Citation Checker in Cursor
Check references and DOIs. The MCP server is https://citations.openkrill.app/mcp. No key. The steps below are only for Cursor. A call to check_references was checked against that server on 2026-10-01.
What this server answers
Paste a bibliography or a single reference and find out whether the papers are real. Ask "are these references real?", "check my bibliography", "verify this citation", "is this DOI correct?" or "has this paper been retracted?".
Citation Checker looks every reference up in Crossref, the DOI system (doi.org) and OpenAlex, which index the scholarly record, and gives each one a clear verdict: found, mismatch or not found.
A mismatch means a real paper exists but the reference gets something wrong, such as a DOI that belongs to another paper or a wrong year or author list; the real record is shown so the error is easy to fix. Not found means nothing matching exists, which for a bibliography entry often points to an invented or garbled citation.
It also reports whether a paper has been retracted, partially retracted, flagged with an expression of concern or corrected, from the notices that publishers and the Retraction Watch database register with Crossref.
It checks up to 10 references at a time. It compares bibliographic details only (title, authors, year, journal, DOI); it does not read papers or judge whether their claims are true. Books, reports, web pages and talks are often missing from the scholarly indexes, so a not found there is a prompt to check by hand, not proof.
It stores nothing about you: answers are cached for up to six hours, and the only lasting record is a daily count of calls per tool.
What it can do
- Checks whether the references in a bibliography are real papers
- Flags a DOI that belongs to a different paper than the reference describes
- Finds a wrong year or author list by comparing a reference with the real record
- Reports retractions, expressions of concern and corrections for a paper
- Looks up references that have no DOI by their title, authors and year
Tools
check_references, Check references and DOIs. Use this when the user asks "are these references real?", "check my bibliography", "verify this citation", "is this DOI correct?" or "has this paper been retracted?". Pass each reference as one string as written (authors, year, title, journal, DOI), or just a DOI or a title, up to 10 at a time. Looks each one up in Crossref, the DOI system and OpenAlex and returns a verdict per reference: found (a real record matches), mismatch (a real record exists but the DOI, title, authors or year differ; the real record is shown) or not_found (nothing matches, so it may be invented or garbled). Also returns the paper's retraction status (retracted, expression of concern, corrected) from Crossref. It checks bibliographic details only, not whether a paper's claims are true.
Add Citation Checker in Cursor
Cursor reads MCP servers from mcp.json. A project file at .cursor/mcp.json applies to that project. A user file at ~/.cursor/mcp.json applies everywhere. These steps were checked against the Cursor MCP docs on 2026-10-01. Streamable HTTP is the transport: a url, not a shell command.
Create or edit the file so it contains this server. Merge it with servers you already have. Do not replace the whole file if other servers are listed.
{
"mcpServers": {
"citations": {
"url": "https://citations.openkrill.app/mcp"
}
}
}No headers and no auth block. Those are for servers that require a token or a pre-registered OAuth client. Citation Checker answers without either. Saving the file is the install. Open Cursor Settings, then MCP, and confirm Citation Checker is enabled. If it stays disconnected, reload the window. You should see check_references.
In Agent chat, ask: Check my bibliography and tell me which references are real Cursor calls the tool over streamable HTTP and shows the arguments before it runs them, depending on your run mode. Approve the call the first time and read the result. The server is public and read-only. It does not see your repository unless the model puts repository text into the arguments, so do not paste secrets into the question.
A one-click Marketplace install does not exist for this server. The JSON above is the whole setup. Team admins can distribute the same url through a team marketplace, but that is an admin step, not something this page can do for you. OAuth redirect URLs in the Cursor docs matter only for servers that require sign-in. Skip them here.
A call checked on 2026-10-01
A bare DOI is a valid reference string. The record is public in Crossref. The request below was posted to https://citations.openkrill.app/mcp as tools/call. HTTP 200. Source: the Citation Checker server, read 2026-10-01.
{
"method": "tools/call",
"params": {
"name": "check_references",
"arguments": {
"references": [
"10.1038/nature14539"
]
}
}
}- references. 1 returned
- references title. Deep learning
- references verdict. found
Repeat the call yourself if you need a newer reading. Cached answers expire. A rate limit is not a result: wait and try again. Nothing in the call is a ranking, a filing, or advice.