How do I use the ORCID Search API?

The ORCID search API uses the SOLR syntax. All query syntaxes available in SOLR 3.6 are supported, including Lucene with Solr extensions (default), DisMax, and Extended Dismax.

You need a “/read-public” access token to use it. Once you have obtained your search token, build your base search URL:

An example call to search for “orcid” with the token on the sandbox public API with the results returned in XML format is:

Method:  GET Content-type: application/vnd.orcid+xmlnAuthorization type and Access token: Bearer [stored access token]URL: https://pub.sandbox.orcid.org/v3.0/search/?q=orcid

The results will specify the number of results found (num-found) and display the first 1000 results by default:

 <?xml version="1.0"  encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
  <search:search num-found="385" xmlns:search="https://www.orcid.org/ns/search"  xmlns:common="https://www.orcid.org/ns/common">
  <search:result>
  <common:orcid-identifier>
    <common:uri>https://sandbox.orcid.org/0000-0001-2345-6789</common:uri>
    <common:path>/0000-0001-2345-6789</common:path>
    <common:host>sandbox.orcid.org</common:host>
  </common:orcid-identifier>
  </search:result>
  [...]
  </search:search> 

An example basic search on the sandbox public API with results returned in json format:

Method: GET
Content-type: application/vnd.orcid+json
Authorization type and Access token: Bearer [stored access token]
URL:  https://pub.sandbox.orcid.org/v3.0/search/?q=newman

The search returns only the individual ORCID iDs of records holding public data matching the search. To obtain more information about the result, make a call to read the ORCID record directly.

For more information, see our Search API tutorial.