Primary tool: Free Citation Checker. Cross-check a reference list against database records and flag inconsistencies for human review.

Fake Citation Checker — Review Suspicious References

Use a hallucinated citation checker to review AI-generated biomedical references. Compare source records and metadata before citing.

Sign in for 10 credits per month. Verification costs 3 credits per batch of up to 10 references; the Free plan supports up to 10 references per run.

Paste Format Example

Nguyen, P. (2020). Blockchain-based peer review in biomedical publishing. Science Advances, 6(12), eaaz1189.

Detected: 0 referencesEstimated cost: 3 credit(s)Sign up and get 10 credits

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What does a citation check tell you?

Separate publication existence, metadata agreement, and claim support. Record checking does not replace reading the paper. Coverage is strongest for biomedical literature and varies by source.

Metadata match: The checked fields agree. Read the source separately to assess claim support.
Metadata conflict: Open the source and correct the title, authors, year, or DOI before citing.
No record found: This is not proof of fabrication. Check spelling, identifiers, index coverage, and provider availability.

Worked example: a real DOI with the wrong year

The year below was deliberately changed to 2033 for this demonstration. Do not cite this altered entry.

Lincoff AM. Semaglutide and Cardiovascular Outcomes in Obesity without Diabetes. New England Journal of Medicine. 2033. doi:10.1056/nejmoa2307563

Frozen-source regression output and original record
Field	Submitted	Source record
Year	2033	2023
DOI	10.1056/NEJMoa2307563
Regression outcome	metadata_mismatch: Candidate exists, but publication year conflicts.

Next: open the DOI source, confirm the year and remaining fields, then read the paper. This outcome does not establish support for any specific claim.

Public test method and case-by-case results

Run date: 2026-10-22. These 24 curated regression cases use fixed provider responses. This is not a live detection rate, an independent evaluation, or a representative accuracy benchmark. Some variants derive from only two real papers. Coverage gaps, retraction signals, and outages are simulated conditions, not claims about those papers.

Frozen-response checks (pass means expected behavior)
Case category	Cases	Expected behavior passed
Accurate references and DOI inputs	6	6/6
References without a DOI	2	2/2
Incorrect publication years	2	2/2
Conflicting identifiers	2	2/2
Invented titles with real DOIs	2	2/2
Synthetic absent records	2	2/2
Simulated coverage gaps	2	2/2
Incomplete reference inputs	2	2/2
Simulated retraction signals	2	2/2
Simulated provider outages	2	2/2

Download inputs, expectations, and fixed sources (JSON)Download case-by-case run results (JSON)

Free credits and your next check

After sign-in, the Free plan includes 10 credits per month. Verification costs 3 credits per batch of up to 10 references; free accounts can submit up to 10 references per run. See pricing for additional credits and paid account limits.

How do I check an AI-generated reference before citing it?

Use the hallucinated citation checker as a reference existence checker first: compare the entry with available publication records, then inspect its metadata. For example, an AI-generated entry can attach a real DOI to the wrong title. Compare the returned record with the draft instead of accepting the DOI alone. A not found result is not proof that a reference is fabricated, and an existing record does not establish support for your claim.

Paste the reference list into LitSource Verify, keeping titles, authors, years, and DOIs where available.
Compare each returned source record with the supplied citation and inspect metadata conflicts.
For missing matches, check spelling and identifiers, then investigate the original source manually.
After confirming the publication details, read the study to assess whether it supports your specific claim.

Capabilities

Move from a claim to traceable sources with less friction

Find supporting literature, inspect source details, and continue with the right research workflow.

AI-generated reference checks

Check references from ChatGPT, Claude, or other writing tools against available scholarly records before keeping them in a biomedical draft.

Reference existence checker

Look for a corresponding publication record and compare the title, authors, year, journal, and DOI. Unmatched entries need manual review.

Metadata mismatch review

Inspect conflicts such as a real DOI attached to the wrong title, or an existing paper cited with incorrect authors or publication details.

Use cases

How people use it

Use LitSource when you already know which claim, citation, or reference list you need to investigate.

Clean up clinical reference lists

Review medical citations that look real but do not appear in PubMed or trusted biomedical databases.

Check clinical manuscript drafts

Screen biomedical bibliographies for fabricated papers before journal submission or peer review.

Review AI-assisted medical writing

Verify AI-generated clinical references before keeping them in systematic reviews or medical manuscripts.

FAQ

Questions before you start

Review common questions before searching for sources or checking citations.

The Free plan includes 10 credits per month after sign-in. Verification costs 3 credits per batch of up to 10 references. Free accounts can submit up to 10 references per run; this is a credit allowance, not unlimited free checking.

It compares supplied references with available source records to surface missing matches and conflicting bibliographic fields. The result guides source review; it does not prove that every unmatched reference was fabricated.

No. Finding a publication record confirms a source match, not claim support. Compare the citation details, then read the original study and its context before citing it.

LitSource opens the verification workspace so you can check biomedical references against available source records.

Related workflows

Continue with nearby research checks

Move between source discovery and citation verification workflows without returning to the home page.

How to detect fake citations in AI-generated papersOpen workflow AI citation checkerOpen workflow ChatGPT fake references checkerOpen workflow Verify if a paper is realOpen workflow

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