Query Altmetric data for custom paper lists via the Explorer API

So far, users wanting to pull attention data from the Explorer API have been limited to built-in filters (e.g. institution, journal, etc.). There's been no way to query against an arbitrary, self-defined set of papers directly through the API — until now.

What's new?

A new endpoint is now available in the Altmetric Explorer API:

POST /explorer/api/identifier_lists

The new endpoint accepts a list of identifiers — DOIs, Altmetric IDs, or a mix of both — and returns a stable list ID. You can then pass that ID as a filter in subsequent API calls, such as /explorer/api/research_outputs, to retrieve Altmetric data for exactly those papers.

The endpoint is idempotent: submitting the same identifiers always returns the same list ID, so you can safely call it repeatedly without creating duplicates.

This is particularly useful if you're tracking attention on a specific portfolio of outputs: for example, a drug's associated literature, a funded project's papers, or any other curated set that doesn't map neatly to an institution or journal.

Full documentation is available here.