What can I do with the ERIC API?
ERIC implemented an Application Programming Interface (API) to help researchers, developers, and third-party providers gain flexible access to ERIC metadata. You can search the ERIC collection and export the metadata to a variety of programs for display and analysis or download to a database. The API provides a range of options for using ERIC’s freely available metadata. Access the ERIC API here. For information on the many uses of the API, access our recorded webinar:
For a short overview of the ERIC API, access the following video:
For guidance on using the API to export search results, access this video:
Are there any tips for searching with the API?
Yes, there are four things to keep in mind when putting a search string together:
- The default between search terms in the API is OR, not AND as in the ERIC website. Therefore, you do need to insert AND when you want to combine search terms.
- You do not need to add a * to search terms to retrieve variations of the search word—the API automatically stems terms. For example, if you search the word“read” the API will also pick up the words“reads,” “readers,” and“reading.”
- You must use straight quote marks (for example: "word") and not smart or curly quote marks (for example: “word”).
- Some of the field names in the API differ from the field names used in ERIC website searches; for example, the API uses the term subject while the website uses the term descriptor. There is a table of field names on the API landing page.
I haven't worked with an API before, is there a quick way for me to begin searching with the ERIC one?
Yes, here is a short video that shows step-by-step directions for conducting a search using the ERIC API:
How do I export more than 2K records from an ERIC API search?
This video shows you how to save all the records from your API search, no matter how many results are returned:
