generated: '2026-09-06'
method: searched
source: https://dev.elsevier.com/interactive.html
provider: Elsevier
providerId: elsevier
description: >-
  Elsevier runs a hosted Swagger UI console — "Interactive APIs" — that executes real calls
  against production api.elsevier.com using a demonstration API key Elsevier supplies, so a
  developer can exercise the surface before registering. There is no separate sandbox
  environment, no test-mode key prefix and no fixture data: the console hits live content, and
  what it returns is bounded by the demo key's entitlements.
type: hosted-console
sandbox_environment: false
test_mode: false
console:
  url: https://dev.elsevier.com/interactive.html
  engine: Swagger UI 2.1.4
  requires_own_key: false
  own_key_supported: true
  own_key_field: apiKey
  detail: >-
    "You don't need to obtain your own API key for that, just select the API of interest and hit
    'Try it out!'". Elsevier states the embedded key "is meant for demonstration purposes only".
  calls: production
  host: api.elsevier.com
  consoles:
  - name: Search Interactive APIs
    url: https://dev.elsevier.com/search.html
    spec: https://dev.elsevier.com/elsdoc/search
  - name: Retrieval Interactive APIs
    url: https://dev.elsevier.com/retrieval.html
    spec: https://dev.elsevier.com/elsdoc/retrieval
  - name: Metadata Interactive APIs
    url: https://dev.elsevier.com/metadata.html
    spec: https://dev.elsevier.com/elsdoc/metadata
  - name: Scopus Interactive APIs
    url: https://dev.elsevier.com/scopus.html
    spec: https://dev.elsevier.com/elsdoc/scopus
  - name: ScienceDirect Interactive APIs
    url: https://dev.elsevier.com/sciencedirect.html
    spec: https://dev.elsevier.com/elsdoc/sciencedirect
  - name: SciVal Interactive APIs
    url: https://dev.elsevier.com/scival.html
    spec: https://dev.elsevier.com/elsdoc/scival
  - name: Engineering Village Interactive APIs
    url: https://dev.elsevier.com/engineeringvillage.html
    spec: https://dev.elsevier.com/elsdoc/engineeringvillage
test_data:
  published: true
  kind: worked identifiers in documentation, not synthetic fixtures
  examples:
  - value: 10.1016/S0014-5793(01)03313-0
    kind: DOI
    used_in: >-
      the Cited-by embed example on https://dev.elsevier.com/examples.html — a real published
      article, not a test record
  note: >-
    Every identifier Elsevier uses in its examples is a live production record. There are no
    magic test IDs, no synthetic authors and no reset mechanism, because there is nothing to
    write.
test_credentials:
  published: false
  note: >-
    Elsevier embeds a working demonstration key in the Interactive API pages but does not
    publish it as a documented value, and asks developers not to use it in applications. It is
    deliberately not transcribed here.
limitations:
- The console calls production and consumes the demo key's shared weekly quota.
- >-
  Entitlement-gated content (COMPLETE / COMPONENT views, full text, the eight access-controlled
  APIs) will not return through the console, because the demo key is not attached to a
  subscribing institution.
- >-
  Swagger UI 2.1.4 is a 2015-era release; the console cannot render the OpenAPI 3.x that most
  tooling now expects, and the specs behind it are Swagger 2.0 for that reason.