MCP CheckMCP servers for research papers
52 servers from the official MCP Registry that work with research papers. 33 need no API key and 20 can run hosted. Each row shows the security checks, the secrets asked for and an install command.
research papers MCP servers 52
Now showing are unlisted. These entries didn't pass our listing filter: no source repo, a very short or duplicated description, or a publisher with 100+ servers. Same automated checks, shown as-is. How we check
| Type | Secrets | Version | Actions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
★ 3.2k io.github.blazickjp/arxiv-mcp-server Search arXiv papers, download full text, semantic search, citation graphs, and alerts via MCP. | 7/7All passed | 82health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | Noneno keys asked | 0.8.2 | ||
★ 30 io.github.iowarp/arxiv-mcp Search arXiv by topic, author, title or date, read paper details, and export BibTeX or PDFs. | 7/7All passed | 67health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | Noneno keys asked | 2.2.5 | ||
★ 28 io.github.u9401066/pubmed-search-mcp Multi-source biomedical literature search: PubMed, Europe PMC, OpenAlex, full text, citations | 7/7All passed | 58health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | 1secret asked | 0.8.0 | ||
★ 23 io.github.smaniches/semantic-scholar-mcp MCP server for the Semantic Scholar API: search 200M+ papers, citations, authors, recommendations. | 7/7All passed | 61health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | 1secret asked | 1.7.12 | ||
★ 13 com.hasdata/google-scholar Google Scholar search results, citation counts and citation export formats, as structured JSON. | 8/8All passed | 63health of 100 | npmLocal or hosted | 1secret asked | 1.0.2 | ||
★ 13 io.github.YGao2005/scholar-feed-mcp Rank CS/AI/ML papers by citations, forecast impact, or code adoption; trace 23.2M citation edges. | 8/8All passed | 66health of 100 | npmLocal or hosted | 1secret asked | 3.20.0 | ||
 ★ 11 io.github.mlava/scholar-sidekick-mcp Catch AI-fabricated citations (real DOI + fake title). Retraction, open-access, 10,000+ CSL styles. | 8/8All passed | 58health of 100 | npmLocal or hosted | Noneno keys asked | 0.8.13 | ||
★ 7 io.github.surendranb/find-research-papers-mcp Search open-source research papers across arXiv, OpenAlex, Crossref, PubMed, Semantic Scholar. | 7/7All passed | 63health of 100 | npmRuns locally | 1secret asked | 0.1.0 | ||
★ 6 io.github.luffysolution-svg/omnischolar Literature, Zotero, PDF, citation, materials, and scientific image tools for research agents. | 7/7All passed | 60health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | Noneno keys asked | 0.1.0 | ||
★ 5 io.github.Liyux3/scholar-mcp Federated academic search, citation traversal, persistent PDF download, and temporary reading. | 7/81 warning | 50health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | 9secrets asked | 0.8.5 | ||
★ 5 io.github.notwhiteblank/scholar-rag-mcp Academic paper knowledge-base MCP server: PDF ingest, vector search with reranking, KB management. | 5/72 warnings | 51health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | Noneno keys asked | 0.4.0 | ||
★ 2 io.github.pvliesdonk/scholar-mcp FastMCP server for scholarly papers, patents, books and standards with docling PDF conversion | 7/81 warning | 60health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | 8secrets asked | 2.0.0 | ||
★ 1 io.github.johnisanerd/google-scholar Search Google Scholar for academic papers, citations, and author profiles. | 3/3All passed | 39health of 100 | RemoteHosted | Noneno keys asked | 1.0.1 | ||
★ 1 io.github.laibniz/scholarfetch Multi-engine scholarly research server for search, traversal, full text, and reading lists. | 4/4All passed | 35health of 100 | RemoteHosted | Noneno keys asked | 0.2.1 | ||
io.github.melhzy/pubmed-stream Search PubMed and PMC, read full texts, map evidence and build Obsidian knowledge graphs | 7/7All passed | 50health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | 1secret asked | 0.4.4 | ||
 dev.agentdiet/arxiv-digest Queries ArXiv for AI/CS/math papers and returns structured abstracts, authors, PDF links, and Bib. | 4/4All passed | 45health of 100 | RemoteHosted | Noneno keys asked | 7.0.17 | ||
 io.github.TopLocalAI/scholarmuse Academic papers, reference verification and research data for AI agents. | 3/3All passed | 47health of 100 | RemoteHosted | Noneno keys asked | 1.0.0 | ||
