---
title: "Medical paper search"
description: "Search the same medical evidence sources as the health chat tool, with paper results only."
canonical_url: "https://scholarxiv.com/developers/docs/health-api/search"
markdown_url: "https://scholarxiv.com/developers/docs/health-api/search.md"
---

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt).

# Medical paper search
URL: /developers/docs/health-api/search
LLM index: /llms.txt
Description: Search the same medical evidence sources as the health chat tool, with paper results only.
Related: health-api, health-api/quickstart

# Medical paper search

Use `GET /api/v1/health/search` for paper results from the same `searchMedicalLiterature` service used by the `/health` chat tool. It does not create a conversation, read your health profile, or generate an assistant answer. The same API-key authentication, Go-or-above requirement, and API rate limits apply.

```bash
curl --get 'https://scholarxiv.com/api/v1/health/search' \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SCHOLARXIV_API_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode 'q=migraine prevention' \
  --data-urlencode 'sources=pubmed,medrxiv' \
  --data-urlencode 'limit=8'
```

| Parameter | Meaning                                                                                                                                       |
| --------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `q`       | Required search topic, 2–500 characters after trimming.                                                                                       |
| `sources` | Optional comma-separated subset of `pubmed`, `medrxiv`, `biorxiv`, `clinicaltrials`, `openalex`, and `semantic_scholar`. Defaults to all six. |
| `limit`   | Results **per source** before deduplication, 1–20; default 8. The combined result may exceed this value.                                      |

The response is `{ "topic": "migraine prevention", "papers": [...] }`, matching the chat tool's result shape. Each paper includes `externalID`, `source`, `title`, `authors`, `summary` (abstract), `year`, `published`, `doi`, `url`, `pdfLink`, `primaryCategory`, `category`, and `citationCount`. Unavailable years or citation counts are `null`; unavailable DOI or PDF links may be empty strings. Results can include preprints and trial records, depending on the selected sources.

No results returns `papers: []`. Search uses the chat tool's best-effort source aggregation: unavailable providers can reduce the results. Invalid parameters return 400.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/sitemap.md) for all pages.
Docs-scoped sitemap: [/docs/sitemap.md](/docs/sitemap.md).
Well-known sitemap: [/.well-known/sitemap.md](/.well-known/sitemap.md).