Chapter 7: External Source Data Collection
7.1 Online Article Search
Search and collect latest news articles using Google News RSS. No API key required.
Steps:
- Select the “Online Articles” tab in the left sidebar
- Enter search keywords (Japanese or English)
- Click the “Search” button
- Results appear in the table
Result Table Columns:
- Title
- URL
- Source (media name)
- Publication date
- Summary (snippet)
Additional Operations:
- Save results with “Save as CSV”
- Auto-tag articles with Auto-Code
Limitations:
- Google News RSS covers only recent news. Articles from several months ago may not be found
- Search results depend on Google’s RSS feed content
- Up to approximately 100 results per search
7.2 Academic Paper Search
Search academic paper metadata (title, authors, abstract, publication year, DOI, etc.) from multiple databases.
Selecting a Search Source
Switch search sources using the dropdown at the top of the screen.
| Source | Cost | Max Results | Features | API Key |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | Free | 200 | Comprehensive academic paper database. Recommended | Not required |
| Semantic Scholar | Free | 100 | AI-filtered paper database | Not required |
| arXiv | Free | 200 | Preprints. Strong in physics, CS, math | Not required |
| IEEE Xplore | Paid | 200 | IEEE/IET electrical, electronic, information papers | Required |
Running a Search
- Select a search source from the dropdown
- Enter a search query (e.g., “machine learning natural language processing”)
- Click the “Search” button
- Results appear in the table
Result Table Columns:
- Title
- Authors
- Abstract / Summary
- Year
- DOI
- Source (journal name, etc.)
- Citation Count (available depending on source)
Working with Results
- Duplicate Detection: Papers with the same DOI are automatically flagged
- No-abstract Filter: Filter out papers without abstracts
- Auto-Coding: AI automatically assigns theme codes to papers
- CSV Export: Download including code columns
IEEE Xplore Setup
To use IEEE Xplore, you need to obtain an API key from the IEEE Developer Portal.
- Visit the IEEE Developer Portal (https://developer.ieee.org/)
- Create an account and obtain an API key
- Enter the key in the “IEEE Xplore API Key” field on the ThinkNavi Settings page
7.3 Patent Information Search
Search US patents using the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) PatentsView API. No API key required.
Steps:
- Select the “Patent Information” tab in the left sidebar
- Enter search keywords in English (e.g., “neural network text classification”)
- Click the “Search” button
Result Table Columns:
- Patent Number
- Title
- Abstract
- Filing Date
- Grant Date
- Inventors
- Assignee
Notes:
- Only US patents are searched (USPTO database)
- Enter search keywords in English
- Results can be saved as CSV
7.4 Troubleshooting
| Issue | Cause and Solution |
|---|---|
| Online article search returns 0 results | Change keywords. Niche keywords may return few results |
| Academic paper search is slow | Semantic Scholar or arXiv may be slow due to server congestion. Wait and retry |
| “API Key Error” with IEEE search | Verify that the IEEE Xplore API key is correctly registered in Settings |
| Can’t use Japanese keywords for patent search | USPTO supports English only. Convert keywords to English for searching |
| Search results have empty abstracts | Not all papers have abstracts registered. Use the no-abstract filter to exclude them |