> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://developers.openalex.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Overview

[**OpenAlex**](https://openalex.org) is a fully open catalog of the global research system — hundreds of millions of scholarly works, authors, institutions, and more.

This is the **technical documentation for OpenAlex**, including the [**OpenAlex API**](/api-reference/introduction) and the [**data snapshot**](/download/overview). Here, you can learn how to set up your code to access OpenAlex's data. If you want to explore the data as a human, you may be more interested in [**OpenAlex Web**](https://help.openalex.org).

## Data

The OpenAlex dataset describes scholarly [*entities*](/api-reference/introduction) and how those entities are connected to each other. Types of entities include [works](/api-reference/works), [authors](/api-reference/authors), [sources](/api-reference/sources), [institutions](/api-reference/institutions), [topics](/api-reference/topics), [publishers](/api-reference/publishers), and [funders](/api-reference/funders).

Together, these make a huge web (or more technically, heterogeneous directed [graph](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graph_theory)) of hundreds of millions of entities and billions of connections between them all.

Learn more at our general help center article: [About the data](https://help.openalex.org/hc/en-us/articles/24397285563671-About-the-data)

## Access

We offer a fast, modern REST API to get OpenAlex data programmatically. It's free but requires an API key (also free). Get yours at [openalex.org/settings/api](https://openalex.org/settings/api). With your free key, you get \$1/day of free usage. [Learn more](/api-reference/introduction)

Different API operations have different costs. See [authentication & pricing](/guides/authentication) for details.

There is also a complete database snapshot available to download. [Learn more about the data snapshot here.](/download/overview)

The API has a free daily limit of \$1/day, and the free snapshot is updated quarterly. If you need a higher API limit, **monthly snapshots**, or **daily change files** to keep a local copy in sync with ours, you'll need a [**paid plan**](https://openalex.org/pricing). Contact [sales@openalex.org](mailto:sales@openalex.org).

The web interface for OpenAlex, built directly on top of the API, is the quickest and easiest way to [get started with OpenAlex](https://help.openalex.org/getting-started).

## Why OpenAlex?

OpenAlex offers an open replacement for industry-standard scientific knowledge bases like Elsevier's Scopus and Clarivate's Web of Science. [Compared to](https://openalex.org/about#comparison) these paywalled services, OpenAlex offers significant advantages in terms of inclusivity, affordability, and availability.

OpenAlex is:

* **Big** — We have about twice the coverage of the other services, and have significantly better coverage of non-English works and works from the Global South.
* **Easy** — Our service is fast, modern, and well-documented.
* **Open** — Our complete dataset is free under the CC0 license, which allows for transparency and reuse.

Many people and organizations have already found great value using OpenAlex. Have a look at the [Testimonials](https://openalex.org/testimonials) to hear what they've said!

## Contact

For tech support and bug reports, please [submit a request](https://openalex.zendesk.com/hc/requests/new) or browse our [help center](https://openalex.org/help). You can also join the [OpenAlex user group](https://groups.google.com/g/openalex-users), and follow us on [Twitter (@OpenAlex\_org)](https://twitter.com/openalex_org) and [Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@OpenAlex).

## Citation

If you use OpenAlex in research, please cite [this paper](https://arxiv.org/abs/2205.01833):

> Priem, J., Piwowar, H., & Orr, R. (2022). *OpenAlex: A fully-open index of scholarly works, authors, venues, institutions, and concepts*. ArXiv. [https://arxiv.org/abs/2205.01833](https://arxiv.org/abs/2205.01833)