Check a Reference List Against Its Own Style — Free
Paste a reference list and see which entries are missing the elements the chosen style actually requires — author, year, container, page range, DOI.
The proof surface
Reference managers format, they do not audit: an entry missing a DOI or a page range still exports cleanly. The docket checks presence element by element.
Why the flat version breaks
Trusting the exporter
A reference manager will happily export an entry with no DOI and no page range; the file looks complete because the punctuation is tidy.
Hand-reading sixty entries
Silent omissions are exactly the errors the eye skips: a missing issue number reads as normal after the fourth reference.
Fixing one and stopping
Missing page ranges cluster in the same source type, so correcting the first usually means correcting four more of the same shape.
How to work the reference docket
One entry per line, punctuation as exported — editing first destroys the evidence of what the style actually produced.
Write the style you are marked against on the header line; the docket prints it so the omissions are read in context.
Each missing element is stamped beside its entry number; fix them in order, largest cluster first.
Re-run after the edits: new entries added at the end often arrive with the same missing elements as the first draft.
What the docket replaces
| Task | Without the docket | With the docket |
|---|---|---|
| Find silent errors | read all 60 entries | entries numbered, omissions stamped |
| Answer a marker | guess which entry failed | entry number and missing element shown |
| Re-check after edits | start again from the top | re-run the same list in one paste |
The required list is style-agnostic and stated on the docket header; where your handbook adds a rule, paste it in the style field and check that line yourself.
Run it on the samples, right here
FIRST-LOAD
Data note: Your reference list stays in this tab; nothing is checked against a database and no bibliography is uploaded.
Go deeper: the companion app files the same reading as a clerk's docket sheet
The article demo above runs without limits. The companion app keeps a local history, exports the rows as CSV, prints the ready-to-mail packet, and holds your drafts on this device — one free run, then $ 6 one-time for the layer that keeps filing.
The docket and the stamped omissions are free. The paid layer prints the correction sheet and keeps the list on file for the next chapter.
Open the reference docket companionBoundary
This docket checks whether elements appear in your entries — it does not verify that a source exists, that a DOI resolves, or that the citation is accurate. Style manuals and your department's rules override the checklist, and any claim of compliance here is about shape, not correctness. Check the final list against the official style guide before submitting.
What this is built on
- The required elements listed are a cross-style core; your department's handbook and the style manual override them.
- No citation is verified against a publisher database by this tool — it reports presence of elements, not accuracy of content.
- DOI checks are pattern-based; a valid-looking DOI can still point to the wrong article.
Before: the reader hoped the reference manager was right. After: they can see four entries missing a DOI and two missing a page range, each stamped by number.