Last updated: June 6, 2026
Welcome to AiCitationChecker ("the Service"), an academic reference verification tool available at aicitationchecker.org. AiCitationChecker helps researchers, students, and academics detect AI-hallucinated citations by cross-checking bibliographic references against the CrossRef database, and reformats references in standard citation styles (including APA, IEEE, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, MDPI, Nature, ACS, Frontiers, and others).
By accessing or using AiCitationChecker — including creating an account, purchasing a plan, or submitting references for verification — you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree with these Terms, do not use the Service.
AiCitationChecker reserves the right to update these Terms at any time. Continued use of the Service after a change in Terms constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms. We will notify registered users of material changes via email or a prominent notice on the platform.
AiCitationChecker grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable right to access and use the Service for your personal or academic research purposes, subject to these Terms.
You may use the Service to:
The Service is intended for individual use by researchers, students, and academics. Automated bulk queries, unauthorized resale of verification outputs, or integration of the Service's results into other commercial products without our express permission is prohibited.
Third-Party Data Source — CrossRef: The verification functionality of AiCitationChecker relies on the CrossRef public metadata API as its primary bibliographic data source. The accuracy, completeness, and availability of verification results therefore depend on the coverage and quality of the CrossRef database at the time of query. AiCitationChecker does not guarantee that all published works are indexed in CrossRef, and a reference that cannot be verified does not necessarily mean it is invalid.
To access paid features or to maintain a credit balance, you must create an account by providing a valid email address and a password. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your account credentials and for all activity that occurs under your account.
You agree to:
AiCitationChecker reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts that are found to be sharing credentials, operating in violation of these Terms, or engaging in prohibited activities.
Your content: When you submit references or bibliographic data to the Service, you retain all ownership of that content. You grant AiCitationChecker a limited, non-exclusive license to process and analyze the submitted data solely for the purpose of providing the verification service.
Our content: All software, interfaces, design, algorithms, branding, documentation, and other materials comprising the AiCitationChecker platform are the exclusive intellectual property of AiCitationChecker. Nothing in these Terms grants you any rights in our intellectual property beyond the limited right to use the Service as described herein.
Output: Verification reports, citation reformats, and other outputs generated by the Service may be used by you freely for your own academic, research, and publication purposes. You remain solely responsible for the accuracy of any citations you use, regardless of the verification result returned by the Service.
You agree not to use the Service to:
AiCitationChecker reserves the right to investigate any suspected violation of these Terms and to take appropriate action at its sole discretion, including but not limited to:
In addition to the above, AiCitationChecker may apply intermediate measures without prior notice and without terminating the account, including but not limited to: reduced rate limits, increased processing latency, reduced credit allocation per session, temporary restriction of specific features, or other technical limitations applied at our discretion. These measures may be applied silently and do not constitute a breach of these Terms by AiCitationChecker.
The above measures are not mutually exclusive and may be applied in combination. AiCitationChecker's failure to enforce any provision of these Terms on one occasion does not waive its right to enforce it on any subsequent occasion.
AiCitationChecker operates on a credit-based consumption model. Credits are deducted at the time each operation is processed, according to the cost schedule displayed in the interface before confirmation. The cost per reference varies depending on the type of lookup performed (DOI-based or title-based search).
Free tier: Registered users receive a limited number of free daily credits. Free-tier credits reset daily and unused free credits do not accumulate or carry over between days.
AiCitationChecker offers paid plans (currently Silver, Gold, and Platinum) with different credit allocations and access periods. Current pricing, credit amounts, and access period durations are published on the pricing page and may be updated with prior notice.
Access periods begin at the moment of purchase for direct plans, and at the moment of redemption for gift codes. Unused credits expire automatically at the end of the access period and are not carried over, accumulated, or redeemable for cash or any other value.
AiCitationChecker offers a gift code system. Users may purchase access codes corresponding to paid plan tiers (Silver Gift, Gold Gift) and share them with others. Gift codes are single-use and activate the corresponding plan at the time of redemption. The access period and credit allocation begin from the date of redemption, not the date of purchase.
Gift codes may not be redeemed by the account that purchased them. Each code is intended for transfer to a third-party recipient. Attempting to redeem a gift code on the purchasing account will be rejected by the system.
Gift codes are non-refundable in all circumstances, without exception:
The EU statutory right of withdrawal (Section 6.5) does not apply to gift code purchases, as the code is generated and delivered digitally at the moment of purchase. By completing the purchase, the buyer expressly acknowledges that performance of the digital service begins immediately upon payment and waives the right of withdrawal accordingly.
Gift codes have no cash value and cannot be exchanged for cash, credits on another account, or any other form of compensation.
All payments are processed by Lemon Squeezy, which acts as the Merchant of Record for transactions on the platform. By completing a purchase, you agree to Lemon Squeezy's Terms of Service. Lemon Squeezy handles payment processing, global tax compliance (including VAT), and any required remittances to tax authorities. AiCitationChecker does not store your payment card information.
