What exactly does this tool do?
It helps detect AI-fabricated references, verifies references against open academic databases, and formats verified references in your selected citation style. Results are decision support; manually review yellow and red results.
How should I enter my references?
Put each reference on a separate line. Numbered lists are supported. You can also upload a .txt, .docx or .pdf file, or drag and drop the file onto the input area.
Can I upload a PDF or Word file?
Yes. .txt, .docx and .pdf files are supported. For a full article, the tool tries to extract the References/Bibliography section. Scanned or image-only PDFs may not contain selectable text and therefore may not be readable.
What do the green, yellow and red marks mean?
Green (Verified): a strong, consistent academic record match was found. Yellow (Unverified): no certain match was found; this does not mean fabricated. Red (Suspicious): strong risk signals such as a wrong/dead DOI or author-year-title conflicts were found. No color is an absolute verdict.
Does a green result guarantee that the reference is real?
No. Green means the tool found a strong and consistent record match; it is not an absolute guarantee. For critical work, also verify the DOI and publisher or journal page.
Does a red result mean the reference is definitely fabricated?
No. Red indicates strong conflicts or risk signals. The reference may be mistyped, have a wrong DOI or be affected by incomplete database records. Verify it manually using the DOI, journal page, Google Scholar or DergiPark.
Why was a real reference marked yellow?
The tool does not mark a reference green unless it finds a sufficiently strong match using the title, authors, year and DOI. Very new publications, national or niche journals, books, theses and conference papers may not appear in major indexes and can therefore be marked yellow even when real.
What does the score mean? For example, what is 88/100?
The score measures how consistently the title, authors, publication year, DOI and academic records match. A score of 88/100 indicates a strong match; it does not mean the reference has an 88% probability of being real. Evaluate it together with the color and warnings.
What does “Possible match” mean?
The tool found a similar academic record but is not confident enough that it is your reference. Compare the title, authors, year and DOI; ignore the suggestion if it is not correct.
What is the difference between authenticity and format checks?
The authenticity check compares the reference with academic database records. The format check examines punctuation, author order and fields against the selected style, such as APA or IEEE. A format issue does not mean the reference is fabricated.
Why are yellow or red references not automatically corrected?
Automatically correcting an unverified record could insert the wrong source into your bibliography. Only green verified references are formatted automatically; verify yellow and red results manually first.
What happens when I change the citation style?
The selected style does not change the verification result; it changes the corrected bibliography below. If you upload APA references and select IEEE, the corrected version, copied text and corrected CSV field are produced in IEEE style.
Which citation styles are supported, and how do I use custom format?
More than 20 styles are supported, including APA, Vancouver, IEEE, TÜBİTAK, TÜSEB, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, AMA, ACS, Nature, Science, Cell, The Lancet, BMJ and PLOS. For custom format, verify references first, enter an example reference or rules, then press Apply custom format.
What information is included in the CSV report?
The CSV includes each reference's status, raw reference, matched title, DOI and, for verified references only, the corrected output in the selected style.
Can a reference be verified without a DOI?
Yes. The tool can search using the title, authors and publication year. However, a DOI is strong verification evidence, so references without a DOI or with incomplete details are more likely to be marked yellow.
Can books, theses and conference papers be verified?
Partly. The tool is strongest for journal articles. Books, theses, conference papers and national publications may not be covered by the databases and may be marked yellow even when real.
Which databases do you use?
CrossRef, OpenAlex and Semantic Scholar are used for general article search, PubMed for biomedical publications, and DBLP for computer science; references containing an arXiv identifier are resolved through Semantic Scholar. DOI resolution and ISSN/journal verification are also used, with CORE open-access search as a last resort.
What should I do if a database query fails?
Temporary network, rate-limit or database outages can occur. Try again after a few minutes. Other databases may still work, but a failed query can reduce verification strength, so check the result manually through its DOI, Google Scholar or DergiPark.
Is my data safe?
Uploaded files are read in your browser and are not uploaded to our server. Bibliography text is not stored. Some searches, such as CrossRef and OpenAlex, run directly from the browser; PubMed, DBLP, ISSN/journal verification and last-resort CORE searches send the required title or ISSN through our server without storing it.
How can I report an incorrect result?
Use the 'Is this result wrong? Send feedback' button on the result card. Including the correct DOI or a short explanation helps us review it.
What are the usage limits and pricing?
Guests can check up to 5 references per query. Free members can check up to 20 per query and 30 references per day. Pro usage is unlimited; see the Pricing page for current prices.