academic-research

Search scholarly papers via Semantic Scholar and ArXiv with citation filtering and BibTeX export.

Updated Feb 4, 2026
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/joshuaroll/research-skills --skill academic-research
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: academic-research
Source: https://github.com/joshuaroll/research-skills/tree/main/skills/academic-research
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/joshuaroll/research-skills --skill academic-research

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

💡 This Skill requires requests, and includes scripts (resource) components.

What problem does it solve?

This skill helps researchers quickly discover influential scholarly papers, retrieve abstracts, and understand how ideas propagate by tracing citation trails.

Core Features & Use Cases

  • Search & Filter: Find papers by keyword and apply filters like year and sort by impact.
  • Impact Insights: Use citation counts and velocity to identify seminal works.
  • Provenance Tracing: Discover papers that cite a target work to map the evolution of ideas.
  • Details & Export: Retrieve abstracts, authors, year, URLs, and support BibTeX export.

Quick Start

Use the search_papers.py script to search for papers on a topic, for example: python3 search_papers.py "Transformers" --sort velocity To export BibTeX, add --format bibtex or combine with other options.

Frequently Asked Questions about academic-research

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I find highly cited papers and trace their citation history?

To find highly cited papers and trace citation history, search by keyword using Semantic Scholar and ArXiv, then sort by citation count or velocity to identify seminal works and map provenance.

Can I export BibTeX files directly from ArXiv and Semantic Scholar search results?

Yes, you can export BibTeX files directly from search results by applying the BibTeX format option to your keyword query, retrieving structured metadata including authors, year, venue, and URLs for academic references.

What is citation velocity and how does it help identify seminal academic papers?

Citation velocity measures citations per year to indicate a paper's impact momentum. Filtering search results by velocity helps identify rapidly influential seminal works rather than just historically highly cited papers.

How do I filter scholarly papers to retrieve only open access PDFs?

To filter scholarly papers for open access PDFs, apply the open-access filtering option during your keyword search, returning structured results that include direct pdf_url links alongside abstracts and citation metrics.

Does this academic research tool require complex dependencies to search for papers?

No, searching for papers does not require complex dependencies. The skill relies solely on the standard Python requests library to query Semantic Scholar and ArXiv APIs for abstracts, citations, and BibTeX exports.

What's the best way to discover papers that cite a specific target work?

The best way to discover papers citing a specific target work is using provenance tracing features, which query Semantic Scholar to map the evolution of ideas and retrieve structured citation data for the target paper.