Free Reference Checker

Check your reference list before you submit

Paste your bibliography and we will verify each entry against Crossref, flag broken DOIs, and identify formatting issues — in seconds, no login needed.

Verifies DOIs against Crossref (100M+ records)

Flags unresolvable or hallucinated citations

Detects missing years, authors, and source types

Works with APA, MLA, Chicago, IEEE, and Harvard

Inside Akowe you can fix every issue in one click — auto-reformat, find the real DOI, and insert the corrected reference back into your thesis.

Free Reference Checker

Checks against Crossref · Free for up to 5 references

What We Check For

DOI Verification

Each DOI is resolved against Crossref in real time. If it returns a 404, the source may be wrong, retracted, or hallucinated by an AI tool.

Format Issues

Missing year, unclear author format, or unidentifiable source type — common errors that examiners spot immediately.

Metadata Confirm

For verified DOIs we confirm the title, year, and authors match what Crossref holds — so you know the citation is attributed correctly.

Fix every reference inside Akowe

Sign up free and import your reference list. Akowe auto-formats citations in APA, MLA, Chicago, IEEE, or Harvard — and searches OpenAlex and Crossref to fill in missing details.

Get Started Free

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