A Python-based tool that automatically tracks and records citation statistics from Google Scholar. It generates daily reports of citation counts, h-index, and individual paper statistics in a clean markdown format.

• 🤖 Automated daily tracking of Google Scholar citations
• 📊 Tracks overall citation count and h-index
• 📝 Individual paper citation statistics
• 📈 Historical citation data tracking
• 📑 Clean markdown report generation
• ⚙️ Easy configuration with Google Scholar ID
• 🔄 GitHub Actions integration for automatic updates

• Python 3.x
• Git

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/scholar-citation-tracker.git
   cd scholar-citation-tracker

2. Install required packages:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Configure your Google Scholar Profile:

   The most reliable way to track your profile is by using your Google Scholar ID.

   How to find your Google Scholar ID:

   1. Go to your Google Scholar profile page.
   2. Look at the URL in your browser's address bar.
   3. The URL will look something like this: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VtK5lwUAAAAJ&hl=en
   4. Your Scholar ID is the string of characters after user=. In the example above, it's VtK5lwUAAAAJ.

   Update the configuration:

   • Open the config.json file.
   • Replace "YOUR_SCHOLAR_ID_HERE" with your actual Google Scholar ID:

   {
     "author_id": "VtK5lwUAAAAJ",
     "author_query": null
   }

   Alternatively, you can track by name, but this is less reliable:

   {
     "author_id": null,
     "author_query": "Your Name Institution"
   }

Run the tracker manually from your terminal:

python run.py

The script will:

1. Fetch your latest Google Scholar statistics using the configured ID.
2. Update the citation history in data/citation_history.json.
3. Generate an updated markdown report in data/citations.md.
4. Create trend charts and a dashboard in the data/ directory.

This project can be automated to run daily using GitHub Actions.

1. Fork this repository.
2. Enable GitHub Actions in your fork:
   • Go to your repository's "Settings" > "Actions" > "General".
   • Under "Workflow permissions," select "Read and write permissions."
3. The tracker will automatically run daily at 01:00 UTC. You can change the schedule in .github/workflows/update_citations.yml.

scholar_tracker/
├── .github/
│   └── workflows/
│       └── update_citations.yml  # GitHub Actions configuration
├── data/
│   ├── citation_history.json # Historical citation data
│   ├── citations.md          # Generated markdown report
│   ├── dashboard.html        # Interactive citation dashboard
│   ├── citation_trends.png   # Trend chart for citations
│   ├── paper_trends.png      # Trend chart for top papers
│   └── tracker.log           # Log file for debugging
├── src/
│   ├── scholar_tracker.py    # Core tracking functionality
│   ├── markdown_writer.py    # Markdown report generator
│   └── chart_generator.py    # Chart generation logic
├── config.json               # Configuration file
├── requirements.txt
├── run.py                    # Main execution script
└── README.md

The generated data/citations.md includes:

• Overall citation statistics (Total Citations, H-index)
• A summary of new citations since the last update.
• Per-paper citation counts.
• Historical data trends.

# Citation Statistics

**Last updated:** 2024-07-21

## Overall Statistics
- **Total Citations:** 1234 (+10)
- **H-index:** 25

## New Citations Today
- **Paper Title A:** 5 new citations (100 -> 105)
- **Paper Title B:** 5 new citations (50 -> 55)

## Top Papers by Citation
| Paper                 | Citations | Year |
|-----------------------|-----------|------|
| My Awesome Paper 1    | 105       | 2023 |
| Another Great Paper   | 55        | 2022 |
...

To change the content or layout of the markdown report, edit src/markdown_writer.py.

Modify the cron schedule in .github/workflows/update_citations.yml to change how often the tracker runs.

1. Rate Limiting: Google Scholar may temporarily block requests if updated too frequently. The default daily schedule is usually safe. If you encounter errors, check data/tracker.log for details.
2. GitHub Actions Failures:
   • Permissions: Ensure "Read and write permissions" are enabled for Actions in your repository settings. This allows the workflow to commit the updated data files.
   • Workflow Not Running: Check that the .github/workflows/update_citations.yml file exists on your main branch. Scheduled actions only run on the default branch.

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request.

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

• scholarly for providing a great interface to Google Scholar.
• GitHub Actions for the powerful automation.