Every reference. Actually checked.

Paste your bibliography. We verify each reference against CrossRef and OpenAlex — the registries of record for scholarly publishing — and flag anything that doesn't exist. Catch AI-fabricated citations before your reviewer, editor, or supervisor does.

Free: 10 references per check. No signup. Have a key?

Pricing

Free

10 references per check, 30 checks a day. No signup. Enough to spot-check — and to see a red flag with your own eyes.

Manuscript Pass — $6

One full manuscript, up to 300 references. Re-check for 48 hours while you fix what we flag. One-time purchase, no subscription.

Pro — $9/month

For editors, supervisors, and writing centers: manuscript after manuscript, all month. Fair use: 5 manuscripts a day, 30 a month.

Institutions (journals, libraries, writing programs): site licenses available — contact@citefact.com

Why this exists

AI writing assistants fabricate plausible-looking citations. Lawyers have been sanctioned for citing cases that don't exist; papers have been retracted over phantom references. Three minutes here is cheaper.

How it works

Deterministic lookups, no AI guessing. A fabricated DOI that doesn't resolve, a title no registry has ever seen, an author who never wrote that paper — each is flagged with the closest real match shown, so you can fix typos too.

Honest limits

Coverage is strongest for English-language journals and books. Chinese-language sources, legal case citations, grey literature, and very recent preprints are marked "unverifiable" rather than guessed at. A red flag means: check this one by hand.