Does the checker verify the source actually exists?

No. It is a structural format check, not a fact check. It inspects the wording and punctuation patterns each style relies on, so it cannot confirm a book, article, or page is real, or that the author, title, and date are accurate. Always verify the underlying facts against the source itself.

Why does it sometimes warn about a check rather than fail it?

Many citation rules depend on context the tool cannot see, such as whether an entry is the reference-list version or the in-text version, or whether a page genuinely has no date. A warning means the pattern looks risky and is worth a human look, not that it is definitely wrong.

Is my reference sent to a server?

No. All of the checking runs in your browser. Nothing you paste is uploaded, stored, or compared against any database or the web, which also means it cannot and does not search for plagiarism. It only analyses the single string you give it.

Why are the checks different for each style?

Because the styles really do differ. APA and Harvard put the year in parentheses near the start; MLA joins two authors with and rather than an ampersand; APA 7 lists up to twenty authors in the reference list and only uses et al. in text. Choosing the right style turns on the relevant checks.

Can it fix the citation for me?

It does not rewrite your entry, it diagnoses it, so you stay in control of the wording. If you would rather build a correct reference from metadata, use the citation generator, which formats a source from a URL, DOI, or ISBN, then paste the result back here to confirm it passes.

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Citation checker

Paste a reference and get an instant, plain-language report on the structural problems that cost the most marks: a missing year, an author block in the wrong order, a dropped DOI, the old “Retrieved from” wording APA 7 removed, and missing closing punctuation. It checks the format of the text you paste against APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, and Harvard conventions, entirely in your browser.

Paste one reference to check

Paste a reference above and pick its style. The checker flags missing years, author-order and connector slips, dropped DOIs, the “Retrieved from” wording APA 7 removed, and missing closing punctuation, all without sending your text anywhere.

This is a structural format check, not a fact check. It cannot confirm a source exists or that its details are accurate; it inspects the wording and punctuation patterns each style relies on. Use it as a second pair of eyes before you submit, and verify anything important against the official style manual.

About the Citation checker

The citation checker reads one reference at a time and reports the structural problems that lose the most marks, in plain language. It looks for a missing publication year, an author block that is not in the surname-first order a reference list needs, a DOI written as a bare number instead of a clickable link, the old Retrieved from wording that APA 7 dropped, and a final entry with no closing punctuation. It checks the wording and pattern of the text you paste, not whether the source is real.

Use it as a second pair of eyes before you submit. Paste an entry, pick its style, APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago, or Harvard, and you get an ordered list of issues to fix, things to review, and checks that already pass. It pairs with the citation generator, which builds a correct reference from scratch, and the bibliography builder, which assembles and sorts the whole list.

How to use it

Copy one reference-list entry from your document and paste it into the box. Check one entry at a time for the clearest report.
Select the style the entry is meant to follow. The checks change with the style, because the rules genuinely differ.
Read the summary pills to see at a glance how many issues are errors to fix, warnings to review, and passing checks.
Work down the findings list. Errors come first, then warnings, then passes, each with a short explanation of what to change.
Fix the entry in your document, paste the corrected version back, and confirm the errors and warnings have cleared.

Examples

Catching dropped APA 7 wording

Paste an APA entry ending 'Retrieved from https://example.com/article'. The checker flags an error: APA 7 removed Retrieved from before a URL for fixed-content sources. You delete those two words, leave the bare URL, re-check, and the error clears. That one change is a common, easy mark to lose and to recover.

Spotting an MLA author-connector slip

Paste 'Smith, John & Jane Doe. The Shape of Water. Aqua Press, 2021.' in MLA mode. The checker warns that MLA joins two authors with the word and, not an ampersand, which belongs to APA and Harvard. You swap the ampersand for and, and the entry now matches MLA's two-author rule.

Frequently asked questions

Does the checker verify the source actually exists?: No. It is a structural format check, not a fact check. It inspects the wording and punctuation patterns each style relies on, so it cannot confirm a book, article, or page is real, or that the author, title, and date are accurate. Always verify the underlying facts against the source itself.
Why does it sometimes warn about a check rather than fail it?: Many citation rules depend on context the tool cannot see, such as whether an entry is the reference-list version or the in-text version, or whether a page genuinely has no date. A warning means the pattern looks risky and is worth a human look, not that it is definitely wrong.
Is my reference sent to a server?: No. All of the checking runs in your browser. Nothing you paste is uploaded, stored, or compared against any database or the web, which also means it cannot and does not search for plagiarism. It only analyses the single string you give it.
Why are the checks different for each style?: Because the styles really do differ. APA and Harvard put the year in parentheses near the start; MLA joins two authors with and rather than an ampersand; APA 7 lists up to twenty authors in the reference list and only uses et al. in text. Choosing the right style turns on the relevant checks.
Can it fix the citation for me?: It does not rewrite your entry, it diagnoses it, so you stay in control of the wording. If you would rather build a correct reference from metadata, use the citation generator, which formats a source from a URL, DOI, or ISBN, then paste the result back here to confirm it passes.

Good to know

Treat the checker as a triage step, not a final authority. It is deliberately conservative: it catches the high-frequency, high-cost mistakes, missing dates, author order, ampersand versus and, bare DOIs, dropped APA wording, missing end punctuation, because those are the ones students and writers actually make and graders actually penalise. It does not attempt to model every clause of every style manual, since edition-specific details and discipline conventions vary, and an over-confident automatic verdict on those would do more harm than good.

When the checker and your style manual disagree, follow the manual, and follow your institution above both. Citation rules change between editions, departments sometimes publish their own house variant, and a tutor's brief overrides the general rule every time. The checker's job is to stop the obvious errors leaving your document; the final, authoritative call on a contested point belongs to the official style guide for the edition you are required to use.

Need to build a reference from scratch instead of checking one? The citation generator formats a source from a URL, DOI, or ISBN, and the bibliography builder assembles and sorts a full reference list. To clean up an exported file of references, use the bibliography cleanup tool.