Is there a good tool to get titles of lists of references?

  • Context: Other 
  • Thread starter Thread starter The Bill
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    References
Click For Summary
SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the need for a tool that can automatically retrieve titles for references lacking this information in academic papers. Users express frustration over the difficulty of comparing reference lists without titles, which hinders research efficiency. The suggested solution involves using a service that can process multiple references simultaneously, likely requiring a paid subscription to access a comprehensive database of journal articles. While Google Scholar allows for individual searches, automating this process necessitates a Google developer API key due to recent security changes.

PREREQUISITES
  • Familiarity with academic referencing standards
  • Understanding of Google Scholar functionalities
  • Knowledge of API usage and integration
  • Basic skills in web scraping techniques
NEXT STEPS
  • Research available APIs for academic databases, such as CrossRef or PubMed
  • Learn how to use the Google Scholar API for automated searches
  • Explore web scraping tools like Beautiful Soup or Scrapy for extracting reference titles
  • Investigate subscription-based services that provide comprehensive reference management solutions
USEFUL FOR

Researchers, academic writers, and librarians seeking efficient methods to compile and analyze reference lists in scholarly articles.

The Bill
Messages
373
Reaction score
146
I've noticed that a lot of papers these days don't include titles in their references. This grates on me, since it makes an article hard to use to survey what references are often used in a particular area. Often, what I want to do is retrieve a dozen articles in a field and compare their reference lists for references that cover a particular overlapping topic that each of those papers touch on. Not having titles keeps me from knowing which papers are actually relevant to me until I search for each one individually.

So, if I'm presented with one or more reference lists with dozens of entries of the form:
[##] M. Foo and H.B. Bar, Phys. Rev. E ##(#), #### (####).

Is there a tool that I can just paste a whole list of references into which will automatically do all the searches and return a proper reference list with the titles of all the articles, textbooks, etc. that should have been there in the first place? Keeping the same numbers as the original list, of course.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: Demystifier
Physics news on Phys.org
You are basically asking for the ability to run automated queries on a database of every single journal article (at least in the specific subject area), and I suspect that's a service you will have to pay for, if it exists.

You can, of course, do it one reference at a time via Google Scholar, but automating the process probably requires a Google developer API key.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: FactChecker
It's shocking to me that it is acceptable now to omit the title in a reference.
I used to be able to automate internet searches, but my last (casual) attempt failed. I think the changes for security (HTTPS?) have made my old techniques out of date.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: vanhees71, The Bill and pasmith

Similar threads

  • · Replies 16 ·
Replies
16
Views
3K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
Replies
22
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
1K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
909
  • Sticky
  • · Replies 0 ·
Replies
0
Views
4K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
4K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
2K
  • · Replies 37 ·
2
Replies
37
Views
7K
  • · Replies 17 ·
Replies
17
Views
4K