★ 129 io.github.amos689/paper-preflight Checks every LaTeX reference against Crossref, dblp, arXiv, DataCite, PubMed and OpenAlex. No LLM. | 6/71 warning | 55health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | Noneno keys asked | 1.0.0 | ||
★ 68 io.github.HzaCode/onecite Generate academic citations from DOI, arXiv, titles, or URLs in BibTeX, APA, MLA formats. | 7/7All passed | 65health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | Noneno keys asked | 0.0.11 | ||
★ 29 io.github.computron/fulltext-article-downloader Full text of research papers by DOI, arXiv, PMC or OpenReview id, verified against the record | 7/81 warning | 58health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | 4secrets asked | 0.2.4 | ||
★ 15 io.github.nickjlamb/pubcrawl PubMed & Europe PMC literature search, US/UK drug labelling, and clinical trials for AI assistants. | 7/7All passed | 56health of 100 | npmRuns locally | 1secret asked | 2.6.4 | ||
★ 3 io.github.pkotecha-eng/aria-mcp-server Search 35M+ PubMed, 400K+ ClinicalTrials.gov & ISRCTN trials. Prompts included. No API key. | 7/7All passed | 45health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | Noneno keys asked | 0.2.1 | ||
★ 2 com.dataville/dataville-mcp SEC filings, Wikipedia, arXiv, US Census and more for AI agents, with every answer source-linked. | 8/8All passed | 52health of 100 | npmLocal or hosted | 1secret asked | 0.1.8 | ||
★ 2 io.github.QAtlasHub/doiget OA-first paper fetcher: DOIs/arXiv IDs to local PDFs + metadata via Open Access APIs. | 2/42 warnings | 56health of 100 | MCPBRuns locally | Noneno keys asked | 0.9.0 | ||
★ 2 io.github.genecell/preprint-fulltext bioRxiv/medRxiv/arXiv preprint full text as structured sections for AI agents + search. | 6/71 warning | 39health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | 1secret asked | 0.1.0 | ||
★ 2 io.github.sotashimozono/doiget OA-first paper fetcher: DOIs/arXiv IDs to local PDFs + metadata via Open Access APIs. | 2/2All passed | 64health of 100 | RemoteRuns locally | Noneno keys asked | 0.8.6 | ||
★ 2 io.github.rachadele/biolit LLM-assisted biomedical literature screening and extraction for PubMed, GEO, and preprints. | 7/81 warning | 53health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | 3secrets asked | 0.1.25 | ||
★ 2 io.github.RaulSimpetru/zotero-library-mcp Add papers and books to Zotero by DOI, arXiv ID, or ISBN and manage your library | 7/81 warning | 54health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | 5secrets asked | 0.5.0 | ||
★ 1 io.github.Desearch-ai/mcp-desearch AI search (Reddit, HN, arXiv, Wikipedia), X and web search, page extraction, X data, People Search. | 8/8All passed | 55health of 100 | npmLocal or hosted | 1secret asked | 0.3.3 | ||
★ 1 io.github.akougkas/cite-nexus-mcp Search scholarly sources, verify references, and export citations with traceable evidence. | 7/81 warning | 48health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | 6secrets asked | 0.2.2 | ||
★ 1 io.github.Ranshiv/noether-physics Physics assistant: checked equations, live simulations, claims verified against arXiv papers | 7/7All passed | 50health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | Noneno keys asked | 0.1.2 | ||
★ 1 com.themineworks/academic-research-mcp Scholarly search: OpenAlex, Crossref, arXiv, OpenCitations and PubMed in one endpoint. | 3/3All passed | 47health of 100 | RemoteHosted | Noneno keys asked | 1.0.0 | ||
★ 1 io.github.MCPServings/paper-mcp Search arXiv/Semantic Scholar/OpenAlex + medical evidence (PubMed/Europe PMC) + LaTeX/PDF tools. | 4/4All passed | 49health of 100 | RemoteHosted | Noneno keys asked | 0.5.0 | ||
★ 1 io.github.isagelswann/codeofpaper Find GitHub implementations of arXiv research papers — paper lookup, ranked code, search. | 7/7All passed | 50health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | Noneno keys asked | 0.3.2 | ||
★ 1 io.github.revolutionarybukhari/opportunity-mcp Search youth opportunities (scholarships, fellowships, internships) from any AI assistant. | 7/7All passed | 49health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | Noneno keys asked | 0.1.1 | ||
com.talindrew/mcp 90 molecular biology tools: plasmid maps, digests, primers, CRISPR, cloning, PubMed, lab notebook. | 3/3All passed | 43health of 100 | RemoteHosted | Noneno keys asked | 1.0.1 | ||
