SerpApi: An excellent solution to fetch bulk data from Google Scholar

SerpApi: An excellent solution to fetch bulk data from Google Scholar

 

By Bibhu Prasad Behera

 

As a student, having access to affordable and easy-to-use tools is essential, especially when working on projects that require data from search engines. Whether it’s for research, academic analysis, or building an application, finding a reliable API that provides real-time, accurate data can be a challenge. I first came across SerpApi when I needed to retrieve citation counts from Google Scholar for my research. While there were other options available, I found SerpApi to be the easiest and most straightforward way to get started because of the free trial and comprehensive API documentation. Being a student with limited resources, it was important for me to find a service that was not only effective but also affordable. This made it easy for me to test out their service without any commitment, and it turned out to be exactly what I needed.

 

Google Scholar API – Fast and Convenient: I wanted to get citation counts for several research papers, and while there are other methods to scrape Google Scholar data, SerpApi made the whole process incredibly easy. The API was fast, reliable, and easy to use, and I didn’t have to worry about dealing with CAPTCHA or complex configurations. Everything was straightforward, and within minutes I was ready to start. The API takes care of the heavy lifting, so you can focus on the analysis and insights rather than troubleshooting scraping issues. One of the standout features of SerpApi is the well-formatted output. This makes it easy to work with the data and extract the exact information you need. For me, it was citation counts, but if one needs any other information from SerpApi for Google Scholar usage, it will be easy and clean to use.

 

Performance and Reliability: I’m happy to report that I haven’t faced any significant problems with ~200K API calls. There were cases, ~1,600, where the API couldn’t fetch data, but these were successfully retrieved when I reran these calls. I do not know why it was the case. SerpApi’s is incredibly fast and with response times that make the entire process seamless. 

 

Customer Support: Whenever I did have a question or encountered an issue, SerpApi’s support team was quick to respond and were helpful. I’ve been impressed with how fast they are at addressing concerns. As a student, it’s reassuring to know that help is readily available, and you won’t be left waiting for days. Overall, I had a positive experience with SerpApi and the support team at the backend.

 

Dashboard and Documentation: SerpApi dashboard is intuitive and easy to navigate, allowing you to check your API calls, track your usage, and see detailed logs of your activity. The dashboard is designed to keep everything organized. Another standout feature SerpApi’s is the documentation, which is clear and beginner-friendly that made it incredibly easy to integrate SerpApi into my workflow.

 

We wish: SerpApi is a Google and other search enginees’ API. In our case, we used to scrape data from Google Scholar; therefore, if there is something that was either absent or erroneous in Google Scholar, SerpApi fetched the data with the same mistake. If, in its future version, the SerpApi team can integrate some QC features and get those missing data from another source (preferably from a non-search engine source. We know that this is not easy and there will be issues related to license and can take a very long time), it will be beneficial. Another fantastic addition to SerpApi will be getting citation data for preprints. Google Scholar does not provide the citation data for preprints but only for peer-reviewed publications (except where the preprints never appeared in any peer-reviewed journals).

 

Conclusion: Overall, SerpApi has been an invaluable tool for my academic work. It’s fast, reliable, and incredibly easy to use, even for someone with limited technical experience. Whether you’re a student like me, a developer, or anyone in need of search engine data, SerpApi offers a solution that is both affordable and effective. With a free trial, excellent customer support, and an intuitive dashboard, it’s a service that I highly recommend.

 

Bibhu Prasad Behera is a Research Associate in Binay Panda's lab (https://www.binaypandalab.org/).