Google Scholar contains valuable data -- paper titles, paper URLs, SERP snippets, and more. Scraping this data directly means dealing with anti-bot detection, CAPTCHAs, IP rotation, and constantly breaking selectors. The Scavio API handles all of that and returns clean, structured JSON from a single POST request.
This tutorial shows you how to scrape Google Scholar using C# and the Scavio API. By the end, you will have a working C# script that fetches real-time Google Scholar data and parses the results.
Prerequisites
- C# installed on your machine
- A Scavio API key (free tier includes 50 credits on signup -- no credit card required)
Step 1: Install Dependencies
Install HttpClient to make HTTP requests:
dotnet new consoleStep 2: Make Your First Google Scholar Search
Send a POST request to the Scavio Google Scholar API endpoint with your query. The API returns structured JSON with paper titles, paper URLs, SERP snippets, and more.
// Scavio has no Google Scholar endpoint, so citation counts and author lists are not
// available. This runs a Google web search - narrow it with site:arxiv.org or
// filetype:pdf.
using System.Net.Http.Json;
using System.Text.Json;
var apiKey = "sk_live_your_key";
var query = "retrieval augmented generation 2024";
var client = new HttpClient();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("Authorization", "Bearer " + apiKey);
var response = await client.PostAsJsonAsync(
"https://api.scavio.dev/api/v2/google",
new { query }
);
response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
var json = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
var data = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<JsonElement>(json);
Console.WriteLine(JsonSerializer.Serialize(data, new JsonSerializerOptions { WriteIndented = true }));Step 3: Example Response
The API returns structured JSON. Here is an example response for a Google Scholar search:
{
"search_parameters": { "q": "cold brew coffee", "hl": "en", "gl": "us" },
"organic_results": [
{
"position": 1,
"title": "how do you guys make cold brew? : r/Coffee",
"link": "https://www.reddit.com/r/Coffee/comments/oi7rm7/how_do_you_guys_make_cold_brew/",
"snippet": "i wanna learn how to make cold brew coffee but theres a lot of ways...",
"source": "Reddit"
}
],
"related_searches": [{ "query": "cold brew ratio", "link": "https://www.google.com/search?q=cold+brew+ratio" }],
"response_time": 2841,
"credits_used": 1,
"credits_remaining": 4821
}Every field is structured and typed -- no HTML parsing, no CSS selectors, no regex extraction. Your C# code can access any field directly.
Step 4: Full Working Example
Here is a complete, runnable C# script that searches Google Scholar and prints the results:
using System.Net.Http.Json;
using System.Text.Json;
// Search Google Scholar data with the Scavio API.
// POST /api/v2/google - rows come back under organic_results. Run with: dotnet run
// Scavio has no Google Scholar endpoint, so citation counts and author lists are not
// available. This runs a Google web search - narrow it with site:arxiv.org or
// filetype:pdf.
var apiUrl = "https://api.scavio.dev/api/v2/google";
var apiKey = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("SCAVIO_API_KEY");
var client = new HttpClient();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("Authorization", "Bearer " + apiKey);
async Task<JsonElement> SearchGoogleScholar(string query)
{
var response = await client.PostAsJsonAsync(apiUrl, new { query });
response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
var json = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
return JsonSerializer.Deserialize<JsonElement>(json);
}
var data = await SearchGoogleScholar("retrieval augmented generation 2024");
Console.WriteLine(JsonSerializer.Serialize(data, new JsonSerializerOptions { WriteIndented = true }));Why Use Scavio Instead of Scraping Google Scholar Directly?
- No proxy management. Direct scraping requires rotating proxies to avoid IP bans. Scavio handles all of this server-side.
- No CAPTCHA solving. Google Scholar aggressively blocks automated requests. Scavio returns clean data every time.
- Structured JSON output. No HTML parsing or CSS selector maintenance. Get typed, consistent data from every request.
- Multi-platform in one API. Search Google, Amazon, YouTube, and Walmart from the same API key with the same authentication pattern.
- Free tier included. 50 credits on signup with no credit card required. Each search costs 1 credit.