Free Reference Checker
Paste your reference list. Each reference is looked up in Crossref and OpenAlex, so an invented one or a wrong DOI is caught before a reviewer sees it. Get the list back in APA, IEEE, Harvard or 10,000+ styles.
Up to 60 references a check · your list is not stored
- • Flags references no database lists, and DOIs that belong to another work
- • A match needs the title and, where listed, one of the authors
- • Web pages and theses are marked, not called missing
100%
of invented titles and invented DOIs caught in our test set
28 of 30
real titles written under other authors caught: how AI tools usually get it wrong
90-100%
of real references found: journals in 6 countries, books, biomedicine
Measured 19/10/2026 on 229 references: real ones from PubMed Central papers and from journals in Peru, Indonesia, Nigeria, India, Brazil and Turkey, books, and invented ones built from real records.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I check if my references are real?
- Paste your reference list, one reference per line. Labrix looks each one up in Crossref and OpenAlex, which together list hundreds of millions of articles, books and DOIs, and tells you which it could not find, which carry a DOI that belongs to a different work, and which are web pages or theses that paper databases do not list.
- Can it catch citations invented by ChatGPT or other AI tools?
- Yes. AI chat tools often write references that look right but do not exist, or put a real title under the wrong authors. A reference counts as found only when a listed work has its title and, where the record lists them, one of its authors. In our test set every invented title and invented DOI was caught, and 28 of 30 real titles written under other authors.
- Does "not found" mean the reference is fake?
- No. Some real works are not in these databases: older theses, reports, many web pages and some regional journals. "Not found" means check it: confirm the authors, title and year against the original.
- Which citation styles can I get my list in?
- Any of 10,000+ CSL styles, including APA 7, MLA 9, IEEE, Chicago, Harvard and Vancouver. References found are formatted from their registry record, and you can download them as BibTeX or RIS for Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote or LaTeX.
- Is it free? Is my list stored?
- It is free, with up to 60 references per check and 15 checks a day. Labrix does not store your list: each reference is looked up in Crossref and OpenAlex and the results are returned to you.
Checking a whole paper?
The free plagiarism checker reads your paper against 214 million documents and the web, and checks its reference list too.
Check your paper free