AI Reference Checker · Verification & Literature Discovery

The AI reference checker that also finds what you missed.

A reference checker and a missing-reference finder in one. PeerReviewAI checks every citation against PubMed and Crossref, flags retracted papers, checks that each cited abstract supports the claim it is attached to, identifies supporting and contradictory evidence you may have missed, and surfaces literature gaps that reviewers will notice — all cited with direct PubMed hyperlinks you can click and read.

Verify Your ReferencesSee How It Works
The combined capability

Two systems working together.

Most tools do one thing — check your reference list OR search the literature. PeerReviewAI does both, simultaneously, as part of every review.

Your existing references are verified for accuracy. At the same time, the system searches published literature to find studies you should know about — supporting evidence that strengthens your argument, contradictory evidence that reviewers will expect you to address, and foundational work that is conspicuously absent from your reference list. Both feed into the broader reporting guideline compliance checks that every review applies.

System 1 · Reference Verification
What you cited — verified.

Every reference cross-checked against published records — authors, year, journal, volume, issue, pages, DOIs, PMIDs. Discrepancies flagged with the exact mismatch, not a vague warning. References that cannot be matched to a published record are flagged as unverifiable. Each PubMed-matched abstract is then read against the claim it is cited for.

System 2 · Literature Discovery
What you missed — found.

While your references are being verified, the system searches published literature for studies relevant to your manuscript's claims, methods, and conclusions. Not generic suggestions — specific papers cited with author names, years, and direct PubMed hyperlinks, woven into the review at the exact point where they matter.

In the review itself

What appears in your review.

Literature citations are not buried in a footnote. They appear inline throughout your full review — in Strengths, Major Issues, Statistical Evaluation, Discussion. Every cited paper is a clickable PubMed hyperlink. Click it and you are reading the abstract. The per-reference verification table itself is in the published sample review.

This is how a good human reviewer writes — citing specific evidence to support specific points. The difference is that PeerReviewAI does it in minutes.

Example · Supporting evidence
Your finding of improved outcomes with early intervention is consistent with [Chen et al., 2024] who reported similar results in a larger multicenter cohort (n=1,247), and aligns with the systematic review by [Park & Williams, 2023] covering 14 trials.
Example · Contradictory evidence
However, the assumption that biomarker X predicts treatment response should be interpreted cautiously. [Nakamura et al., 2025] found no significant correlation in a prospectively enrolled cohort, and [Hoffmann et al., 2024] reported that the association disappeared after adjusting for disease severity.
Example · Missing literature
The reference list does not include [Okonkwo et al., 2023], a foundational study establishing the dose-response relationship that this manuscript's intervention is based on. Reviewers familiar with this field are likely to notice its absence.
Every bracketed citation is a clickable PubMed hyperlink in the actual review. These examples are illustrative of the format.
Verification

The reference checker — what gets checked.

01
Citation Accuracy
Author names, publication year, journal, volume, issue, and page numbers verified against published records. Every discrepancy surfaced with the specific mismatch.
02
DOI and PMID Validation
When your references include DOIs or PMIDs, they are resolved and verified. If a DOI points to a different paper than the one you cited, that mismatch is flagged immediately.
03
Title and Journal Verification
Reference titles compared against published titles to catch truncations, typos, and copy-paste errors; journal names and abbreviations checked for incorrect abbreviations, outdated names, and period-normalization issues that slip past manual checking.
04
Claim–Citation Alignment
For each reference matched in PubMed with an abstract, the review checks whether that abstract supports the claim the citation is attached to. Misrepresented conclusions, a preliminary finding cited as established, or a citation that supports a different point are flagged as Major Issues. Where the abstract cannot settle it, the review says so rather than guessing.
05
Unverifiable References
References that cannot be matched to any published record are flagged — a typo, a preprint never published, or a fabricated citation of the kind AI drafting tools hallucinate. An invented reference has no PubMed or Crossref record to match, so it is flagged here.
06
Retraction Screening
Every DOI-bearing reference is screened through Crossref for retraction and withdrawal notices. A citation to retracted work is flagged as retracted in the verification table — before an editor or a reviewer finds it.
Discovery

Missing references and literature gaps — what gets found.

01
Supporting Evidence
Studies that corroborate your findings, cited at the point in your review where they are relevant. Strengthens your manuscript by showing alignment with the existing evidence base.
02
Contradictory Evidence
Studies that report conflicting results or challenge your assumptions. Reviewers will know about these papers — better that you address them before submission than have them raised in peer review.
03
Missing Foundational Work
Landmark or highly-cited papers in your field that are absent from your reference list — the omission that signals unfamiliarity with the literature to a knowledgeable reviewer. The review's Literature Gap Analysis lists them by era, each with a PubMed link and a one-line reason it matters.
04
Recent Publications
The literature cited in your review includes recent publications — not just papers from years ago. Your review reflects the current state of the evidence, including studies published in recent weeks.
05
Directly Cited with Hyperlinks
Every paper is cited by author, year, and a clickable PubMed link. No vague "recent studies" or "the literature suggests." Specific papers. Specific links.
Included with every review

Reference verification + literature discovery — in both tiers.

Journal Brief$2.99
For papers you're reading
  • References verified
  • Literature cited in review
Peer Review$49
For the manuscript you're submitting
  • References verified against PubMed and Crossref
  • Retracted citations flagged
  • Literature cited throughout review
The impact

Why this changes everything.

Reviewers check your references — and your gaps.
A reference error undermines your credibility — and is a common driver of desk rejection. A missing foundational paper signals you do not know the field. PeerReviewAI catches both before a reviewer does.
The literature moves faster than you can read.
In most biomedical fields, hundreds of papers publish every month. No researcher can read them all. PeerReviewAI ensures your review reflects evidence you may not have seen yet.
Every claim backed by a specific citation.
PeerReviewAI does not say "some studies suggest." It says "[Author et al., Year]" with a link to the paper. Click it. Decide for yourself whether it changes your manuscript.
Protected by Anthropic’s Zero Data Retention
Your manuscript and references are never stored, logged, or used for training. Processed for the review, then gone.
Verified citations · linked evidence

Know what reviewers will find — before they find it.

FAQ

Questions, answered.

Don't see yours? Email us — we read every one.