sortgs is a Python tool for ranking Google Scholar publications by the number of citations. It is useful for finding relevant papers in a specific field. The data acquired from Google Scholar includes Title, Citations, Links, Rank, and a new column with the number of citations per year. In the background, it first try to fetch results using python requests. If it fails, it will use selenium to fetch the results.
- No-Code Version (new!): — No coding required! Perfect for a quick start! ⚡
- Code Version: — For developers who want full control of what's behind the scenes! 💻
💡 All you need is a Google Account to get started.
⚠️ Note: Google Scholar may block access after too many repetitive requests due to CAPTCHA checks, so proceed mindfully!
google-scholar-no-code-instructions.mp4
You can install sortgs
directly using pip
:
pip install sortgs
This will install the latest version of sortgs
and its dependencies.
Once installed, you can run sortgs
directly from the command line:
sortgs "your keyword"
Replace "your keyword"
with any keyword you'd like to search for. A CSV file with the name your_keyword.csv
will be created in your current directory.
For a feedback, send me an email: fernando [dot] wittmann [at] gmail [dot] com
usage: sortgs [-h] [--sortby SORTBY] [--nresults NRESULTS] [--csvpath CSVPATH]
[--notsavecsv] [--plotresults] [--startyear STARTYEAR]
[--endyear ENDYEAR] [--debug] kw
positional arguments:
kw Keyword to be searched. Use double quote followed by
simple quote for an exact keyword.
Example: sortgs "'exact keyword'"
optional arguments:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
--sortby SORTBY Column to be sorted by. Default is "Citations". To sort
by citations per year, use --sortby "cit/year"
--langfilter LANGFILTER [LANGFILTER ...]
Only languages listed are permitted to pass the filter.
List of supported language codes: zh-CN, zh-TW, nl, en, fr,
de, it, ja, ko, pl, pt, es, tr
--nresults NRESULTS Number of articles to search on Google Scholar. Default
is 100. (careful with robot checking if value is high)
--csvpath CSVPATH Path to save the exported csv file. Default is the
current folder
--notsavecsv By default, results are exported to a csv file. Select
this option to just print results but not store them
--plotresults Use this flag to plot results with the original rank on
the x-axis and the number of citations on the y-axis.
Default is False
--startyear STARTYEAR
Start year when searching. Default is None
--endyear ENDYEAR End year when searching. Default is current year
--debug Debug mode. Used for unit testing. It will get pages
stored on web archive
-
Default Search:
sortgs "machine learning"
This command searches for the top 100 results related to "machine learning" and saves them as a CSV file.
-
Sort by Citations per Year:
sortgs "machine learning" --sortby "cit/year"
Search for "machine learning" and sort by the number of citations per year.
-
Specify Date Range:
sortgs "machine learning" --startyear 2005 --endyear 2015
Search for papers from 2005 to 2015.
-
Search for an Exact Keyword:
sortgs "'machine learning'"
-
Save Results in a Specific Path:
sortgs 'neural networks' --csvpath './examples/'
This will save the results under a subfolder called 'examples'.
-
Multiple Keywords:
sortgs '"deep learning" OR "neural networks" OR "machine learning"' --sortby "cit/year"
-
Language Filter:
sortgs "machine learning" --langfilter pt es fr de
This will only include articles in Portuguese, Spanish, French, and German.
While running, sortgs
will provide updates in the terminal:
❯ sortgs "'machine learning'"
Running with the following parameters:
Keyword: 'machine learning', Number of results: 100, Save database: True, Path: /Users/wittmann/sort-google-scholar, Sort by: Citations, Plot results: False, Start year: None, End year: 2023, Debug: False
Loading next 10 results
Loading next 20 results
...
- Install Python 3 and its dependencies from Requirements (suggestion: use Ananconda https://www.anaconda.com/distribution/)
- In the terminal (or cmd if using Windows), run
pip install sortgs
- Use the command
sortgs "your keyword"
(replace "your keyword" to any keyword that you'd like to search) - A CSV file with the name
your_keyword.csv
should be created.
If those steps are too complicated for you, send me an email with a list of keyworks that you'd like them ranked to: fernando [dot] wittmann [at] gmail [dot] com
conda env create -f conda_environment.yml
conda deactivate
conda remove --name sortgs --all
conda env create -f environment.yml
conda activate sortgs
This guide will walk you through the process of installing Docker, pulling the fernandowittmann/sort-google-scholar
Docker image, and running the project.
- Download Docker Desktop: Go to the Docker Desktop website and download the appropriate installer for your operating system.
- Install Docker Desktop: Run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions.
- Verify Installation: Open a terminal (or command prompt on Windows) and run
docker --version
to verify that Docker has been installed successfully.
- Update Package Index: Run
sudo apt-get update
to update your package index. - Install Docker: Run
sudo apt-get install docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io
to install Docker. - Start Docker: Run
sudo systemctl start docker
to start the Docker daemon. - Verify Installation: Run
docker --version
to ensure Docker is installed correctly.
-
Pull Image: Run the following command to pull the
fernandowittmann/sort-google-scholar
image from Docker Hub:docker pull fernandowittmann/sort-google-scholar
-
Run the Docker Container: Use the following command to run the container:
docker run -v "$PWD/sortgs-results:/app" fernandowittmann/sort-google-scholar "machine learning"
Replace
$PWD
with the absolute path to your results directory if you are not in the parent directory ofsortgs-results
.
Just run:
$python -m unittest
And check if all tests passes. Alternativelly send a PR, github actions will run the tests for you.
Google Scholar may block access after too many repetitive requests due to CAPTCHA checks. If this issue arrises, selenium will be used to attempt to fetch the results. You might be asked to solve a CAPTCHA manually. Ideally, you should use a VPN to avoid this issue. When using selenium, you might need to install chromedriver. You can download it from https://developer.chrome.com/docs/chromedriver/downloads and add it to your PATH.
- MIT