https://api.openalex.org/autocomplete/institutions?q=flori
Request format
/autocomplete/<entity_type>?q=<query>
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
entity_type | Optional | works, authors, sources, institutions, concepts, publishers, or funders |
q | Yes | The search string |
Response format
{
"meta": {
"count": 183,
"db_response_time_ms": 5,
"page": 1,
"per_page": 10
},
"results": [
{
"id": "https://openalex.org/I33213144",
"display_name": "University of Florida",
"hint": "Gainesville, USA",
"cited_by_count": 17190001,
"entity_type": "institution",
"external_id": "https://ror.org/02y3ad647"
}
]
}
Result properties
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
id | OpenAlex ID |
external_id | Canonical external ID (DOI, ORCID, ROR, etc.) |
display_name | Entity name |
entity_type | work, author, source, institution, concept, publisher, funder |
cited_by_count | Citation count (for works) or sum of citations for linked works |
works_count | Number of associated works (null for works) |
hint | Additional context to help identify the result |
The hint property
Hints help users distinguish between similar results:
| Entity | Hint content |
|---|---|
| Work | Authors’ names (e.g., “R. Alexander Pyron, John J. Wiens”) |
| Author | Last known institution (e.g., “University of North Carolina, USA”) |
| Source | Host organization (e.g., “Oxford University Press”) |
| Institution | Location (e.g., “Gainesville, USA”) |
| Concept | Description (e.g., “the study of plant species and genera”) |
ID lookups
Autocomplete detects IDs and matches them directly:# Find author by ORCID
https://api.openalex.org/autocomplete?q=https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7436-3176
# Find source by OpenAlex ID
https://api.openalex.org/autocomplete/sources?q=S49861241
Filtering autocomplete
Combine with any filter or search:# Works from 2010 about frogs, autocomplete on "greenhou"
https://api.openalex.org/autocomplete/works?filter=publication_year:2010&search=frogs&q=greenhou