`	boolean	Only papers with at least one Smart Citation

The API field is contrasting, matching the parameter names above. Scite’s interface labels the same category “contrasted.” Both refer to contradicting citation statements.

Editorial filters

Parameter	Type	Description
`has_retraction`	boolean	Only retracted papers
`has_concern`	boolean	Only papers with editorial concerns
`has_correction`	boolean	Only papers with published corrections
`has_erratum`	boolean	Only papers with published errata

Check editorialNotices on every paper before citing it, even when you haven’t filtered on these. A paper can be accurate and still be withdrawn.

Reading a paper efficiently

The token-efficient pattern is search once, then read incrementally.

Find the paper

Search with a narrow term and a small limit to get candidate DOIs.

Confirm it

Call again with dois and no term to pull metadata, tally, and editorialNotices.

Read sections

Call repeatedly with the same dois and different term values — methods, results, limitations — collecting 5 excerpts per call.

Follow the citations

Read the citations array for what other papers say about it, quoting snippet text as evidence.

Search guide: the same corpus and filters over HTTP
Smart Citations guide: how citation statements are classified
Prompts: prebuilt literature review, fact-check, and screening workflows

Get Started

Concepts

Guides

MCP

Reference

What it returns

Three ways to call it

Search for papers

Fetch metadata for known papers

Read inside a specific paper

Query syntax

Parameters

Metadata filters

Citation filters

Editorial filters

Reading a paper efficiently

​What it returns

​Three ways to call it

​Search for papers

​Fetch metadata for known papers

​Read inside a specific paper

​Query syntax

​Parameters

​Query and pagination

​Metadata filters

​Citation filters

​Editorial filters

​Reading a paper efficiently

​Related

What it returns

Three ways to call it

Search for papers

Fetch metadata for known papers

Read inside a specific paper

Query syntax

Parameters

Query and pagination

Metadata filters

Citation filters

Editorial filters

Reading a paper efficiently

Related