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Alongside its tools, the Scite MCP server exposes four prompts — prebuilt, parameterized workflows that walk a model through a research task using the Scite tools. Clients that support MCP prompts surface them as slash commands, templates, or a picker. Prompts are workflows, not tools. Retrieving one returns instructions for the model to follow; it doesn’t call anything by itself. The steps inside then use search_literature.

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The prompts

Optional arguments may be left blank. Omitting a required argument returns JSON-RPC error -32602.

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literature-review

Plans several search_literature queries using domain vocabulary and Boolean operators, reads the most relevant papers section by section with targeted term queries, checks editorial notices before citing anything, synthesizes themes and contradictions across the set, and closes with an APA reference list. Pass focus to emphasize an angle — clinical outcomes, methods, and so on.

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fact-check-claim

Breaks a claim into its key assertions, searches for each, reads Smart Citation snippets and full-text excerpts, compares what the papers actually report against the claim, and returns a verdict of supported, partially supported, unsupported, or contradicted, with references.

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systematic-review-screen

Builds a comprehensive query set covering synonyms and Boolean variants, assesses each candidate paper against your criteria, and records an include or exclude decision per paper with a one-line rationale. Pass inclusion_criteria to specify population, study type, date bounds, or anything else that governs the screen.

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verify-bibliography

Parses a reference into its fields, looks it up — preferring dois, then titles, then a term query built from title and first author — and reports matches and discrepancies: wrong year, omitted authors, misattributed journal, incorrect or missing DOI. It also checks for retractions, since a citation can be accurate and still point to a withdrawn paper. If no record matches, it says so rather than guessing.

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Using prompts

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.

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Discover them

Each entry returns name, title, description, and arguments.

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Retrieve one

The response is the rendered prompt, with your arguments substituted, ready to send to a model.

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A shared discipline

All four prompts enforce the same rules, which are worth applying to any Scite MCP workflow you write yourself:
  • Cite only papers actually retrieved through the tools — never from model memory.
  • Quote full-text excerpts and Smart Citation snippets as evidence rather than paraphrasing them away.
  • Check editorialNotices for retractions and corrections before citing any paper.
  • Read papers incrementally with dois plus targeted term queries instead of pulling large result sets.
  • End with an APA reference list.