What is a citation checker?
A citation checker compares a reference with scholarly records to find missing publications, invalid identifiers, and mismatched metadata such as title, author, year, or journal.
Citation Checker
Paste your references or DOIs and check them against Crossref, OpenAlex, PubMed, and Semantic Scholar. ScholarSafe flags citations that can't be verified so you can catch fake AI-generated references before you submit.
Up to 5 references or DOIs · no sign-up needed.
How it works
1
Paste references or DOIs
Add up to five references, one per line.
2
Search scholarly databases
ScholarSafe searches Crossref, OpenAlex, PubMed, and Semantic Scholar.
3
Review each result
Each reference is marked verified, needs review, or not found — with the matched record when available.
What a citation check can and cannot tell you
A valid match means a real scholarly record exists with matching metadata. It does not prove that the source supports your claim — you still need to read the work and assess the evidence. Books, older works, and items without a DOI may not appear in every database and can require manual review.
Citation checker FAQ
Can it detect AI-generated fake citations?
ScholarSafe searches Crossref, OpenAlex, PubMed, and Semantic Scholar and flags references that cannot be verified or whose metadata does not match. A flagged result still requires human review.
Does a valid DOI prove a source supports my claim?
No. A valid DOI helps confirm that a publication exists and that its metadata matches. Researchers must still read the source and confirm that it supports the claim being cited.