Citation Consistency Checker

A Citation Checker verifies whether your in-text citations correctly match your reference list, follow consistent formatting rules, and adhere to official citation style guidelines (APA, MLA, IEEE, Chicago, Harvard). Our tool uses rule-based pattern matching and regex analysis to detect citations, extract references, and cross-match them—all running locally in your browser without any API calls. It's like having an academic proofreader that never misses a missing reference.

Our Citation Checker supports 5 major academic citation styles: APA 7th Edition (Author, Year format), MLA 9th Edition (Author Page format), IEEE (Numeric [1] format), Chicago Author-Date, and Harvard Referencing. The tool can auto-detect which style you're using based on pattern scoring, or you can manually select your preferred style for more accurate validation.

The tool extracts citation keys (author names for author-date styles, numbers for IEEE) from your in-text citations, then searches your reference list for matching entries. It identifies: ✔ Matched pairs (citation has a corresponding reference), ❌ Missing references (citation exists but no reference found), and ⚠ Unused references (reference listed but never cited in text). This ensures every citation has proper attribution.

Yes! The Citation Checker validates formatting against style-specific rules. For APA, it checks for commas before years like (Smith, 2020). For MLA, it ensures page numbers follow author names without commas. For IEEE, it verifies sequential numbering [1], [2], [3]. Common errors flagged include: missing commas, incorrect parentheses usage, mixed citation styles, and improper ordering of references.

The Citation Quality Score (0-100) is calculated from three factors: Formatting Accuracy (are citations correctly formatted?), Citation Coverage (are there enough citations for the document length?), and Consistency (do all citations match to references?). A score of 90+ indicates excellent citation practices; 70-89 means minor issues exist; below 70 suggests significant problems that need attention before submission.

Yes! Our "Citation Coverage Warning" feature identifies long paragraphs (150+ words) that contain no citations. In academic writing, uncited paragraphs may suggest missing attribution, which could trigger plagiarism flags during formal checks. This is a preventive warning—not a plagiarism detector—but it helps you ensure every section with external ideas is properly credited.

Absolutely. For APA, MLA, Harvard, and Chicago styles, references must be alphabetized by author surname. For IEEE, references must follow numerical order based on first appearance in text. Our tool validates this ordering and flags any references that are out of sequence, helping you maintain style compliance before submission.

Yes. The duplicate detection feature normalizes each reference (lowercase, trimmed spacing) and compares them against each other. If the same source appears twice in your reference list—perhaps with minor formatting differences—the tool will flag it as a duplicate so you can remove the redundancy.

100% Private. All citation analysis happens locally in your browser using JavaScript. Your manuscript, citations, and reference list are never uploaded to any server. This makes the tool completely safe for checking dissertations, unpublished research, confidential papers, or any sensitive academic work. Your content stays on your device at all times.

Yes! After analysis, you can export your results as: PDF Report (professional formatted document with score, issues, and flow map), TXT File (plain text summary), or Copy to Clipboard (quick summary for notes). The PDF export shows only the citation report—ideal for submitting alongside your manuscript or for advisor review.

Yes! Once the page is loaded, you can disconnect from the internet and the Citation Checker will continue to function perfectly. All regex pattern matching, reference parsing, and scoring algorithms run entirely in your browser—no server connection is required after initial page load.