ERIC (Education Resources Information Center) API

Overview

ERIC is the world's largest digital library of education research, sponsored by the U.S. Institute of Education Sciences (IES). It indexes 2M+ records including journal articles, reports, conference papers, and dissertations covering all aspects of education. The API provides free, unauthenticated access to metadata and links to full text where available.

API Endpoints

Base URL

https://api.ies.ed.gov/eric/

Search

# Basic keyword search
curl "https://api.ies.ed.gov/eric/?search=online+learning&format=json&rows=20"

# Search in specific fields
curl "https://api.ies.ed.gov/eric/?search=title:\"blended learning\"&format=json"

# Filter by publication date
curl "https://api.ies.ed.gov/eric/?search=STEM+education&start=0&rows=25&\
publicationdatestart=2023-01-01&publicationdateend=2026-12-31&format=json"

# Filter by publication type
curl "https://api.ies.ed.gov/eric/?search=formative+assessment&\
publicationtype=Journal+Articles&format=json"

# Filter by descriptor (ERIC thesaurus term)
curl "https://api.ies.ed.gov/eric/?search=descriptor:\"Higher Education\"&format=json"

# Peer-reviewed only
curl "https://api.ies.ed.gov/eric/?search=metacognition&peerreviewed=true&format=json"

Query Parameters

search

search=adaptive+learning

format

json

xml

rows

rows=50

start

start=50

publicationtype

Journal Articles

Reports

Dissertations/Theses

publicationdatestart

2024-01-01

publicationdateend

2026-12-31

peerreviewed

true

false

descriptor

descriptor:"Distance Education"

educationlevel

Higher Education

Elementary Education

subject

subject:"Mathematics Education"

Search Fields

title

author

descriptor

source

abstract

id

Publication Types

Journal Articles

Reports - Research

Reports - Descriptive

Reports - Evaluative

Dissertations/Theses

Speeches/Meeting Papers

Books

Response Structure

{
  "response": {
    "numFound": 8450,
    "start": 0,
    "docs": [
      {
        "id": "EJ1389012",
        "title": "Effects of AI Tutoring on Student Learning Outcomes",
        "author": ["Smith, John", "Chen, Wei"],
        "source": "Journal of Educational Technology",
        "publicationdateyear": 2024,
        "description": "This study examines the impact of AI-powered tutoring...",
        "descriptor": ["Artificial Intelligence", "Tutoring", "Academic Achievement"],
        "educationlevel": ["Higher Education"],
        "peerreviewed": "T",
        "url": "https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1389012",
        "publicationtype": "Journal Articles",
        "issn": "1234-5678"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Python Usage

import requests

BASE_URL = "https://api.ies.ed.gov/eric/"


def search_eric(query: str, rows: int = 25,
                peer_reviewed: bool = True,
                pub_type: str = None,
                from_year: int = None) -> list:
    """Search the ERIC education research database."""
    params = {
        "search": query,
        "format": "json",
        "rows": rows,
    }
    if peer_reviewed:
        params["peerreviewed"] = "true"
    if pub_type:
        params["publicationtype"] = pub_type
    if from_year:
        params["publicationdatestart"] = f"{from_year}-01-01"

    resp = requests.get(BASE_URL, params=params)
    resp.raise_for_status()
    data = resp.json()

    results = []
    for doc in data.get("response", {}).get("docs", []):
        results.append({
            "id": doc.get("id"),
            "title": doc.get("title"),
            "authors": doc.get("author", []),
            "source": doc.get("source"),
            "year": doc.get("publicationdateyear"),
            "abstract": doc.get("description", "")[:300],
            "descriptors": doc.get("descriptor", []),
            "level": doc.get("educationlevel", []),
            "url": doc.get("url"),
        })
    return results


def search_by_descriptor(descriptor: str, rows: int = 50) -> list:
    """Search using ERIC thesaurus controlled vocabulary."""
    return search_eric(f'descriptor:"{descriptor}"', rows=rows)


# Example: find recent AI in education research
papers = search_eric("artificial intelligence classroom",
                     from_year=2023, rows=10)
for p in papers:
    print(f"[{p['year']}] {p['title']}")
    print(f"  Descriptors: {', '.join(p['descriptors'][:5])}")

# Example: search by ERIC descriptor
papers = search_by_descriptor("Gamification")
for p in papers:
    print(f"{p['id']}: {p['title']} — {p['source']}")

ERIC Thesaurus

ERIC uses a controlled vocabulary of 12,000+ descriptors for consistent indexing. Key descriptors include:

Distance Education

Educational Technology

Higher Education

STEM Education

Teacher Education

Assessment

Curriculum Development

Special Education

References

• ERIC Website
• ERIC API Guide
• ERIC Thesaurus