---
title: "Get a single author"
method: GET
path: "/authors/{id}"
tags: ["Authors"]
---

# Get a single author

`GET /authors/{id}`

Retrieve a single author by OpenAlex ID or ORCID.

## Path parameters

- `id` string, required

## Query parameters

- `select` string
- `api_key` string, required

## Response `200`

Successful response

- Author — A person who creates scholarly works
  - `id` string — The OpenAlex ID for this author.
  - `orcid` string, nullable — The ORCID ID for this author. This is the Canonical External ID for authors.
  - `display_name` string — The name of the author as a single string.
  - `display_name_alternatives` string[] — Other ways this author's name has been displayed.
  - `longest_name` string — The longest name variant found for this author across all their works.
  - `parsed_longest_name` object — The longest name parsed into its component parts.
    - `first` string — First name (lowercased).
    - `middle` string — Middle name or initial (lowercased).
    - `last` string — Last name (lowercased).
    - `suffix` string — Name suffix (e.g., Jr., III).
    - `nickname` string — Nickname, if any.
  - `works_count` integer — The number of works this author has created.
  - `cited_by_count` integer — The total number of works that cite a work this author has created.
  - `summary_stats` object — Citation metrics:
    - `2yr_mean_citedness` number
    - `h_index` integer
    - `i10_index` integer
  - `affiliations` object[] — List of affiliations this author has claimed in their publications. Each object has:
    - `institution` DehydratedInstitution — [Dehydrated Institution](/api-reference/institutions#the-dehydratedinstitution-object) — reduced-field version used in nested contexts
      - `id` string
      - `display_name` string
      - `ror` string, nullable
      - `country_code` string, nullable — [Country](/api-reference/countries) code
      - `type` string — The [institution type](/api-reference/institution-types)
      - `lineage` string[]
    - `years` integer[]
  - `last_known_institutions` DehydratedInstitution[] — This author's last known institutional affiliations. Each item is a dehydrated Institution object.
    - `id` string
    - `display_name` string
    - `ror` string, nullable
    - `country_code` string, nullable — [Country](/api-reference/countries) code
    - `type` string — The [institution type](/api-reference/institution-types)
    - `lineage` string[]
  - `topics` object[]
    - `id` string
    - `display_name` string
    - `count` integer
  - `counts_by_year` object[] — `works_count` and `cited_by_count` for each of the last ten years.
    - `year` integer
    - `works_count` integer
    - `cited_by_count` integer
  - `ids` object — External identifiers:
    - `openalex` string
    - `orcid` string
    - `scopus` string
  - `works_api_url` string — A URL that will get you a list of all this author's works.
  - `created_date` string, date — When this author was added to OpenAlex (ISO 8601 date).
  - `updated_date` string, date-time — When this author was last updated (ISO 8601 datetime).

## Other responses

- `404` — Entity not found
- `429` — Rate limit exceeded

---

[API](https://skmtc.net/openalex/apis/openalex-api.md) · [All operations](https://skmtc.net/openalex/apis/openalex-api/llms.txt) · [OpenAPI document](https://skmtc-service-staging.skmtc.workers.dev/v1/apis/openalex/openalex-api/versions/60b6c8bd0799/schema)