Ref-Check – Reference Checker & Verifier
Education. Research. Publishing. Professional writing.

Who Ref-Check is for.

Check the evidence. Improve citations. Share for human feedback.

From student assignments to research manuscripts and editorial review, Ref-Check helps people check citations, investigate source details and identify potential formatting issues. Optional Share for Feedback lets users invite others to annotate their work and discuss findings, while keeping academic and editorial judgement human-led.

Start using Ref-Check View features Institutional access
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Structured findings, human judgement.

Ref-Check identifies potential issues and supports discussion. People decide what the evidence means, what needs changing and what feedback to give.

Use cases

Different roles. Better checks and more useful feedback.

Whether you are preparing an assignment, reviewing a manuscript or helping someone else improve their work, Ref-Check provides practical support. Select an audience to explore how.

1

For academics

Support assessment, formative feedback and collaborative review.

  • Review citation–reference matches and investigate sources that may need attention.
  • Use supported in-text citation formatting guidance to explain technical issues.
  • Share checked work with colleagues or reviewers for passage-level comments.
2

For students

Check your work before submission and seek useful feedback.

  • Find missing or mismatched citations and investigate reference details.
  • See guidance on supported in-text citation formatting for your chosen style.
  • Invite a tutor or supervisor to annotate your document and findings.
3

For researchers

Prepare manuscripts with a clearer, more traceable evidence trail.

  • Check citation–reference consistency and investigate questionable source details.
  • Review supported formatting suggestions before submission or revision.
  • Invite collaborators to comment on checked drafts where sharing is appropriate.
4

For publishers, editors & peer reviewers

Support editorial screening and informed peer-review discussions.

  • Identify missing, mismatched or unclear references before publication.
  • Review supported in-text citation formatting against the selected style.
  • Share manuscripts and findings with invited peer reviewers for annotations.
5

For media & professional writers

Review cited sources in evidence-based articles and reports.

  • Check citation and reference-list consistency where supported.
  • Investigate incomplete or unclear source information before publication.
  • Share checked documents with colleagues for focused editorial comments.
6

For librarians & information specialists

Support referencing literacy, academic skills and guided review.

  • Help users investigate mismatched citations and source details.
  • Demonstrate common supported citation-formatting issues and guidance.
  • Use shared documents and annotations for one-to-one learning support.

Share for Feedback

An easier way to discuss what needs attention.

After checking a document, its owner can invite a tutor, supervisor, colleague, editor or peer reviewer through a secure, time-limited link. Invited reviewers sign in to view the document and findings, highlight passages and add comments. The original document and Ref-Check findings stay unchanged, and submitted feedback is available to the owner.

Sharing is optional, access can be revoked, and sharing or reviewing does not use checking credits. For publishers, this can support reference-focused peer-review discussions alongside existing editorial processes; it is not a replacement for a journal's peer-review management system.

Explore Share for Feedback and formatting checks

Free resource

Free referencing posters for teaching and support.

Download five printable posters to support students with source credibility, reference structure, reference lists and final checks before submission. They can be used in libraries, classrooms, academic skills sessions and VLE spaces.

Open poster resources Explore the Learning Hub

Want to see how Ref-Check fits your setting?

Check references, improve supported citation formatting and invite useful human feedback — whether you study, teach, research or review for publication.

Go to Ref-Check Institutional access