io.github.markatdataandbeyond/open-data-mcp 10 tools on official open data: EU VAT/LEI, TED tenders, PubMed, trials, registries, weather. | 3/3All passed | 49health of 100 | RemoteHosted | Noneno keys asked | 1.0.0 | ||
org.fabulotheca/fabulotheca Folk tale and folklore scholarship search: verbatim passages with sources. Access by application. | 3/3All passed | 43health of 100 | RemoteHosted | Noneno keys asked | 1.1.0 | ||
io.github.SerpKite/serpkite Google search, news, maps, scholar, webpages, cited AI answers and deep research for AI agents. | 3/3All passed | 43health of 100 | RemoteHosted | Noneno keys asked | 1.1.0 | ||
io.github.biocatalystfeed/biocatalystfeed Biotech catalysts: ClinicalTrials.gov, openFDA, NIH, PubMed, SEC EDGAR, EMA, FDA AdComs. | 7/7All passed | 61health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | Noneno keys asked | 0.3.1 | ||
app.openkrill/papers Find research papers and arXiv preprints, and get an abstract and free full text from a DOI or id. | 4/4All passed | 50health of 100 | RemoteHosted | Noneno keys asked | 1.0.1 | ||
io.github.Srikarmk/keystone What an arXiv paper builds on, disputes and assumes, read verbatim from its LaTeX. No LLM. | 4/4All passed | 43health of 100 | RemoteHosted | Noneno keys asked | 0.1.0 | ||
io.github.PedroMarkovicz/tekmeria Biomedical evidence from PubMed, trials and FDA labels, with citations an audit can check. | 7/7All passed | 48health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | 2secrets asked | 0.1.1 | ||
io.github.LalwaniPalash/trove-mcp Fail-closed academic research server: search, full text, citations across open scholarly APIs. | 7/7All passed | 49health of 100 | npmRuns locally | 2secrets asked | 0.1.11 | ||
io.github.Flan246/dsh-lit-search Literature search, GB/T 7714/APA citations and BibTeX via Crossref, OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar. | 7/7All passed | 50health of 100 | npmRuns locally | Noneno keys asked | 0.1.0 | ||
uk.co.herstack/herstack Read-only UK women's midlife health guidance: search, PubMed-backed evidence, supplement picks. | 4/4All passed | 43health of 100 | RemoteHosted | Noneno keys asked | 1.2.1 | ||
io.github.athril/agentic-target-evidence Read-only biomedical evidence tools for drug-target validation: DepMap, gnomAD, OpenTargets, PubMed… | 4/4All passed | 50health of 100 | DockerRuns locally | 2secrets asked | 0.1.4 | ||
io.github.malkreide/hn-tech-signal-mcp MCP server for tech & AI signal intelligence: HackerNews, arXiv, Lobste.rs and GitHub | 7/7All passed | 58health of 100 | PyPIRuns locally | Noneno keys asked | 0.5.0 | ||
io.github.ho11-bit/donvi108-research Free scholarly paper and DOI discovery via Crossref. Self-service registration; no invitation. | 3/3All passed | 43health of 100 | RemoteHosted | Noneno keys asked | 1.0.0 | ||
io.github.srikarjy/biolab-mcp-server Auditable MCP server for PubMed, Europe PMC, ClinicalTrials.gov, and bioRxiv/medRxiv queries | 4/4All passed | 50health of 100 | RemoteHosted | Noneno keys asked | 0.3.0 |
Showing 1 to 50 of 52. These are the most recently updated; search or pick a category for the rest.
research papers MCP servers: what to know before you pick one
What's the most popular MCP server for research papers?
On GitHub stars, arxiv-mcp-server (★ 3.2k), CLIO Arxiv (★ 30) and PubMed Search (★ 28) lead the 52 we list. arxiv-mcp-server is named for research papers and passed every check we run.
Is it safe to give an AI a research papers MCP server?
42 of the 52 passed every registry check. Reading the package code or tool descriptions of 41 of them turned up 3 with something to look at, from install scripts to obfuscated code. A clean result means none of our patterns matched, not that a server is safe.
Are research papers MCP servers kept up to date?
25 of the 52 were updated in the 30 days before 31 Oct 2026. The latest was Talindrew: molecular biology tools, on 27 October.
MCP server or Claude skill for research papers?
An MCP server gives the AI new tools, such as reaching research papers itself. A skill only teaches it how to do a task with tools it already has. There are 155 Claude skills for research papers if that fits better.
Is there an official research papers MCP server?
Not in the official MCP Registry as of 31 Oct 2026. All 52 research papers servers are community builds from 52 different publishers, so check who is behind one before you hand it a research papers key.
More topics: every “MCP server for…” page. Prefer a skill? Claude skills for this (155).