Google Scholar contains valuable data — paper title, authors, citation count, abstract snippet, 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 500 credits/month — no credit card required)
Step 1: Install Dependencies
Install HttpClient to make HTTP requests:
dotnet new console
dotnet add package System.Text.JsonStep 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 title, authors, citation count, and more.
using System.Net.Http.Json;
using System.Text.Json;
var apiKey = "your_scavio_api_key";
var client = new HttpClient();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("x-api-key", apiKey);
var response = await client.PostAsJsonAsync(
"https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/search",
new { query, tbs = "" }
);
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_metadata": { "status": "success" },
"organic_results": [
{
"position": 1,
"title": "Retrieval-Augmented Generation for Large Language Models: A Survey",
"link": "https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=retrieval+augmented+generation",
"authors": ["Y. Gao", "Y. Xiong", "X. Gao"],
"publication_year": 2024,
"cited_by": 1240,
"snippet": "We survey RAG approaches that combine parametric and non-parametric memory..."
}
]
}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;
/// <summary>
/// Scrape Google Scholar search results using Scavio API.
/// Run with: dotnet run
/// </summary>
var apiKey = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("SCAVIO_API_KEY")!;
var client = new HttpClient();
client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("x-api-key", apiKey);
async Task<JsonElement> SearchGoogleScholar(string query)
{
var response = await client.PostAsJsonAsync(
"https://api.scavio.dev/api/v1/search",
new { query, tbs = "" }
);
response.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();
var json = await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync();
return JsonSerializer.Deserialize<JsonElement>(json);
}
var results = await SearchGoogleScholar("retrieval augmented generation 2024");
Console.WriteLine(JsonSerializer.Serialize(results, 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. 500 credits/month with no credit card required. Each search costs 1 credit.