Ref-Check – Reference Checker & Verifier

User guide

Step-by-step guidance for checking references, understanding citation-formatting findings and sharing your work for human feedback.

This guide explains how to use Ref-Check and interpret its findings. For help with referencing basics, see the Learning Hub. For supported file types and common questions, see the FAQs. The guide describes the user experience rather than internal rules or thresholds.
Get started Review findings Citation formatting Show Me Share for Feedback For invited reviewers Privacy & permissions

What Ref-Check is for

Ref-Check helps you examine in-text citations, reference-list entries and the details of cited sources. It highlights potential mismatches, missing information and supported citation-formatting issues so you can decide what needs attention.

You can also use Share for Feedback to invite another person to review a document and its findings, highlight passages and leave comments. Ref-Check supports academic and editorial judgement; it does not replace it.

What Ref-Check does not do

Ref-Check is a checking and feedback tool. It does not:

  • detect plagiarism or determine whether academic misconduct has occurred
  • grade a piece of work or assess the quality of its argument, writing or originality
  • guarantee that every citation, reference or source detail has been identified or verified
  • replace a referencing-style guide, an academic assessor, an editor or a peer reviewer

Any indicators or warnings are prompts to investigate, not verdicts about a document or its author.

1. Getting started

  1. Go to the Ref-Check portal and sign in or create your account.
  2. Start a document check and follow the on-screen instructions to upload your work.
  3. Choose the relevant referencing approach where the interface asks for one. Use the style required by your university, publisher or organisation.

For the most useful results, the document should contain selectable text, in-text citations and a clearly identifiable reference list. Ref-Check needs to be able to extract the text reliably; scanned or image-only content may limit the checks.

Refer to the FAQs for the currently supported document formats and account questions.

2. Running a check

  1. Once your document is ready, start the analysis using the on-screen control.
  2. Follow the displayed progress while Ref-Check checks citations, references and available source details.
  3. Open the completed results when processing finishes.

Processing time can vary with document length and complexity. A completed check provides information for review; it does not change the uploaded document for you.

3. Understanding your results

The results bring related findings together so you can work through them. Select a finding to read its details in a focused panel, rather than relying only on the overview.

Depending on the document and what can be recognised, you may see findings about:

  • in-text citations without a corresponding reference-list entry
  • reference-list entries that do not appear to have been cited
  • differences in names, years, publication information, DOIs or URLs
  • potential citation-formatting inconsistencies for the selected style
  • source details that could not be confidently verified from available information

A finding is not necessarily an error. An unmatched citation might reflect a recognition limitation; a source that cannot be verified is not automatically fabricated. Compare the finding with your original document, the source itself and any relevant institutional or publication guidance.

4. Reviewing citation-formatting guidance

Ref-Check can identify certain possible formatting issues in confidently recognised in-text citations. Its guidance follows the referencing approach selected for the check and can draw attention to details such as punctuation, spacing, separators and how missing dates are presented.

  1. Open the citation-formatting findings in your completed results, where any have been identified.
  2. Read the explanation of what may be inconsistent with the selected style.
  3. Compare the cited passage with your own style guide and decide whether a correction is needed.
  4. Make any changes in your original document, then check it again if you want to review the revised version.
Important limitation: The current formatting checks focus primarily on confidently recognised, standalone parenthetical author–date citations. They are not a comprehensive audit of every citation form or every reference-list formatting rule. The absence of a warning does not confirm that the formatting is correct.

5. Using “Show Me” and the document view

Where a finding includes Show Me, use it to locate the relevant passage in the document view. This helps you compare Ref-Check's explanation with the wording and citation as they appear in context.

  1. Select a finding to open its focused explanation.
  2. Use Show Me if it is offered for that finding.
  3. Inspect the indicated position in the document or PDF view, then return to the explanation as needed.

Not every finding will necessarily have a precise document location. Ref-Check identifies areas to review; it does not automatically rewrite your source file.

6. Sharing a document for feedback

Share for Feedback lets you invite specific people to review your document and Ref-Check findings. It can help a student discuss an assignment with a tutor, an academic seek input from a colleague, or an editor ask a peer reviewer to examine referencing concerns.

  1. Open the document or completed check you want someone else to review.
  2. Use the Share for Feedback option and follow the on-screen invitation process.
  3. Check that the intended recipient is correct before sending the invitation.
  4. The invited reviewer signs in to Ref-Check to access the shared material and provide feedback.
  5. Return to the shared review to read the comments and decide what, if anything, to change in your original document.

Sharing is optional and invitations are time-limited. You can invite more than one person for independent feedback. Creating a sharing invitation and reviewing a shared document do not themselves use checking credits.

7. If you have been invited to review

  1. Open the invitation and sign in to your own Ref-Check account as directed.
  2. Review the shared document alongside its Ref-Check findings.
  3. Highlight relevant passages and add comments where clarification, correction or discussion would be helpful.
  4. Make your feedback specific: identify the passage, explain the concern and, where appropriate, suggest what the author or editor should verify.

Reviewers contribute feedback rather than editing the original uploaded document. The person who shared the work remains responsible for deciding how to act on comments. If an invitation has expired, contact the person who sent it.

Using Share for Feedback in editorial or peer review

Editors and reviewers can use shared documents and findings to discuss missing references, uncertain source details or citation-formatting concerns. The feature supports human peer-review activity; it is not a journal submission or peer-review management system and should not be assumed to provide anonymous or double-blind review.

Before sharing an unpublished or confidential manuscript, confirm that you have permission to do so and that the journal's or organisation's confidentiality and reviewer policies permit use of the service.

Using Ref-Check responsibly

Ref-Check can support pre-submission checking, formative teaching and feedback, academic skills work, research manuscript preparation and editorial review. Findings should always be checked against the source material and relevant style requirements.

Do not treat a warning or verification indicator as proof of misconduct, fabrication or poor scholarship. Ref-Check should not be the sole basis for high-stakes decisions; academic, editorial and professional judgement remains essential.

Privacy, permissions and data handling

Documents are processed to provide Ref-Check's checks and are not used to train AI systems or retained as a reusable training corpus. Sharing is initiated by the person who chooses to invite a reviewer, so only share work you are entitled to disclose, and check the recipient carefully.

An invitation gives its intended recipient access to shared material for review; it is not the same as keeping your document private to your own account. Refer to the site's policies for current information on handling, retention and access controls.

Getting help

For common account and technical questions, consult the FAQs. For referencing basics and help interpreting results, visit the Learning Hub. If you need further assistance, please contact us.

Contact: info@ref-check.co.uk

Final note

Ref-Check is designed to be calm, predictable and explainable. It helps people find potential referencing issues and share constructive feedback, while keeping interpretation, correction and decision-making in human hands.