Reference Check takes a document (PDF or DOCX), extracts its references, and evaluates each one against Scite’s citation data. It surfaces retractions, contradicting citations, and other flags associated with the cited sources. This is an asynchronous, poll-based flow.
Need an API key? On Pro, create one in the API Console. Creating a key doesn’t grant every optional scope; see Authentication for feature access. For higher limits or managed credentials, contact sales.
Reference Check requires a paid license and isn’t included in a standard self-service Pro key. Email sales to get access, then generate a new key from the API Console once it’s enabled on your account. 1. Submit the document
You can either upload the file directly or point to a URL:
The response contains a task ID:
2. Poll for the result
Poll until the task status is no longer pending. The response includes the current state and, once complete, the evaluated references.
Back off between polling requests and enforce an overall timeout. See Errors and rate limits.
An unrecognized or mistyped task_id doesn’t return a 404, it returns 200 {"status": "PENDING"} just like a real in-progress task. Hold onto the exact ID from the submit response rather than reconstructing it, or you can end up polling a task that will never complete.
Other task operations
