Is there an API for PubMed Central?

PubMed Central does not offer a public data API for this, but Anakin Wire provides 5 maintained endpoints for pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. You call Anakin's REST API with an action ID and parameters and get structured JSON back; Anakin handles the browser, proxies, anti-bot, and parsing.

How do I scrape PubMed Central data?

POST to https://api.anakin.io/v1/wire/task with your API key, the action ID, and its parameters, then poll GET /v1/wire/jobs/{id} until the job settles. There is nothing to install and no scraper to maintain — when pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov changes its markup, Anakin updates the action.

Do I need a PubMed Central account?

No. Every PubMed Central action listed here runs anonymously — no account and no credentials required.

What does the PubMed Central API cost?

Usage-based credits, charged per call and refunded automatically when a job fails. New accounts start with 300 free credits and no card. See anakin.io/pricing for the current rates.

Research

PubMed Central API

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

PubMed Central - full-text biomedical articles, journals, collections, and citation metadata.

Actions: 5
Category: Research
Login: Not required
Output: JSON

Get an API key Wire API reference

Call the PubMed Central API

Submit a task, then poll the job until it settles. This example runs act_pmc_ncbi_nlm_nih_gov_article_detail.

curl -X POST https://api.anakin.io/v1/wire/task \
  -H "X-API-Key: $ANAKIN_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "action_id": "act_pmc_ncbi_nlm_nih_gov_article_detail",
    "params": {
      "pmcid": "PMC7273146"
    }
  }'

5 actions on pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Read

Article Details
act_pmc_ncbi_nlm_nih_gov_article_detailread2 credits / call
Returns a full-text article by PMCID with citation metadata, abstract, and sections.
pmcid
string · required
Collection Landing
act_pmc_ncbi_nlm_nih_gov_collection_landingread2 credits / call
Returns a themed collection landing page with title and pre-built search links.
collection_slug
string · required
Collections Index
act_pmc_ncbi_nlm_nih_gov_collections_indexread1 credit / call
Returns the index of thematic collections with slugs and titles.
Journal List
act_pmc_ncbi_nlm_nih_gov_journal_listread1 credit / call
Returns the participating-journals directory with names and search URLs.
Search Results
act_pmc_ncbi_nlm_nih_gov_search_resultsread2 credits / call
Returns paginated full-text archive articles with PMCIDs, titles, and counts.
search_term
string · required
page
integer

PubMed Central API questions

Is there an API for PubMed Central?: PubMed Central does not offer a public data API for this, but Anakin Wire provides 5 maintained endpoints for pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. You call Anakin's REST API with an action ID and parameters and get structured JSON back; Anakin handles the browser, proxies, anti-bot, and parsing.
How do I scrape PubMed Central data?: POST to https://api.anakin.io/v1/wire/task with your API key, the action ID, and its parameters, then poll GET /v1/wire/jobs/{id} until the job settles. There is nothing to install and no scraper to maintain — when pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov changes its markup, Anakin updates the action.
Do I need a PubMed Central account?: No. Every PubMed Central action listed here runs anonymously — no account and no credentials required.
What does the PubMed Central API cost?: Usage-based credits, charged per call and refunded automatically when a job fails. New accounts start with 300 free credits and no card. See anakin.io/pricing for the current rates.