Search an author in OpenAlex and harvest their works list with titles and years. Free, no sign-up.
What this tool does
Building a co-author’s publication list by hand means opening profile after profile. OpenAlex indexes authors and their works openly, so a name search can return the author’s record and a harvest of their works — titles, years and DOIs — in one pass. This harvester searches OpenAlex for the author you name and lists their works newest-first, so a collaborator’s output, a potential reviewer’s record, or your own list is a paste away.
Why it matters
Good citations do quiet work. They let a reader find every source you used, they show that your argument rests on real evidence rather than memory, and they protect you: a clean reference list is much harder to challenge than a vague one. Most marks lost on referencing are not lost on difficult sources. They are lost on small, repeated slips — a missing year, a swapped initial, a title in the wrong case — that a quick tool pass catches before submission.
How to use it
- Type the author’s name.
- Click Harvest works.
- Copy the works list.
Worked example
Searching ‘Patel’ returns the matching OpenAlex author records and, for the chosen author, a list like ‘2024 — Clean water systems (DOI: 10.1/abc)’. Same-name authors are shown separately so you pick the right one before harvesting.
Tips for good results
Add an ORCID or institution word to the search when a name is common. ‘Patel’ alone harvests the wrong Patel half the time.
Work from the source itself, not from another paper’s copy of it. And keep one style for the whole list: a single mixed entry undermines an otherwise perfect bibliography.
Honest limits
Author search can return several same-name records; the tool shows the top matches and harvests the first unless you refine the name. OpenAlex coverage is broad but not complete, and works lists can include name collisions. The tool needs OpenAlex reachable from your browser.
Common mistakes to avoid
Common mistakes to avoid: copying a reference from another paper without checking it against the original, trusting a PDF filename for the title or year, and mixing two styles in one list. Each of these looks harmless alone and careless together. Run the tool, read its output once, and compare it with the source itself before you paste it into your document.
Before you submit
Run through this short check before you submit: is every author name spelled as it appears on the source, is every year present and correct, and does every in-text citation have a matching entry in your reference list? Read the list once from top to bottom rather than skimming it. Most referencing errors are found in that single slow read, and fixing them there is far cheaper than fixing them after a reviewer finds them. If one entry still looks odd after that read, check it against the original source before you change anything else.
Frequently asked questions
Is this tool really free?
Yes. It runs in your browser on this page, with no account and no payment. For live lookups, your query goes to the public API named in the tool; nothing else is sent anywhere.
Do I still need to check the result?
Yes, once. Tools apply rules; they cannot verify facts about your source. Compare the output with the source itself before submitting.
Can I use the output in my paper?
Yes. The output is a formatted reference or analysis for your own work. Keep the source’s facts accurate and the formatting consistent across your list.
What if the tool’s output differs from my style guide?
Trust the style guide. Tools encode the common rules of a style; your university or journal’s own sheet wins every disagreement. Use the tool to do the routine work, then apply the local rule where it differs.
Also available in Spanish: Recolector de Citas de Coautores – Lista Obras de un Autor con OpenAlex Gratis.