A
APIs Score

inspirehep.net API

Science & Math / No Auth Required Beginner HTTPS
Free to Use Varies (check documentation)
85 A
Measured Score 0 50 100 Reachability 30/30 Speed 5/20 Security 15/15 Developer XP 20/20 Reliability 15/15 TESTED 2026-07-23
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Overview

INSPIRE-HEP is a free REST API for the High Energy Physics literature database, covering papers, authors, institutions, conferences, and experiments in particle physics. You can search millions of HEP papers and retrieve structured metadata without any authentication. It is the go-to resource for developers building physics research tools.

Beginner Tip

Start with the literature endpoint and a simple keyword search like "Higgs boson" to explore available fields. Responses include pagination links so use the next URL to iterate through large result sets.

Available Data

inspirehep.net data via REST API

Example Response

JSON Response 
{
  "status": "success",
  "data": {
    "result": "Data from inspirehep.net",
    "description": "High Energy Physics info. system",
    "timestamp": "2025-01-15T10:00:00Z"
  }
}

Field Reference

id Unique INSPIRE-HEP record identifier.
metadata.titles Array of title objects, each with a title string.
metadata.authors List of author objects with full_name and affiliations.
metadata.abstracts Abstract text entries for the paper.
metadata.arxiv_eprints Associated arXiv preprint IDs for the paper.
metadata.citation_count Number of times this paper has been cited in the database.

Implementation Example

Request 
const url = "https://github.com/inspirehep/rest-api-doc";
const response = await fetch(url);
if (!response.ok) throw new Error(`Request failed: ${response.status}`);
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

What Can You Build?

Note: These code examples are AI-generated and unverified. Always refer to the official API documentation for accurate usage.

Common Errors & Troubleshooting

400 Bad Request The search query syntax is invalid or uses unsupported operators.
✓ Use simple keyword queries or consult the INSPIRE search syntax guide for advanced operators.
Slow response for broad queries Very general queries match millions of records and take longer to process.
✓ Narrow your search with author names, date ranges, or specific journal names.
Missing fields in response Some metadata fields are not populated for all papers.
✓ Always check if a field exists before accessing it; use optional chaining or null checks in your code.

Measured Score Breakdown

Live HTTP request to the API endpoint

Reachability 30/30
Speed 5/20
Security 15/15
Developer XP 20/20
Reliability 15/15
Endpoint Response Time 2966ms

Fully tested on Jul 23, 2026

How is this scored? →

Technical Specifications

Auth No Auth
HTTPS REQUIRED
CORS UNKNOWN
Category Science & Math
Difficulty Beginner
Verified: 2026-04-04

Related Tags

#science-and-math

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