science-ai-mcp-server

Model Context Protocol server for Science AI Journal tools. Use Pre-Check, AI Review, Research Gaps, Journal Recommender, Duplicate Publication Checker, and the Article Writer from inside Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline, or any MCP-enabled client — without leaving your assistant.

Full docs and screenshots: <https://scienceaijournal.com/developers/mcp>

Quick start (≈ 2 minutes)

Generate an API key at <https://scienceaijournal.com/settings?section=api-keys> (free account required). Copy the saij_… token — you only see it once.
Add this block to your Claude Desktop config file:

   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "science-ai-journal": {
         "command": "npx",
         "args": ["-y", "science-ai-mcp-server"],
         "env": {
           "SCIENCE_AI_API_KEY": "saij_…paste your key…"
         }
       }
     }
   }

Config file locations:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json
Linux: ~/.config/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Restart Claude Desktop. The science-ai-journal server appears in the 🔌 tool list.

The same config works in Cursor (~/.cursor/mcp.json), Cline (via the VS Code extension panel), and Continue (anywhere that supports an mcpServers object).

Tools

| Tool | What it does | Cost | | --- | --- | --- | | pre_check_paper | Tier 1-5 acceptance probability from title + abstract (local FTS5, no LLM) | Free | | check_duplicate_publication | Cross-reference against CrossRef + arXiv + medRxiv + bioRxiv + Unpaywall + a 900k-paper library | Free | | recommend_journals | Ranked target journals from a 1,214-venue index, with predatory-journal flags | Free | | find_research_gaps | Synthesised gaps + most-cited + most-recent papers around your query | Credits | | ai_review_paper | Single-agent AI peer-review pass on a prepared prompt | Credits | | start_writer_pipeline / get_writer_pipeline_status | Drive the Article Writer pipeline from outside the wizard | Credits |

Configuration

| Env var | Default | Purpose | | --- | --- | --- | | SCIENCE_AI_API_KEY | _required_ | Your saij_… token | | SCIENCE_AI_BASE_URL | https://scienceaijournal.com | Override for self-hosted or staging environments |

Troubleshooting

Tools don't appear after editing config: fully quit the host app (not just close the window) and reopen.
401 unauthorized when calling a tool: the key was wrong, revoked, or expired. Mint a fresh one at Settings → API Keys.
429 rate limit on find_research_gaps: you hit the 10-per-hour IP quota. Wait an hour.
npx can't resolve the package: ensure Node ≥ 20 and that your npm registry isn't set to a private mirror without this package yet (npm config set registry https://registry.npmjs.org/).

License

MIT

science-ai-mcp-server