Evaluate before you buy. Every registered account includes free daily credits. We strongly encourage you to use the free tier to test the Service on your own references — your citation styles, languages, and subject areas — before purchasing a paid plan. Verification coverage depends on third-party scholarly databases (such as Crossref) and can vary by discipline, so the free tier lets you confirm the Service fits your needs first. Because a free evaluation is available to everyone before purchase, refunds on paid plans are limited as set out below.
Direct plan purchases (Silver, Gold, Platinum):
Immediate access and waiver of the right of withdrawal. Paid plans deliver digital content and grant access to credits immediately upon purchase. At checkout you expressly request immediate access to your credits and the Service, and you acknowledge that, by doing so, you lose your statutory right of withdrawal under Article 16(m) of Directive 2011/83/EU — the 14-day "cooling-off" right otherwise available to consumers in the European Union and European Economic Area. Because performance of the digital service begins immediately upon purchase with your prior express consent, no statutory withdrawal right applies once the purchase is complete.
Once any credit has been consumed or any verification has been performed, the purchase is final and no refund will be issued, regardless of the remaining credit balance.
No-touch goodwill refund. As a discretionary goodwill policy — offered regardless of your location — if your account has had zero usage since purchase (no references verified and no credits consumed), you may request a refund within 7 days of the purchase date by contacting us at support@aicitationchecker.org. The refunded amount will be the purchase price minus the payment processing fees charged by our payment processor (Lemon Squeezy); these processing fees are non-refundable. This goodwill policy is offered in addition to, and does not limit, any non-waivable rights you may have under applicable consumer protection law.
Wrong email at checkout: If you entered an incorrect email address at checkout and cannot access your account, contact us at support@aicitationchecker.org with your order reference number. We will correct the email on your account. This is a support case, not a refund scenario — your credits remain active.
Gift codes are non-refundable in all circumstances. See Section 6.3.
AiCitationChecker may provide API access to the verification service for programmatic integration into your own tools or workflows. API access is subject to the rate limits and usage quotas specified in the API documentation published on the platform.
Each API verification call consumes credits in the same manner as manual requests through the web interface. You may not use the API to build a competing reference verification service, resell API access to third parties, or circumvent per-user credit limits by operating multiple accounts.
AiCitationChecker reserves the right to suspend or terminate API access at any time for violations of these Terms or for misuse of the API endpoint.
THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED.
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, AiCitationChecker expressly disclaims all warranties, including but not limited to any implied warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement; any warranty that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free; and any warranty as to the accuracy or reliability of verification results.
You acknowledge that AI-assisted tools, including this Service, may produce incorrect or incomplete outputs, and you remain solely responsible for independently verifying any citations before submitting them for academic publication or other formal use.
To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, AiCitationChecker, its operators, employees, agents, and affiliates shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, punitive, special, or exemplary damages arising from or related to your use of the Service — including but not limited to loss of data, loss of revenue, academic penalties, reputational harm, or reliance on incorrect verification results — even if advised of the possibility of such damages.
Nothing in these Terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any other liability that cannot be excluded by law under applicable EU or Romanian consumer protection regulations.
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless AiCitationChecker and its operators from and against any and all claims, damages, losses, costs, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in connection with your use of the Service in violation of these Terms, your submission of infringing or unlawful content, any misuse of verification outputs, or your violation of any applicable law or the rights of any third party.
AiCitationChecker may offer an optional citation-tracking feature that monitors publications citing your work. This feature is not part of the core reference verification service and may be unavailable or limited during beta.
By checking the consent box on the profile declaration form, you confirm that you have read and agree to this section.
These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Romania and, where applicable, the regulations of the European Union, including EU consumer protection legislation.
Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts in Romania, unless mandatory provisions of EU consumer law require otherwise. If you are a consumer in the EU, you also retain the right to bring proceedings in the courts of your country of residence.
For unresolved disputes, EU consumers may also use the European Commission's Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr.
AiCitationChecker reserves the right to modify these Terms at any time. When changes are made, the "Last updated" date at the top of this document will be revised. If changes are material, registered users will be notified by email or via a notice on the platform at least 14 days before the changes take effect.
AiCitationChecker may suspend or terminate your account and access to the Service at any time, with or without cause, including for violations of these Terms. Upon termination, your access to paid features and remaining credit balance will be immediately deactivated. Unused credits are non-refundable upon termination due to a violation of these Terms.
You may terminate your account at any time by contacting us at support@aicitationchecker.org.
For questions, concerns, or requests related to these Terms or your use of the Service, please contact:
AiCitationChecker
Email: support@aicitationchecker.org
Website: aicitationchecker.org
For data protection inquiries under GDPR, please use the same contact email with the subject line "Data Protection Request."
By using AiCitationChecker, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to these Terms of Service.