MCP Server for scientific papers, citations, and academic research — Crossref, OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar
Four tools with complete input schemas and descriptions, but descriptions are in German and lack LLM-optimized structure. All tools are READ_ONLY (good for safety), but descriptions are verbose (200+ chars) and lack actionable guidance on when to use each tool vs. alternatives. Parameter descriptions are present but generic. No output schemas documented. No error handling guidance visible. Tool naming follows verb_noun pattern (search_, get_) which is correct, but composition could be tighter, search_papers and get_paper_details overlap in intent.
Suche nach einem Autor und zeige Profil-Informationen. Nutzt OpenAlex für Autoren-Daten inkl. Publikationszahlen, Zitationsmetriken und Forschungsgebiete.
Finde Papers, die ein bestimmtes Paper zitieren. Nutzt Semantic Scholar für Zitationsanalyse. Zeigt welche neueren Arbeiten auf einem Paper aufbauen.
Hole vollständige Metadaten eines Papers via DOI. Kombiniert Daten aus Crossref (bibliographisch) und Semantic Scholar (Abstract, Einfluss-Metriken).
Suche nach wissenschaftlichen Papers über Crossref und OpenAlex. Durchsucht zwei große akademische Datenbanken gleichzeitig und kombiniert die Ergebnisse. Ideal für Literaturrecherche.
Descriptions are in German and lack LLM-optimized structure. No guidance on when to use search_papers vs. get_paper_details, or how results chain together. Descriptions exceed 200 chars (baseline p90=392 but should be 50-200 for clarity).
No output schemas documented. LLMs cannot plan downstream calls or extract fields without knowing what search_papers returns (list of papers with which fields?). Violates pattern:tool requirement.
Parameter descriptions are minimal. 'Suchbegriff(e)' and 'DOI des Quell-Papers' lack format guidance, constraints, or examples of valid input. No mention of DOI format (e.g., '10.1038/s41586-021-03819-2' is shown in description but not in param schema).
| Scored | Grade | Overall | Spec posture | Rubric |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-23 | C | 61 | 2026-07-28+ | v2 |
No error handling guidance. If a DOI is invalid or a paper not found, what does the tool return? How should the LLM recover? No recovery hints or error classification visible.
Tool composition unclear. search_papers searches Crossref+OpenAlex; get_paper_details fetches Crossref+Semantic Scholar. Overlap in intent and data sources. No guidance on which to call first or how results differ.