# ROR Scraper (`parseforge/ror-scraper`) Actor

Scrapes ROR (Research Organization Registry) records by search query or direct URL. Returns each organization as a flat row with ROR ID, name, status, and location.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/ror-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Developer tools, Lead generation
- **Features:** Limited permissions
- **Stats:** 4 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: 5.00 out of 5 stars

## Pricing

from $8.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

[![ParseForge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ParseForge/apify-assets/main/banner-v4.webp)](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp)

### ROR Scraper

**Scrape ROR records for any organization, from universities to research institutes, up to a million per run.** Each record includes its ROR ID, name, status, and location. No API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

ROR is the global registry of research organizations, but its API requires registration and rate limits. This scraper reads the public search pages directly, filtered by name, keyword, or record status, and returns each match in one fixed schema.

| Who uses it | What they scrape ROR for |
|---|---|
| Research administrators | Building a clean list of active institutions for grant management |
| Data analysts | Enriching publication metadata with standardized organization identifiers |
| Librarians | Maintaining an up-to-date directory of research organizations |
| Market researchers | Mapping the institutional landscape in a scientific field |

### What it does

This Actor collects ROR organization records by direct URL or search query, and returns each one as a flat row.

- 🔍 **Search by name or keyword:** find organizations matching a term like 'university' or 'Max Planck'.
- 📌 **Filter by record status:** active, inactive, or withdrawn records only.
- 🔗 **Direct URL scraping:** paste any ROR search URL to replicate a specific query.
- 📊 **Flat row output:** each organization becomes one row with its ROR ID, name, status, and location.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

### What you can do with ROR data

**📇 Build an institution directory.**

A librarian scrapes all active organizations matching 'university' to update their internal directory with current ROR IDs and names.

**🧹 Clean publication data.**

A data analyst scrapes ROR records for a list of known institution names to map them to standardized identifiers for a citation database.

**📊 Track organizational changes.**

A research administrator scrapes inactive and withdrawn records to identify institutions that have closed or merged, updating their grant management system.

**🌍 Map research landscapes.**

A market researcher scrapes all organizations in a country or field to analyze the competitive institutional landscape for a funding agency.

### Why choose this scraper

|  | What you get |
|---|---|
| **No API key** | Scrape public ROR pages without registration or rate limits |
| **Flexible input** | Use a direct URL or a simple search query |
| **Status filter** | Get only active, inactive, or withdrawn records |
| **Scalable** | Collect up to a million organizations per run |

### How it compares

No other Store actor targets ROR the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

| | ROR Scraper | Build it in-house | By hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | Run it now, zero config | Days of engineering | None, but hours per pull |
| When ROR changes | Maintained for you | You fix it | You re-learn the page |
| Proxies, retries, anti-bot | Built in | Your problem | Browser only |
| Output | Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export | Whatever you build | Copy-paste |
| Cost | Pay per result | Engineering time | Analyst hours |

### Configure the run

Drive the Actor from a direct ROR search URL or a name/keyword query, optionally filtered by record status, and set a maximum number of organizations to collect. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

```json
{
  "startUrl": "https://ror.org/search?filter=&query=university",
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

A larger pull:

```json
{
  "startUrl": "https://ror.org/search?filter=&query=university",
  "maxItems": 200
}
```

### Pricing

Pay-per-result: **$0.012 per result** collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $1.20 |
| 1,000 results | $12.00 |
| 10,000 results | $120.00 |

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

### Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. [Upgrade your Apify plan](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp) to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

### Run it

1. [Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp).
2. Open the [ROR Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/ror-scraper?fpr=vmoqkp).
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click **Start**.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the **Dataset** tab.

Run it programmatically through the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) (`run-sync-get-dataset-items`) or the [ApifyClient](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js) for JavaScript and Python.

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to ROR through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/ror-scraper"
```

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

### Troubleshooting

**Why am I getting no results?**

Check that your query or startUrl is correct. If you used query, try a broader term. If you used startUrl, ensure the URL is a valid ROR search page and not a specific record page.

**The scraper returns fewer results than expected.**

Make sure maxItems is set high enough. Also check if you have a recordStatus filter that might exclude some records.

**I get an error when using both query and startUrl.**

Use only one of these inputs. The scraper expects either a direct URL or a search query, not both.

**The output is missing some fields.**

Some ROR records may not have all fields populated. Check the sample output to see which fields are typically available.

### FAQ

| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Do I need a ROR API key? | No. This scraper reads the public ROR search pages directly, so no registration or API key is required. |
| Can I scrape a specific ROR record? | Yes. Use the startUrl input with the direct URL of the ROR search page for that record, or use the query input to search by name. |
| What is the difference between query and startUrl? | Use query to search by organization name or keyword. Use startUrl to paste a full ROR search URL, including any filters you have already applied. Use one or the other, not both. |
| How do I filter by record status? | Set the recordStatus input to active, inactive, or withdrawn. If left empty, all statuses are returned. |
| What is the maximum number of organizations I can scrape? | You can set maxItems up to 1,000,000 per run. The default is 10. |
| What data fields are returned for each organization? | Each row includes the ROR ID, organization name, record status, and location details as shown in the sample output. |
| Can I export the results? | Yes. You can export the dataset to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify platform. |
| Is this scraper legal? | ROR data is openly available for public use. Always check the ROR terms of service for your specific use case. |
| How often is the data updated? | The scraper reads live data from ROR each time you run it, so you always get the current records. |
| Can I schedule this scraper to run regularly? | Yes. You can set up a schedule in Apify to run the Actor daily, weekly, or at any interval you need. |

### Related actors

Browse the full [ParseForge collection](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp) for more scrapers.

🆘 **Need help?** Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ **Disclaimer.** This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Research Organization Registry (ROR). It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.

# Actor input Schema

## `startUrl` (type: `string`):

Direct URL to scrape from ROR. Use this OR search filters below, not both. Example: https://ror.org/search?query=university\&filter=active\&page=1

## `query` (type: `string`):

Search term to filter organizations. Use this OR startUrl above, not both.

## `recordStatus` (type: `string`):

Filter organizations by record status

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

How many organizations to collect per run.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "startUrl": "https://ror.org/search?filter=&query=university",
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `organizations` (type: `string`):

Complete organization dataset with all fields including ROR ID, name, status, types, locations, external identifiers, and relationships

## `overview` (type: `string`):

Overview view of organizations with key fields displayed in a table format

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "startUrl": "https://ror.org/search?filter=&query=university",
    "maxItems": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/ror-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "startUrl": "https://ror.org/search?filter=&query=university",
    "maxItems": 10,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/ror-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "startUrl": "https://ror.org/search?filter=&query=university",
  "maxItems": 10
}' |
apify call parseforge/ror-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,parseforge/ror-scraper"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/WgkkPHDfg33mUFDfD/builds/biQHegHcA8YFdqq0L/openapi.json