Streamlined, more powerful APIs for the Open Access Button

The Open Access Button has just released an updated API that will make it simpler both to find and access an article (through publicly accessible content, subscription content, or an ILL) and to enable access by emailing authors who directly deposit their content. At openaccessbutton.org/api, you’ll now find straightforward instructions, code examples, and all our services, which you can use with a wide variety of article IDs (such as a URL, DOI, PMID, PMC ID, title, or citation) through our free, documented, and open RESTful JSON API.

Notable changes, alongside improved documentation, to the services available through our API include:

• Support for InstantILL: There are API routes for accessing library subscriptions, and for creating and searching interlibrary loans (ILLs) for your library. There is also a metadata retrieval route that collects the available open data on articles.
• Support for Shareyourpaper.org: Prior to the release of Shareyourpaper.org, we’re previewing what you can expect from the API so that you can start considering what you’ll do with it.
• Easier to email authors: After years of refinement, we’re ready to let more services use our request system to open up content for their users. You’ll now find clearer routes for implementing requests into your service.
• Simple searching for Open Access articles: We’ll do our best to find you open access articles regardless of what information you have, whether it is a URL, DOI, PMID, PMC ID, title, or citation. Now, you don’t need special IDs for each.

Even if you can’t code, you can still benefit from our services! Check out our page on tools for librarians, especially the integration guides, to learn more.

We’re excited to see what you’ll do with our updated APIs in your next big idea to enhance scholarly communications! In the meantime, we’ll keep making them better.

As always, we appreciate the generous support of the Arcadia Fund, which has made this work possible.