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

Parameter	Description	Example
search	Free-text or field search	search=adaptive+learning
format	Response format	json or xml
rows	Results per page (max 200)	rows=50
start	Pagination offset	start=50
publicationtype	Document type	Journal Articles, Reports, Dissertations/Theses
publicationdatestart	From date	2024-01-01
publicationdateend	To date	2026-12-31
peerreviewed	Peer-reviewed filter	true or false
descriptor	ERIC thesaurus term	descriptor:"Distance Education"
educationlevel	Education level	Higher Education, Elementary Education
subject	Subject area	subject:"Mathematics Education"

Search Fields

Field	Description
title	Article title
author	Author name
descriptor	ERIC controlled vocabulary term
source	Journal/source name
abstract	Abstract text
id	ERIC document ID (e.g., EJ1234567)

Publication Types

Type	Description
Journal Articles	Peer-reviewed journal articles
Reports - Research	Research reports
Reports - Descriptive	Descriptive reports
Reports - Evaluative	Program evaluations
Dissertations/Theses	Graduate research
Speeches/Meeting Papers	Conference presentations
Books	Books and book chapters

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:

Descriptor	Coverage
Distance Education	Online/remote learning
Educational Technology	EdTech tools and methods
Higher Education	University-level education
STEM Education	Science, technology, engineering, math
Teacher Education	Teacher training and development
Assessment	Testing and evaluation
Curriculum Development	Curriculum design
Special Education	Inclusive education

References

• ERIC Website
• ERIC API Guide
• ERIC Thesaurus