Data Service API Endpoints

Owned by Michael Lang
Last updated: Sept 15, 2022 by Karl Becker
2 min read

The Third Iron Data Service API is a collection of endpoints through which arbitrary metadata may be retrieved from the Third Iron metadata database. The endpoints are divided into three categories: query endpoints, lookup by id endpoints, and related metadata retrieval endpoints. 

This service is an optional add-on to other Third Iron services designed for advanced use cases and customers with existing technical knowledge.  This service does not have any UI, and is provided as a set of API endpoints only.  If your organization is interested in using the Data Service, please contact us for pricing and more information.

Query Endpoint

Query endpoints are the endpoints of the data service API which allow clients to search for content that meets some criteria specified through parameters. The Data Service API currently includes the following query endpoint:

Lookup by id Endpoint

Lookup by id endpoints are the endpoints of the data service API which allow clients to retrieve a representation of a particular record in the Third Iron metadata database by providing the unique id value assigned to the record. Lookup is typically performed by submitting a GET request to an API URL which includes the record’s id number in one of the path segments of the URL. The Data Service API currently includes the following lookup by id endpoints:

Related Metadata Retrieval Endpoint

Typical Implementation Use Case

A typical use case may be to use the data service as a data source for a current awareness system that might appear within a website or be used to generate email notifications to users.  

To begin, utilize the Journal New Content Lookup endpoint to query the system for the time interval into the past you want to retrieve in order to know which journals released new issues.  For example, you can compile a list of journals who released a new issue in the previous week.

Next, store the response and do any filtering on the results that may be appropriate (for example, storing only selected ISSNs in order to single out particular journals or perhaps to filter by SJR value in order to only see the most "prestigious" journals.).

Use the Third Iron id present in each record post-filtering then to Retrieve the Current Issue id of the journal.

Take this current issue ID and then use the pages response of Retrieve articles of issue to gain a complete listing of article metadata for that issue.  Filter the results of that as appropriate and iterate as needed over each Third Iron ID.