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Free reference checker
Upload your paper as a PDF, or paste its reference list. Each reference is looked up in the major bibliographic databases; you see which ones can't be found and which have been retracted.
Only the references are looked up, in public databases; the rest of your paper is not sent anywhere. Your text and file are not stored. Privacy Policy · Terms.
References are one part of it. DeskReady checks the whole paper the same way: numbers against tables, claims against results, figures against the text. Your first check is free.
Check your whole paperWhat it checks
Each reference is searched in Crossref, PubMed and PMC (via Europe PMC), arXiv, DBLP, NASA ADS, INSPIRE-HEP, OpenAlex and DataCite, and books in Open Library. A reference counts as found when a database has a work whose title matches it, with the year and venue to agree. For every reference with a DOI, Crossref's retraction notices are checked too; they include the Retraction Watch database.
A reference no database knows is listed for you to check. That doesn't make it fake: it may be mistyped, very new, or from a source these databases don't cover. Web pages, books and reports are not flagged just for being absent. How to check one by hand: how to check that your references are real.
Only interested in retractions? The retraction checker lists those first and also takes plain DOIs.
Questions
Which databases does it search?
Crossref, PubMed and PMC (via Europe PMC), arXiv, DBLP, NASA ADS, INSPIRE-HEP, OpenAlex and DataCite, plus Open Library for books. Retraction notices come from Crossref, which includes the Retraction Watch database.
Does 'not found' mean the reference is fake?
No. It means none of these databases has a work with that title. Check the entry by hand: it may be mistyped, very new, or in a source these databases don't cover. Web pages, books and reports are not flagged for being absent.
Is my paper stored?
No. An uploaded PDF is read only to extract its reference list and deleted right after; references are used to run the lookups and are not stored or logged.