Quick start

This guide walks you through the core Edifix API workflow: authenticate, submit a reference list, wait for processing to complete, and retrieve your results.

NOTE

To use this API, you need an Edifix account with API access. If you don't have one, contact Edifix Support to get started.

Authenticate

1. Send your Edifix credentials to POST /get_auth_token to obtain a JSON Web Token (JWT).

Request body

{
  "username": "you@example.com",
  "password": "your_password"
}

Response

{
  "auth_token": "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9..."
}

2. Store the auth_token value and include it as a bearer token on every subsequent request:

Authorization: Bearer <auth_token>

Tokens are valid for three hours by default. See Authentication for options including custom expiry and multi-session management.

Submit a reference list

After you authenticate, send your references to POST /create_job. The input_refs and edit_style fields are required. You can use the code from the Editorial styles page, or call GET /get_edit_styles at runtime for the full list.

NOTE

Response examples on this page show key fields only. See the API reference for full request and response schemas.

Request body

{
  "input_refs": "Smith J, Jones K. Title of paper. J Important Sci. 2020;10(2):100-110.",
  "edit_style": "APA7",
  "pubmed_flag": true,
  "crossref_flag": true
}

Response

{
  "job_id": 1234567,
  "process_state": "queued",
  "edit_style": "APA7",
  "created_timestamp": "2024-04-30T15:23:11.000Z"
}

TIP

Record the job_id(you'll need it in the next two steps).

Poll for completion

Job processing runs in the background. Call GET /check_job?job_id=1234567 repeatedly until process_state is accounted. Start your first poll after approximately two seconds per submitted reference, then check no more than once every three seconds.

Response (processing)

{
  "job_id": 1234567,
  "process_state": "processing"
}

Response (ready)

{
  "job_id": 1234567,
  "process_state": "accounted",
  "total_refs": 1,
  "parsed_refs": 1,
  "total_linked_refs": 1
}

NOTE

process_state progresses through new → queued → processing → completed → accounted. Only accounted (indicating that reference credits have been deducted) means the job is ready to retrieve. If process_state is failed, check the reason_of_failure field in the response for details. See Error codes for the full list.

Retrieve your results

Call GET /get_job?job_id=1234567 to retrieve the processed output.

Response

{
  "job_data": {
    "job_id": 1234567,
    "process_state": "accounted"
  },
  "job_results": "<article>...</article>"
}

The job_results field contains JATS XML. The default view (refs_links_delta) includes hyperlinks and difference annotations. To export in a different format—BibTeX, Word, HTML, and more—use GET /export_job instead. See the API reference for details.