Google Scholar Citations Tracker

This repository automatically tracks and exposes Google Scholar citation metrics using SerpAPI and GitHub Actions. It provides a JSON API endpoint hosted on GitHub Pages that can be consumed by web applications to display real-time citation data.

Overview

This system consists of three main components:

1. Automated Data Collection: A GitHub Actions workflow that runs twice daily to fetch citation data from Google Scholar via SerpAPI
2. Data Storage: Citation metrics stored as JSON in the repository
3. API Endpoint: The JSON file hosted on GitHub Pages for easy consumption by frontend applications

How It Works

1. Data Collection Pipeline

The repository uses a scheduled GitHub Actions workflow (.github/workflows/gscholar-citations.yaml) that:

• Runs automatically twice daily at 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM CET
• Triggers on pushes to the main branch
• Executes a Python script (build_json.py) that:
  • Connects to SerpAPI with your API key
  • Fetches citation data for the specified Google Scholar profile
  • Extracts key metrics: total citations, h-index, i10-index, and yearly citation graph
  • Saves the data to citations.json
• Commits and pushes the updated JSON file back to the repository

2. Data Structure

The generated citations.json contains:

json { "total": 431, "h_index": 12, "i10_index": 12, "year_graph": [ { "year": 2021, "citations": 5 }, { "year": 2022, "citations": 48 } ] }

3. GitHub Pages Integration

Once GitHub Pages is enabled for this repository, the JSON file becomes accessible at: https://jpwahle.github.io/jpwahle.com-citations/citations.json

This creates a simple REST API endpoint that frontend applications can fetch from.

Setup Instructions

Prerequisites

• GitHub repository with Actions enabled
• SerpAPI account and API key
• Google Scholar profile ID

Configuration

1. Get your Google Scholar Author ID:

   • Visit your Google Scholar profile
   • The ID is in the URL: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=YOUR_ID_HERE

2. Set up SerpAPI:

   • Sign up at SerpAPI
   • Get your API key from the dashboard

3. Configure GitHub Secrets:

   • Go to repository Settings → Secrets and variables → Actions
   • Add SERPAPI_KEY with your SerpAPI key value

4. Update the workflow:

   • Edit .github/workflows/gscholar-citations.yaml
   • Replace MI0C9mAAAAAJ with your Google Scholar ID

5. Enable GitHub Pages:

   • Go to repository Settings → Pages
   • Set source to "Deploy from a branch"
   • Select the main branch

Usage

Manual Trigger

You can manually trigger the workflow by pushing to the main branch or running it from the GitHub Actions tab.

Consuming the API

Frontend applications can fetch the citation data:

javascript fetch('https://jpwahle.github.io/jpwahle.com-citations/citations.json') .then(response => response.json()) .then(data => { console.log('Total citations:', data.total); console.log('H-index:', data.h_index); console.log('Citation graph:', data.year_graph); });

Local Development

To test the script locally:

bash pip install serpapi python build_json.py YOUR_SERPAPI_KEY YOUR_SCHOLAR_ID

Files

• .github/workflows/gscholar-citations.yaml: GitHub Actions workflow for automated data collection
• build_json.py: Python script that fetches and processes Google Scholar data
• citations.json: Generated JSON file containing citation metrics
• index.html: Simple HTML page (can be enhanced to display the data)

Scheduling

The workflow runs: - 6:00 AM CET (4:00 AM UTC): Morning update - 6:00 PM CET (4:00 PM UTC): Evening update

You can modify the schedule by editing the cron expressions in the workflow file.

Dependencies

• serpapi: Python package for SerpAPI integration
• GitHub Actions: For automation
• GitHub Pages: For hosting the JSON endpoint