# Citation Risk

Check 50 references free. Catch fake, broken, mismatched, and incomplete citations before the document leaves your desk.

Paste a reference list. Citation Risk checks whether each reference appears to exist and whether key metadata matches public bibliographic records.
No card. No paper upload. No AI detector guessing.

[Check 50 references free](https://app.citationrisk.com/)

## Fabricated citations are no longer theoretical.

A 2026 Lancet study of biomedical papers found the rate of papers containing fabricated references rose from roughly 1 in 2,828 in 2023 to 1 in 277 in early 2026.
That is why citation checking needs to happen before submission.

## See what Citation Risk checks

- **Verified**: The source appears to exist and key metadata matches.
- **Mismatch**: A likely source was found, but supplied details do not match the public record.
- **Not Found**: No reliable matching source was found. This does not prove the source does not exist anywhere.
- **Review**: Possible match or ambiguity needs human checking.
- **Incomplete**: Not enough citation data was supplied for reliable verification.
- **Lookup Limited**: A lookup source was unavailable or limited, so the result should be reviewed.

Citation Risk checks whether references appear to exist and whether comparable metadata matches public bibliographic records, including title, author, year, venue, and DOI/source link where available.

**Trust boundary:** Citation Risk checks citation existence and bibliographic metadata accuracy. It does not prove that a source supports a claim.

## Not a formatter. Not an AI detector. Not AI fog.

Citation Risk does not try to guess who wrote the text. It does not format citations into APA or MLA. It checks whether references appear to exist and whether their metadata matches the public record.
- A formatted citation can still be fake.
- A related source is not a verified citation.
- A real source can still be a wrong citation.

## Frequently Asked Questions

**Does Citation Risk verify that a source supports a claim?**
No. Citation Risk checks citation existence and bibliographic metadata accuracy. It does not assess whether the source supports the surrounding argument.

**Do users need to upload a full paper?**
No. Citation Risk works from pasted citations, reference lists, or citation-containing text.

**Is Citation Risk a citation formatter?**
No. Citation Risk is not a citation generator or formatter. It checks citation risk before users trust or polish the reference.