ParseForge
RePEc Economics Papers Scraper
parseforge/repec-economics-scraper
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Scrapes economics papers from a RePEc series handle and returns each paper as a flat row with title, authors, abstract, JEL codes, and publication metadata.
- Total users
- 2
- Monthly active
- 0
- Total runs
- 137
- Bookmarked
- 1
- Rating
- Not rated yet
- Last modified
- 9 days ago
Overview
RePEc Economics Papers Scraper
Scrape economics papers from any RePEc series, up to a million per run. Every paper comes with its title, authors, abstract, and publication metadata. No login or API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.
RePEc's IDEAS repository holds millions of economics papers, but browsing them manually or through a restricted API slows down research. This scraper reads the public paper listings directly from a series handle you provide, collecting each paper's full metadata in one fixed schema. It is built for economists, data scientists, and policy analysts who need a clean dataset of working papers from NBER, the Fed, IZA, the ECB, and hundreds of other series.
| Who uses it | What they scrape RePEc for |
|---|---|
| Economists | Build a dataset of recent working papers in their field for a literature review. |
| Quantitative researchers | Feed paper titles and abstracts into a topic model to spot emerging research trends. |
| Policy analysts | Monitor central bank and think-tank series for policy-relevant findings. |
| PhD students | Collect the latest discussion papers from a handful of series to stay current. |
What it does
This Actor collects economics papers from a RePEc series handle and returns each one as a flat row with title, authors, abstract, and publication details.
- 📋 Fixed schema: every paper returns the same fields, so your downstream pipeline never breaks.
- 🔢 Volume control: set a maximum number of papers per run, from 1 up to 1,000,000.
- 📎 Series-driven: point the Actor at any two-part RePEc series handle and it pulls the latest papers.
Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.
What you can do with RePEc data
📈 Track NBER working papers.
A macroeconomist sets the series handle to 'nbr/nberwo' and collects the latest 200 papers every Monday to scan for new business-cycle research.
🏦 Monitor central bank research.
A policy analyst scrapes the ECB and Fed series weekly, then filters abstracts for keywords like 'inflation' or 'labor market' to brief their team.
🎓 Build a reading list for a PhD seminar.
A course instructor scrapes IZA discussion papers and filters by JEL code to create a syllabus of recent labor-economics papers.
📊 Feed a research-intel dashboard.
A quant researcher runs the Actor daily across five series, pushes the CSV to a database, and runs a topic model to surface trending themes.
Why choose this scraper
| What you get | |
|---|---|
| No API key | Reads the public RePEc listings directly, no registration or OAuth. |
| Full metadata | Title, authors, abstract, JEL codes, and publication info in one row. |
| Any series | Works with NBER, Fed, IZA, ECB, and every other RePEc series. |
How it compares
This Actor focuses on scraping any RePEc series by handle, while the competitors below target specific repositories or offer different filtering approaches.
| Feature | ParseForge | EconPapers / SSRN Scraper | NBER Working Papers Scraper |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scrape any RePEc series by handle | Yes | Not listed | Not listed |
| Collects paper abstracts | Yes | Not listed | Not listed |
| Collects JEL codes | Yes | Not listed | Not listed |
| Scrapes NBER working papers | Yes | Not listed | Yes |
| Scrapes SSRN papers | Not listed | Yes | Not listed |
| Keyword search input | Not listed | Yes | Not listed |
Configure the run
Drive the Actor from a RePEc series handle, and the maxItems limit stops the run once you have enough papers. The Input tab lists every parameter.
A first run with the defaults:
{
"maxItems": 10,
"seriesHandle": "nbr/nberwo"
}
A larger pull:
{
"maxItems": 200,
"seriesHandle": "nbr/nberwo"
}
Pricing
Pay-per-result: $0.0055 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.
| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $0.55 |
| 1,000 results | $5.50 |
| 10,000 results | $55.00 |
New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.
Free users
Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.
Run it
- Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
- Open the RePEc Economics Papers Scraper.
- Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
- Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.
Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.
Use with AI agents (MCP)
Give an AI agent live access to RePEc through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/repec-economics-scraper"
Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.
Troubleshooting
Why am I getting no results?
Check that the series handle is spelled correctly and uses the exact two-part format like 'nbr/nberwo'. Also verify that the series still exists on ideas.repec.org.
The run stopped before reaching my maxItems limit.
The series may have fewer papers available than your maxItems value. Try lowering maxItems or check the series page on IDEAS to see how many papers it lists.
Some fields are empty in my dataset.
RePEc listings vary by series. Some series may not include abstracts, JEL codes, or author affiliations. Empty fields mean that information was not present on the page.
The Actor is running slowly.
Large maxItems values mean more pages to visit. The Actor includes polite delays to avoid overloading RePEc. Reduce maxItems or run during off-peak hours if speed is critical.
FAQ
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is a RePEc series handle? | A series handle is a two-part identifier like 'nbr/nberwo' that points to a specific paper series on IDEAS/RePEc. You can find handles by browsing ideas.repec.org and looking at the URL of a series page. |
| Does this scrape all of RePEc? | No, it scrapes one series at a time. You provide a series handle and the Actor collects papers from that series only. To scrape multiple series, run the Actor once per handle. |
| Can I get the full text of a paper? | The Actor collects metadata, including the URL that points to the paper's landing page. Full-text access depends on the publisher's site and any paywalls. |
| How do I find the handle for NBER working papers? | The handle for NBER Working Papers is 'nbr/nberwo'. You can enter it directly in the Series Handle field. |
| What output formats are supported? | You can export your dataset as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify dataset tab. |
| Is there a rate limit? | The Actor respects polite delays. If you need to collect a very large number of papers, the run will take longer but will complete reliably. |
| Can I filter papers by date or keyword? | The Actor collects the most recent papers from the series. You can filter by keyword or date after the run by processing the exported dataset in your own code. |
| Does it collect JEL codes? | Yes, JEL classification codes are included in the paper metadata when RePEc lists them. |
| Can I scrape papers by author? | This Actor is series-driven. To collect papers by a specific author, you would need to find a series that covers their work or use the RePEc author search and then scrape individual paper IDs. |
| What is the maximum number of papers I can collect? | You can set maxItems up to 1,000,000 papers per run. The actual number collected depends on how many papers the series has listed. |
Related actors
Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.
🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.
⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by RePEc. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.
Input
| Field | Type | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| maxItems | integer | How many papers to collect per run. | 10 |
| seriesHandle | string | RePEc series handle (two-part archive/series). Examples: 'nbr/nberwo' (NBER Working Papers), 'fip/fedgfe' (Fed Finance & Economics), 'iza/izadps' (IZA Discussion Papers), 'ecb/ecbwps' (ECB Working Papers). | nbr/nberwo |
Pricing
from $5.00 per 1,000 results
| Charged for | What it is | Price each |
|---|---|---|
| result | Single result in the default dataset. | $0.005 to $0.0055 |
Tiered: the lower figure is the price on a higher Apify plan. Billing and the free credit live on Apify.
API
One POST returns the dataset directly. Same shape for every scraper in the library, so swapping the slug is the only change.
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/parseforge~repec-economics-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"helloWorld": 123
}' Examples
Input that runs as-is.
{
"helloWorld": 123
} Reviews
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Issues
We build and maintain this scraper, so a problem with it comes to us. Report it on the Apify listing and the thread stays attached to the scraper where the next person can find it: open an issue.
Broken and urgent, or you would rather not post in public? Write to parseforge@protonmail.com and it reaches the people who wrote it.