Integrations Settings

Connect Academic References with external services through webhooks and integrations. Access at References > Settings > Integrations.

Webhooks

Webhooks notify external services when events occur in your reference library.

What Are Webhooks?

Webhooks are HTTP callbacks that send data to a URL when something happens:

New reference added
Reference updated
Reference cited in a post
Import completed

Setting Up a Webhook

Webhook configuration interface

Click Add Webhook
Enter a name (for your reference)
Enter the destination URL
Select events to trigger
Save

Webhook Events

Event	Triggers When
`reference.created`	New reference published
`reference.updated`	Reference modified
`reference.deleted`	Reference trashed/deleted
`reference.cited`	Citation added to a post
`import.completed`	Bulk import finishes
`sync.completed`	Zotero/Mendeley sync completes
`collection.created`	New collection created
`collection.updated`	Collection modified

Webhook Payload

Data sent with each webhook:

{
  "event": "reference.created",
  "timestamp": "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  "reference": {
    "id": 123,
    "title": "Example Reference Title",
    "authors": ["Smith, John", "Jones, Mary"],
    "year": 2024,
    "type": "article",
    "doi": "10.1234/example",
    "url": "https://yoursite.com/reference/example/"
  },
  "user": {
    "id": 1,
    "name": "Admin"
  }
}

Testing Webhooks

Click Test next to any webhook
Sends a test payload to the URL
Shows response status
Green = success, Red = failure

Popular Integrations

Zapier

Connect to 5,000+ apps through Zapier:

Create a Zap with “Webhook” trigger
Copy the Zapier webhook URL
Add as webhook in Academic References
Select events to trigger

Example Zaps:

New reference → Add to Google Sheet
Reference updated → Send Slack message
Import completed → Email notification

Slack

Send notifications to Slack channels:

Create a Slack Incoming Webhook (Slack App settings)
Add the Slack webhook URL
Select events to notify
Customize message format (if supported)

Example notification:

New reference added by John:
"Impact of Climate Change on Biodiversity"
Smith et al. (2024)
https://yoursite.com/reference/climate-biodiversity/

Discord

Similar to Slack:

Create Discord webhook (Server Settings > Integrations)
Add the Discord webhook URL
Configure events

Microsoft Teams

Connect via Teams webhooks:

Add Incoming Webhook connector to a channel
Use the provided URL
Configure in Academic References

IFTTT

For personal automation:

Create IFTTT Webhooks applet
Use the webhook URL with your key
Connect to other IFTTT services

Custom Integrations

Building Custom Receivers

Create your own webhook handler:

// Example: PHP endpoint receiving webhooks
$payload = json_decode(file_get_contents('php://input'), true);

if ($payload['event'] === 'reference.created') {
    $title = $payload['reference']['title'];
    $doi = $payload['reference']['doi'];
    // Process the new reference...
}

Webhook Security

Secure your webhooks:

Webhook Secret:

Generate a secret key
Add to webhook settings
Signature sent in X-ABT-Signature header
Verify on your endpoint

Verification example:

$signature = $_SERVER['HTTP_X_ABT_SIGNATURE'];
$payload = file_get_contents('php://input');
$expected = hash_hmac('sha256', $payload, $your_secret);

if (!hash_equals($expected, $signature)) {
    http_response_code(401);
    die('Invalid signature');
}

External APIs

Academic References integrates with scholarly APIs to enhance your reference data with citation counts, open access links, and additional metadata.

OpenCitations Integration

OpenCitations provides open bibliographic and citation data. No API key required.

What It Does:

Gets citation counts for references with DOIs
Shows which papers cite your references
Tracks how many references a paper cites

Setting Up:

Go to References > Settings > Integrations
Enable OpenCitations Integration
No API key needed – it’s completely free

Features:

Feature	Description
Citation Count	How many papers cite this reference
Reference Count	How many papers this reference cites
Citation List	Paginated list of citing works

How It Appears:

When enabled, references with DOIs display:

“Cited by X papers” badge
Click to view citing papers
Link to full citation network on OpenCitations

Cache Settings:

Results cached for 24 hours
Click Refresh on any reference to update
Clear all cached data in Advanced Settings

Example Use Case: Track the impact of papers in your library by monitoring citation counts over time.

Unpaywall Integration

Unpaywall finds legal open access versions of scholarly articles. Requires email address for API identification.

