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Get live Google Search data and more from SerpApi's official node

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Overview

This node enables users to perform live searches on Google Scholar through the SerpApi service. It is designed to retrieve scholarly articles, citations, and related academic information directly from Google Scholar's search engine. This node is beneficial for researchers, academics, librarians, or anyone needing programmatic access to scholarly data such as article metadata, citation counts, publication years, and more.

Practical examples include:

  • Searching for academic papers on a specific topic (e.g., "Coffee").
  • Retrieving citing documents of a particular article using its unique ID.
  • Filtering results by publication year range.
  • Sorting articles by date or relevance.
  • Limiting search results to specific languages.
  • Fetching raw HTML or structured JSON output for further processing.

Properties

Name Meaning
Search Query (q) The main query string defining what you want to search for in Google Scholar. Example: "Coffee".
Additional Fields A collection of optional parameters to refine the search:
- Cited By (cites) Unique ID of an article to find documents that cite it. Using this with q searches within citing articles.
- Year From (as_ylo) Start year to include results from. Can be combined with Year Until.
- Year Until (as_yhi) End year to include results until. Can be combined with Year From.
- Sort By Date (scisbd) Sort articles added in the last year by date. Options: Abstracts (1), Everything (2).
- Versions Of (cluster) Unique ID of an article to find all versions of it.
- Language (hl) Language code to use for the search interface. Many language options available (e.g., English "en", Spanish "es", Chinese Simplified "zh-cn").
- Set Multiple Languages (lr) Limit search to one or multiple languages using language codes separated by "
- Result Offset (start) Number of results to skip before starting to return results (pagination).
- Number of Results (num) Maximum number of results to return, between 1 and 20. Default is 10.
- Search Type/Filter (as_sdt) Defines search type or filter mode. See SerpApi docs for details. Default is "0".
- Adult Content Filtering (safe) Level of filtering for adult content. Options: Active (default), Off.
- Results Filtering (filter) Whether filters for 'Similar Results' and 'Omitted Results' are enabled (true/false).
- Exclude Citations (as_vis) Whether to exclude citations from results (true/false).
- Review Articles Only (as_rr) Whether to show only review articles (true/false).
- Disable Caching (no_cache) Force fetching new results ignoring cached ones (true/false). Cache expires after 1 hour. Cannot be used with async.
- Async (async) Perform search asynchronously (true/false). If true, results must be retrieved later via Search Archive API. Cannot be used with no_cache or on accounts with Ludicrous Speed enabled.
- ZeroTrace Mode (zero_trace) Enterprise-only mode to skip storing search parameters and metadata on SerpApi servers (true/false). May complicate debugging.
- Output (output) Format of final output. Options: JSON (structured data, default), html (raw HTML).
- JSON Restrictor (json_restrictor) Restricts fields returned in JSON response. For example, organic_results[0:3].{title,snippet} returns title and snippet of first 3 organic results only.

Output

The node outputs a JSON object containing the search results from Google Scholar as returned by SerpApi. The structure typically includes:

  • Metadata about the search query and parameters.
  • An array of organic results representing scholarly articles matching the query.
  • Each result may contain fields like title, authors, publication info, snippet, link, cited by count, and more depending on the query and options.
  • Additional sections may include citations, versions, related articles, etc., if requested.

If the output property is set to html, the node returns the raw HTML content of the Google Scholar search page instead of structured JSON.

No binary data output is indicated for this operation.

Dependencies

  • Requires an active SerpApi account and a valid API key credential configured in n8n.
  • The node sends HTTP requests to SerpApi's endpoint at https://serpapi.com/search.json.
  • Proper internet connectivity and API quota availability are necessary.
  • No other external dependencies are required.

Troubleshooting

  • Common Issues:

    • Invalid or missing API key credential will cause authentication errors.
    • Exceeding API usage limits may result in quota errors.
    • Incorrect parameter values (e.g., invalid language codes, out-of-range numbers) may cause unexpected results or errors.
    • Using incompatible parameters together (e.g., async with no_cache) will lead to request failures.
    • Network issues can cause timeouts or connection errors.

  • Error Messages:

    • Authentication errors typically indicate invalid or missing API key; verify credential setup.
    • Parameter validation errors suggest incorrect input values; check property definitions.
    • Rate limit exceeded errors mean the monthly or daily quota is exhausted; consider upgrading plan or reducing usage.
    • Async mode errors if used improperly; ensure correct usage and retrieval of results via Search Archive API.

  • Resolutions:

    • Double-check API key configuration in n8n credentials.
    • Validate all input parameters against allowed types and ranges.
    • Avoid conflicting parameter combinations.
    • Monitor API usage and quotas.
    • Use synchronous mode unless asynchronous retrieval is specifically needed.

Links and References

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