University of Edinburgh

---
aid: university-of-edinburgh
name: University of Edinburgh
description: >-
  The University of Edinburgh is a public research university in Scotland,
  United Kingdom, founded in 1582 and ranked #20 in the QS World University
  Rankings 2025. Its public developer/API footprint is centred on open
  research infrastructure: the Edinburgh DataShare research-data repository
  (a DSpace instance exposing a public REST API and OAI-PMH endpoint) and
  Edinburgh Research Explorer / Pure (research information system with a
  public OAI-PMH harvesting endpoint; SOAP/REST web services are gated). The
  University also runs an internal Enterprise APIs programme (Student Records,
  Timetabling, Staff) that is documented behind SSO and not publicly
  accessible.
type: Index
position: Consumer
access: 3rd-Party
image: https://kinlane-productions.s3.amazonaws.com/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/university-of-edinburgh/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
tags:
  - Education
  - Higher Education
  - University
  - Research Data
  - Open Data
  - Repository
  - OAI-PMH
  - United Kingdom
  - Scotland
created: '2026-06-03'
modified: '2026-06-03'
specificationVersion: '0.19'
apis:
  - aid: university-of-edinburgh:datashare-rest
    name: Edinburgh DataShare REST API
    description: >-
      Public DSpace REST API for Edinburgh DataShare, the University's
      open-access research-data repository. Allows programmatic querying of
      communities, collections, items and bitstreams. Returns JSON.
    humanURL: https://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/datablog/2021/12/17/new-feature-in-edinburgh-datashare-the-rest-api/
    baseURL: https://datashare.ed.ac.uk/rest
    tags: [ Research Data, Repository, DSpace, Open Data ]
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://libraryblogs.is.ed.ac.uk/datablog/2021/12/17/new-feature-in-edinburgh-datashare-the-rest-api/
      - type: OpenAPI
        url: openapi/university-of-edinburgh-datashare-rest.yaml
      - type: JSONSchema
        url: json-schema/university-of-edinburgh-item-schema.json
      - type: x-json-structure
        url: json-structure/university-of-edinburgh-item-structure.json
      - type: x-examples
        url: examples/university-of-edinburgh-getItem-example.json
      - type: x-spectral-rules
        url: rules/university-of-edinburgh-rules.yml
      - type: x-vocabulary
        url: vocabulary/university-of-edinburgh-vocabulary.yml
      - type: x-json-ld-context
        url: json-ld/university-of-edinburgh-context.jsonld
  - aid: university-of-edinburgh:datashare-oai
    name: Edinburgh DataShare OAI-PMH
    description: >-
      Public OAI-PMH metadata harvesting endpoint for Edinburgh DataShare,
      exposing Dublin Core and other metadata formats for the University's
      research-data repository.
    humanURL: https://datashare.ed.ac.uk/
    baseURL: https://datashare.ed.ac.uk/oai/request
    tags: [ OAI-PMH, Metadata, Repository, Research Data ]
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://datashare.ed.ac.uk/oai/request?verb=Identify
  - aid: university-of-edinburgh:pure-oai
    name: Edinburgh Research Explorer (Pure) OAI-PMH
    description: >-
      Public OAI-PMH endpoint for the University's Pure research information
      system, surfaced publicly via Edinburgh Research Explorer. Supports
      harvesting of research-output metadata in multiple formats. Pure also
      offers SOAP and REST web services, but developer access to those is
      gated and granted case by case.
    humanURL: https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/
    baseURL: https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/oai
    tags: [ OAI-PMH, Metadata, Research Outputs, CRIS ]
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://www.pure.ed.ac.uk/ws/oai?verb=Identify
  - aid: university-of-edinburgh:enterprise-apis
    name: Enterprise APIs Programme (gated)
    description: >-
      The University's internal Enterprise APIs programme delivers Student
      Records, Timetabling and Staff APIs to support service integration.
      Documentation sits behind University SSO (Shibboleth/SAML) and these
      APIs are not publicly accessible; listed here for completeness only.
    humanURL: https://digital-strategy.ed.ac.uk/current-programmes-projects/enterprise-apis
    tags: [ Enterprise, Integration, Gated, Internal ]
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://digital-strategy.ed.ac.uk/current-programmes-projects/enterprise-apis
common:
  - type: Website
    url: https://www.ed.ac.uk/
  - type: GitHub
    url: https://github.com/uoe-is-apps
  - type: LinkedIn
    url: https://www.linkedin.com/school/university-of-edinburgh/
  - type: Authentication
    url: https://idp.ed.ac.uk/
  - type: Plans
    url: plans/university-of-edinburgh-plans-pricing.yml
  - type: RateLimits
    url: rate-limits/university-of-edinburgh-rate-limits.yml
  - type: FinOps
    url: finops/university-of-edinburgh-finops.yml
  - type: Review
    url: review.yml
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: [email protected]