What It Does:

Checks if references have free PDF versions
Shows open access status (Gold, Green, Hybrid, Bronze)
Provides direct links to free PDFs

Setting Up:

Go to References > Settings > Integrations
Enable Unpaywall Integration
Enter your email address (required by Unpaywall’s terms)
Save changes

Open Access Status Types:

Status	Meaning
Gold	Published open access in journal
Green	Free version in repository (preprint/postprint)
Hybrid	Open access article in subscription journal
Bronze	Free to read on publisher site
Closed	No open access version found

How It Appears:

References with DOIs display:

Green badge = Open access available with PDF link
Orange badge = Limited open access (Bronze)
No badge = Closed access or not found

Cache Settings:

Results cached for 7 days
OA status changes infrequently
Refresh individual references as needed

Example Use Case: Quickly find free PDF versions of paywalled papers in your library.

CORE API Integration

CORE aggregates millions of open access research papers from repositories worldwide. Requires free API key.

What It Does:

Searches millions of open access papers
Finds full-text PDFs from institutional repositories
Adds papers directly to your library

Setting Up:

Get a free API key at core.ac.uk/services/api
Go to References > Settings > Integrations
Enable CORE API Integration
Enter your API key
Save changes

Features:

Feature	Description
Search	Search 250+ million papers by title, author, year
Full Text	Direct links to PDFs when available
Auto-Import	Add CORE results directly to your library
DOI Lookup	Find open access versions by DOI

Search Filters:

When searching CORE:

Year – Filter by publication year
Author – Filter by author name
Results limited to 100 per query

How It Appears:

In Add Reference, click Search CORE
Enter search terms
Browse results with abstracts
Click Add to import to your library

Imported Data Includes:

Title, authors, abstract
DOI (when available)
Publication year
Journal name
Direct PDF link

Cache Settings:

Search results cached for 24 hours
Individual work data cached for 24 hours
Clear cache to refresh results

Example Use Case: Find open access versions of papers when Unpaywall shows “closed access.”

OpenAlex Integration

OpenAlex provides comprehensive scholarly metadata. Used automatically for Auto-Cite lookups.

What It Does:

Enriches Auto-Cite DOI lookups with additional data
Provides author affiliation information
Adds subject classifications

Setting Up:

Enabled by default
No API key required for basic usage
Optional: Add email for faster rate limits

How It Appears: When using Auto-Cite with a DOI, OpenAlex data supplements CrossRef data automatically.

Integration Comparison

Integration	Purpose	API Key	Rate Limit
OpenCitations	Citation counts	Not required	Unlimited
Unpaywall	Open access PDFs	Email required	100,000/day
CORE API	Full-text search	Required (free)	10,000/day
OpenAlex	Enhanced metadata	Optional email	100,000/day

Enabling/Disabling Integrations

All integrations can be individually enabled or disabled:

Go to References > Settings > Integrations
Toggle each integration on/off
Save changes

Performance Note: Each enabled integration adds API calls when viewing references. Disable unused integrations for best performance.

Webhook Management

Viewing Webhook Logs

See recent webhook activity:

Timestamp
Event type
Response status
Response time

Failed Webhooks

When webhooks fail:

Check URL is correct
Verify endpoint is reachable
Check payload format expected
Review endpoint logs

Retry Logic

Failed webhooks retry:

First retry: 1 minute
Second retry: 5 minutes
Third retry: 30 minutes
After 3 failures: Webhook paused

Pausing Webhooks

Temporarily disable without deleting:

Edit the webhook
Toggle Active off
Save

Re-enable when ready.

Deleting Webhooks

Remove webhooks you no longer need:

Click Delete on the webhook
Confirm deletion
Webhook stops immediately

Rate Limiting

Webhooks are rate-limited to prevent issues:

Maximum 100 webhooks per minute
Maximum 1,000 per hour
Excess events queued

Contact support for higher limits.

Troubleshooting

Webhooks not firing

Check webhook is active
Verify events are selected
Check URL is correct
Review webhook logs

Endpoint receiving malformed data

Check Content-Type header (application/json)
Verify JSON parsing
Check for encoding issues

Authentication errors

Verify secret key matches
Check signature calculation
Ensure timing not affecting validation

Timeouts

Endpoints must respond within 30 seconds
Consider async processing
Return 200 quickly, process later

Best Practices

Use HTTPS – Always secure webhook endpoints
Validate signatures – Prevent spoofed requests
Handle retries – Make handlers idempotent
Monitor logs – Watch for failures
Test thoroughly – Use test mode before production

Next Steps

Advanced Settings – Technical configuration
General Settings – Core settings
REST API – Direct API access