Trusted by researchers and scholarly publishers

Validate references before submission

CheckRef helps editorial teams verify bibliographic citations against DOI.org, Crossref, and OpenAlex — then export a clean validation report you can share with authors.

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Process

How CheckRef works

Four clear steps from a raw bibliography to validated, export-ready results.

1

Add references

Paste your bibliography, upload DOCX/PDF, or fetch from an article URL.

2

Parse & extract

CheckRef splits citations and extracts bibliographic metadata automatically.

3

Cross-reference

Each row is checked on DOI.org, then Crossref and OpenAlex when needed.

4

Review & export

Resolve discrepancies and download Word, PDF, or shareable reports.

Features

Everything for accurate citation validation

The same validation engine as CheckRef Verify — presented in a clean, editorial-friendly interface.

1

Automated metadata extraction

Authors, titles, years, journals, volumes, and DOIs are identified from APA, Vancouver, numbered, and mixed lists.

2

Multi-source matching

DOI.org is authoritative; Crossref and OpenAlex provide bibliographic fuzzy matching when no DOI is confirmed.

3

Transparent status reporting

Each reference is confirmed, needs review, or not found — so editors know exactly what to fix.

4

Crossref Link References

Unmatched rows link to Crossref’s reference search with paginated candidate matches on the landing check.

5

Secure accounts & history

Signed-in users keep validation jobs, credits, and export history in one workspace.

6

Editorial toolkit

DOI Tools, ScholaRef, RefLens, and XML validators live on the same CheckRef platform.

Who it's for

Built for scholarly publishing workflows

From dissertation prep to peer-reviewed journal production.

Researchers & authors

Find citation errors before submission and verify every DOI resolves to the intended article.

Journal editors

Screen manuscripts faster, flag incomplete references early, and reduce copy-editing rework.

Publishers & teams

Enforce consistent reference quality across large manuscript volumes with shared reports.

Ready to clean up your bibliography?

Create a free account and start validating references in minutes.

Sign In

No password needed — use Google or get a secure link by email.

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Create Account

No password needed — use Google or get a secure link by email.

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Complete Your Profile

One last step before we submit your account for approval.

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