---
title: "List authors"
method: GET
path: "/authors"
tags: ["Authors"]
---

# List authors

`GET /authors`

Get a list of authors with optional filtering, searching, sorting, and pagination.

## Query parameters

- `filter` string
- `sort` string
- `group_by` string
- `search` string
- `per_page` integer
- `page` integer
- `cursor` string
- `sample` integer
- `select` string
- `api_key` string, required

## Response `200`

Successful response

- AuthorsListResponse
  - `meta` Meta — Metadata about the query results
    - `count` integer — Total number of results matching the query
    - `db_response_time_ms` integer — Database response time in milliseconds
    - `page` integer — Current page number
    - `per_page` integer — Number of results per page
    - `next_cursor` string — Cursor for the next page (when using cursor pagination)
    - `groups_count` integer, nullable — Number of groups when using group_by
    - `cost_usd` number — Cost of this request in USD
  - `results` Author[]
    - `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).
  - `group_by` GroupByResult[]
    - `key` string — The group key value
    - `key_display_name` string — Human-readable name for the key
    - `count` integer — Number of results in this group

## Other responses

- `400` — Bad request - invalid parameters
- `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/revisions/60b6c8bd0799/schema)