diff --git a/.pre-commit-config.yaml b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
index ee51b2a..e1ee6a0 100644
--- a/.pre-commit-config.yaml
+++ b/.pre-commit-config.yaml
@@ -38,7 +38,8 @@ repos:
         (?x)^(
             docs/.*|
             tests/.*|
-            conftest.py
+            conftest.py|
+            aiida_restapi/models/json_api.py
         )$
 
   - repo: https://github.com/PyCQA/pylint
@@ -51,6 +52,7 @@ repos:
       - fastapi~=0.65.1
       - uvicorn[standard]>=0.12.0,<0.14.0
       - pydantic~=1.8.2
+      - pydantic-jsonapi==0.11.0
       - python-jose
       - python-multipart
       - passlib
diff --git a/aiida_restapi/models/__init__.py b/aiida_restapi/models/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b9f1cad
--- /dev/null
+++ b/aiida_restapi/models/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+"""pydantic models for AiiDA REST API.
+"""
+# pylint: disable=too-few-public-methods
+
+from .entities import *
+from .responses import *
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/aiida_restapi/models.py b/aiida_restapi/models/entities.py
similarity index 97%
rename from aiida_restapi/models.py
rename to aiida_restapi/models/entities.py
index d3da7c1..426639f 100644
--- a/aiida_restapi/models.py
+++ b/aiida_restapi/models/entities.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
-"""Schemas for AiiDA REST API.
+"""ORM entity schemas for AiiDA REST API.
 
 Models in this module mirror those in
 `aiida.backends.djsite.db.models` and `aiida.backends.sqlalchemy.models`
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@
 from aiida import orm
 from pydantic import BaseModel, Field
 
+__all__ = ('AiidaModel', 'Comment', 'User')
+
 # Template type for subclasses of `AiidaModel`
 ModelType = TypeVar("ModelType", bound="AiidaModel")
 
@@ -94,3 +96,4 @@ class User(AiidaModel):
     institution: Optional[str] = Field(
         description="Host institution or workplace of the user"
     )
+
diff --git a/aiida_restapi/models/json_api.py b/aiida_restapi/models/json_api.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e1f05e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/aiida_restapi/models/json_api.py
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+"""Adapted JSON API models.
+
+Adapting pydantic_jsonapi.response to fit the non-compliant AiiDA REST API responses.
+Changes made as comments.
+"""
+# pylint: disable=missing-class-docstring,redefined-builtin,missing-function-docstring,too-few-public-methods
+from typing import Generic, Optional, TypeVar, get_type_hints
+
+from pydantic.generics import GenericModel
+from pydantic_jsonapi.filter import filter_none
+from pydantic_jsonapi.relationships import ResponseRelationshipsType
+from pydantic_jsonapi.resource_links import ResourceLinks
+
+# TypeT = TypeVar('TypeT', bound=str)
+# AttributesT = TypeVar("AttributesT")
+
+
+# class ResponseDataModel(GenericModel):
+
+#     id: str
+#     relationships: Optional[ResponseRelationshipsType]
+#     links: Optional[ResourceLinks]
+
+#     class Config:
+#         validate_all = True
+#         extra = "allow"  # added
+
+
+DataT = TypeVar("DataT")  # , bound=ResponseDataModel)
+
+
+class ResponseModel(GenericModel, Generic[DataT]):
+
+    data: DataT
+    included: Optional[list]
+    meta: Optional[dict]
+    links: Optional[ResourceLinks]
+
+    def dict(self, *, serlialize_none: bool = False, **kwargs):
+        response = super().dict(**kwargs)
+        if serlialize_none:
+            return response
+        return filter_none(response)
+
+    @classmethod
+    def resource_object(
+        cls,
+        *,
+        id: str,
+        attributes: Optional[dict] = None,
+        relationships: Optional[dict] = None,
+        links: Optional[dict] = None,
+    ) -> DataT:
+        data_type = get_type_hints(cls)["data"]
+        if getattr(data_type, "__origin__", None) is list:
+            data_type = data_type.__args__[0]
+        typename = get_type_hints(data_type)["type"].__args__[0]
+        return data_type(
+            id=id,
+            type=typename,
+            attributes=attributes or {},
+            relationships=relationships,
+            links=links,
+        )
diff --git a/aiida_restapi/models/responses.py b/aiida_restapi/models/responses.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..13a8f9e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/aiida_restapi/models/responses.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+"""Response schemas for AiiDA REST API.
+
+Builds upon response schemas from `json_api` module.
+"""
+
+from typing import List, Type, TypeVar
+
+from pydantic_jsonapi import ErrorResponse
+
+from . import json_api
+from .entities import AiidaModel  # pylint: disable=unused-import
+
+__all__ = ("EntityResponse", "ErrorResponse")
+
+ModelType = TypeVar("ModelType", bound="AiidaModel")
+
+
+def EntityResponse(
+    # type_string: str,
+    attributes_model: ModelType,
+    *,
+    use_list: bool = False,
+) -> Type[json_api.ResponseModel]:
+    """Returns entity-specif pydantic response model."""
+    response_data_model = attributes_model
+    type_string = (
+        attributes_model._orm_entity.__name__.lower()  # pylint: disable=protected-access
+    )
+    if use_list:
+        response_data_model.__name__ = f"ListResponseData[{type_string}]"
+        response_model = json_api.ResponseModel[List[response_data_model]]
+        response_model.__name__ = f"ListResponse[{type_string}]"
+    else:
+        response_data_model.__name__ = f"ResponseData[{type_string}]"
+        response_model = json_api.ResponseModel[response_data_model]
+        response_model.__name__ = f"Response[{type_string}]"
+    return response_model
diff --git a/aiida_restapi/routers/users.py b/aiida_restapi/routers/users.py
index 624b38e..85e7810 100644
--- a/aiida_restapi/routers/users.py
+++ b/aiida_restapi/routers/users.py
@@ -1,44 +1,50 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 """Declaration of FastAPI application."""
-from typing import List, Optional
-
 from aiida import orm
 from aiida.cmdline.utils.decorators import with_dbenv
+from aiida.common.exceptions import NotExistent
 from fastapi import APIRouter, Depends
+from fastapi.exceptions import HTTPException
 
