diff --git a/controllers/api/searchController.js b/controllers/api/searchController.js
index 09a48d6..97c56cc 100644
--- a/controllers/api/searchController.js
+++ b/controllers/api/searchController.js
@@ -1,14 +1,26 @@
 const Software = require('../../models/software');
 
 const searchSoftware = async (req, res) => {
-  const { name } = req.query;
-  const response = await Software.find({
+  const page = parseInt(req.query.page, 10) || 0;
+  const perPage = parseInt(req.query.per_page, 10) || 30;
+  const query = {
     name: {
-      $regex: name,
+      $regex: req.query.q,
       $options: 'i',
     },
+  };
+
+  const queryResponse = await Software.find(query)
+    .sort({ name: 'asc' })
+    .skip(page * perPage)
+    .limit(perPage);
+
+  const totalQueryResultCount = await Software.find(query).countDocuments();
+
+  return res.status(200).json({
+    totalQueryResultCount,
+    queryResponse,
   });
-  return res.status(200).json(response);
 };
 
 module.exports = {
diff --git a/models/software.js b/models/software.js
index c05c58d..7f99759 100644
--- a/models/software.js
+++ b/models/software.js
@@ -34,9 +34,10 @@ const softwareSchema = new mongoose.Schema(
     homePage: {
       type: String,
       validate: [
-        (value) => isURL(value, {
-          protocols: ['http', 'https'],
-        }),
+        (value) =>
+          isURL(value, {
+            protocols: ['http', 'https'],
+          }),
         'A valid url is required',
       ],
       required: [true, 'Software homepage url is required'],
@@ -64,8 +65,9 @@ const softwareSchema = new mongoose.Schema(
     developedBy: {
       type: [
         {
-          type: mongoose.Schema.Types.ObjectId,
-          ref: 'User',
+          type: String,
+          trim: true,
+          lowercase: true,
         },
       ],
       default: [],
@@ -73,8 +75,9 @@ const softwareSchema = new mongoose.Schema(
     maintainedBy: {
       type: [
         {
-          type: mongoose.Schema.Types.ObjectId,
-          ref: 'User',
+          type: String,
+          trim: true,
+          lowercase: true,
         },
       ],
       default: [],
@@ -87,9 +90,10 @@ const softwareSchema = new mongoose.Schema(
       updateUrl: {
         type: String,
         validate: [
-          (value) => isURL(value, {
-            protocols: ['http', 'https'],
-          }) || value === '',
+          (value) =>
+            isURL(value, {
+              protocols: ['http', 'https'],
+            }) || value === '',
           'A valid update url is required',
         ],
         default: '',
@@ -97,9 +101,10 @@ const softwareSchema = new mongoose.Schema(
       downloadUrl: {
         type: String,
         validate: [
-          (value) => isURL(value, {
-            protocols: ['http', 'https', 'ftp'],
-          }) || value === '',
+          (value) =>
+            isURL(value, {
+              protocols: ['http', 'https', 'ftp'],
+            }) || value === '',
           'A valid download url is required',
         ],
         default: '',
diff --git a/requests/api/softwares/search_software.rest b/requests/api/softwares/search_software.rest
index 7b9ce33..67d34cc 100644
--- a/requests/api/softwares/search_software.rest
+++ b/requests/api/softwares/search_software.rest
@@ -1 +1 @@
-GET http://localhost:3001/api/search/software?name=sample
\ No newline at end of file
+GET http://localhost:3001/api/search/software?q=sample&per_page=1&page=0
\ No newline at end of file