Dimensions Metrics API : Catalogue

The Dimensions Metrics API offers a streamlined way to access key citation metrics. Designed to support researchers, analysts and institutions, this API provides programmatic access to a broad range of indicators that simplify research analysis and performance evaluation. This access allows you to seamlessly integrate citation data into your systems, enhancing research workflows and enabling faster insights into academic impact. Whether you're building dashboards and reports or integrating with other research tools, the API serves as a powerful addition to your data infrastructure.

No API key is required, and there is nothing to request. The endpoints are open — you can start calling them straight away. Use is governed by the terms of use rather than by credentials, as described under Access and Limitations below.

Key Features

Four article-level indicators. Each response carries (1) times cited, (2) recent citations, (3) Relative Citation Ratio, and (4) Field Citation Ratio. Full definitions, including coverage and availability caveats, are in the API reference.
Three ways in. Look up a publication by DOI, PubMed ID, or Dimensions publication ID, so you can use whichever identifier your system already stores.
Small, stable payloads. A flat JSON object with a handful of fields — easy to cache, easy to map into an existing schema, and unchanged since the service launched.
Free for non-commercial use. No metered pricing and no contract for academic and individual research use.

Use Cases

Repository and profile enrichment. Show a live citation count next to each publication record in an institutional repository, CRIS, or researcher profile page.
Reporting and dashboards. Pull indicators for a known set of outputs to build internal impact reports, annual reviews, or funder-facing summaries.
Publisher and journal pages. Add citation context to article landing pages without taking on a data feed.
Spot checks and enrichment scripts. Append indicators to an existing list of DOIs in a notebook or one-off analysis.
A quick start before Analytics. Validate that Dimensions indicators fit a workflow before scoping a full Dimensions Analytics API integration.

Access and Limitations

The Metrics API is free for internal, non-commercial purposes. Because there is no API key, access is not granted or withheld technically — it is governed entirely by the Dimensions Badges and Metrics API Terms of Use, which you accept by using the service.

Individual researchers. You may use the API free of charge for your own personal research purposes, relating to work you have authored. No registration and no other step is needed — start calling the endpoints.

Academic institutions and other organizations. You may also use the API free of charge, but the first thing you need to do is register some simple details with us here. Registration is a licensing step, not a technical one: nothing about your requests changes once it is done, and you will not receive credentials. Use is then permitted in respect of work related to your institution, provided the sites and systems concerned are open to everyone and otherwise non-commercial.

Commercial use, or anything else. If you are not a researcher or an academic institution, or you want to use the API in a way the terms do not cover, get in touch at info@dimensions.ai with a description of who you are and your use case. This is a conversation, not a refusal — there are usually options.