METHODS article
Front. Res. Metr. Anal.
Sec. Emerging Technologies and Transformative Paradigms in Research
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/frma.2025.1514938
This article is part of the Research TopicNew Horizons in the Evaluation and Analysis of Scholarly BooksView all articles
The Dimensions API: a domain specific language for scientometrics research
Provisionally accepted
- 1Brno University of Technology, Brno, Czechia
- 2Digital Science (United Kingdom), London, United Kingdom
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We describe the Dimensions Search Language (DSL), a domain-specific language for bibliographic and scientometrics analysis. The DSL is the main component of the Dimensions API (version 2.12.0), which provides end-users with a powerful, yet simple-to-learn and use, tool to search, filter, and analyze the Dimensions database using a single entry point and query language. The DSL is the result of an effort to model the way researchers and analysts describe research questions in this domain, as opposed to using established paradigms commonly used by software developers e.g. REST or SOAP. In this article, we describe the API architecture, the DSL main features, and the core data model. We describe how it is used by researchers and analysts in academic and business settings alike to carry out complex research analytics tasks, like calculating the H-index of a researcher or generating a publications' citation network.
Keywords: Dimensions Search Language, DSL, Research analytics, data science, domain specific languages, API, data analysis, scientometrics
Received: 21 Oct 2024; Accepted: 05 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Kövári, Pasin and Meduna. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Adam Kövári, Brno University of Technology, Brno, Czechia
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