RefGuard: Reference Integrity for Scientific Manuscripts
RefGuard checks every reference in your manuscript against the published record, flagging retracted papers, hallucinated citations, and references that do not support your claims. It also shows you the quality, diversity, and balance of your bibliography, so you know how your citations hold up before anyone else looks.
Why Reference Integrity Matters
References carry the weight of a manuscript’s claims, and they fail quietly. A cited paper can be retracted years after publication. AI writing tools can invent citations that look perfectly real. A source can be cited for something it never actually says. Reviewers and editors check references, and increasingly, so do automated screening systems at journals.
Finding these problems before submission protects the work, the authors, and everyone who builds on it afterwards.
Retractions Keep Getting Cited
Retracted papers continue to accrue citations years after withdrawal, carrying discredited findings into new work.
AI Writing Tools Invent References
Language models can generate citations that look plausible but do not exist in the published record.
Claims Outrun Their Citations
A reference can be real and still fail to support the claim it is attached to.
Reviewers and Editors Check First
Reference quality shapes the first impression a manuscript makes at submission and in review.
Retracted Papers. Hallucinated References. Unsupported Claims.
The reference problems most likely to end in rejection, revision, or correction. RefGuard surfaces all of them before peer review or editorial scrutiny.
Retracted References
Citations that point to papers retracted after publication, cross-referenced with the Retraction Watch database.
Hallucinated References
References that do not exist in the published record, including citations invented by AI writing tools.
Unsupported Claims
Citations that do not support the claim they are attached to, shown with the mismatch in context.
RefGuard also warns about risks that are often overlooked during preparation, such as sources detected as paratexts rather than published papers, and references that may be outdated.
Inside the RefGuard Report
One upload produces a complete, navigable report of your bibliography.
Dashboard
Your manuscript’s overall reference quality at a glance: risk levels, scores, and quick links to each analysis page.
Risk Analysis
Flags potential issues in your citations. Major issues indicate confirmed retractions; warnings cover paratexts and less recent sources.
Quality Analysis
Four scores, Quality, Impact, Citation, and Diversity, that show how balanced and well-rounded your reference list is.
Comparative Insights
See how your citation patterns compare with field averages.
Reference Explorer
A detailed, sortable list of every reference, each shown in context, with filters and export.
From Upload to Insight
Upload Upload your manuscript.
RefGuard Analyzes Every reference is checked against the published record.
Review A dashboard of risk levels, each finding in context, and the full reference explorer.
Trusted by Leading Institutions and Publishers
250K+ Manuscripts
Scanned using Proofig AI to uphold research integrity
Global
Trust
Adopted by top-tier publishers, journals, and research institutions
Seamless Integration
Integrated into pre-submission and editorial screening workflows
Integrity Support
Used by researchers, editors, and ethics officers worldwide
Built for Everyone Who Depends on Citations
Researchers
Check your bibliography before submission, while every fix is still easy.
Research Institutions
Screen references in every manuscript before it leaves the institution.
Publishers
Screen submissions for retracted, hallucinated, and unsupported citations at the desk.
Part of Proofig AI
RefGuard is a Proofig AI product. It also powers the reference integrity check inside PubShield and Octym.
Proofig AI
Image integrity. Detect manipulation, duplication, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and AI-generated figures.
PubShield
The all-in-one integration hub. Best-in-class checks from leading providers, returned to one dashboard.
Octym
The unified platform. Every integrity and quality check in one review, configured to how you work.
See RefGuard on Your Own Manuscript
Further Resources
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