-from aiida_restapi.models import User
+from aiida_restapi.models import EntityResponse, User
 
 from .auth import get_current_active_user
 
+__all__ = ("router",)
+
 router = APIRouter()
 
+SingleUserResponse = EntityResponse(User)
+ManyUserResponse = EntityResponse(User, use_list=True)
+
 
-@router.get("/users", response_model=List[User])
+@router.get("/users", response_model=ManyUserResponse)
 @with_dbenv()
-async def read_users() -> List[User]:
+async def read_users() -> ManyUserResponse:
     """Get list of all users"""
-    return [User.from_orm(u) for u in orm.User.objects.find()]
+    return ManyUserResponse(data=User.get_entities())
 
 
-@router.get("/users/{user_id}", response_model=User)
+@router.get("/users/{user_id}", response_model=SingleUserResponse)
 @with_dbenv()
-async def read_user(user_id: int) -> Optional[User]:
+async def read_user(user_id: int) -> SingleUserResponse:
     """Get user by id."""
-    orm_user = orm.User.objects.get(id=user_id)
+    try:
+        orm_user = orm.User.objects.get(id=user_id)
+    except NotExistent as exc:
+        raise HTTPException(status_code=404, detail="User not found") from exc
 
-    if orm_user:
-        return User.from_orm(orm_user)
+    return SingleUserResponse(user=User.from_orm(orm_user))
 
-    return None
 
-
-@router.post("/users", response_model=User)
+@router.post("/users", response_model=SingleUserResponse)
+@with_dbenv()
 async def create_user(
     user: User,
     current_user: User = Depends(
         get_current_active_user
     ),  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
-) -> User:
+) -> SingleUserResponse:
     """Create new AiiDA user."""
     orm_user = orm.User(**user.dict(exclude_unset=True)).store()
-    return User.from_orm(orm_user)
+    return SingleUserResponse(data=User.from_orm(orm_user))
diff --git a/setup.json b/setup.json
index 84c6947..9cfe5ec 100644
--- a/setup.json
+++ b/setup.json
@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@
         "sqlalchemy<1.4",
         "fastapi~=0.65.1",
         "uvicorn[standard]>=0.12.0,<0.14.0",
-        "pydantic~=1.8.2"
+        "pydantic~=1.8.2",
+        "pydantic-jsonapi==0.11.0"
     ],
     "extras_require": {
         "testing": [
diff --git a/tests/test_users.py b/tests/test_users.py
index 56a333f..349948a 100644
--- a/tests/test_users.py
+++ b/tests/test_users.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ def test_get_single_user(default_users, client):  # pylint: disable=unused-argum
     """Test retrieving a single user."""
     response = client.get("/users/1")
     assert response.status_code == 200
-    assert response.json()["first_name"] == "Giuseppe"
+    assert response.json()["data"]["first_name"] == "Giuseppe"
 
 
 def test_get_users(default_users, client):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ def test_get_users(default_users, client):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
     """
     response = client.get("/users")
     assert response.status_code == 200
-    assert len(response.json()) == 2 + 1
+    assert len(response.json()["data"]) == 2 + 1
 
 
 def test_create_user(client, authenticate):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
@@ -30,5 +30,5 @@ def test_create_user(client, authenticate):  # pylint: disable=unused-argument
     assert response.status_code == 200, response.content
 
     response = client.get("/users")
-    first_names = [user["first_name"] for user in response.json()]
+    first_names = [user["first_name"] for user in response.json()["data"]]
     assert "New" in first_names