Resolve, format, export, and verify academic citations (DOI, PMID, PMCID, ISBN, ISSN, arXiv, ADS, WHO IRIS) — plus retraction and open-access checks.
# Scholar Sidekick — citations, retraction, open-access, fabrication-checking
Scholar Sidekick turns a scholarly **identifier** into clean citations and integrity
checks. Reach for it whenever the user mentions a DOI, PMID, PMCID, ISBN, ISSN, arXiv ID,
ADS bibcode, or WHO IRIS URL, or asks to format/export references, or asks whether a paper
is retracted, open access, or a real (non-fabricated) citation.
It does **not** search for papers by topic — it assumes you already have an identifier.
## Two paths (this plugin bundles both)
- **MCP server (preferred when connected)** — the bundled `scholar-sidekick` server exposes
native tools. Requires a `RAPIDAPI_KEY` in the environment (free tier available at
https://rapidapi.com/scholar-sidekick-scholar-sidekick-api/api/scholar-sidekick).
- **REST API (keyless fallback)** — `https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/*` works anonymously
over `curl`, no key, at a free rate-limited tier. Use this if the MCP server isn't
connected. See the `scholar-sidekick-api` skill for the full REST recipe.
Never scrape the website UI — call the JSON API (or MCP tools).
## Pick the right tool
| The user wants… | Tool (MCP) | REST endpoint |
|---|---|---|
| Structured metadata for an identifier | `resolveIdentifier` | `POST /api/format` (`output: json`) |
| A formatted citation (Vancouver/APA/IEEE/CSE/AMA or any CSL style) | `formatCitation` | `POST /api/format` |
| A bibliography file (BibTeX, RIS, EndNote XML, RefWorks, NBIB, RDF, CSV, CSL-JSON) | `exportCitation` | `POST /api/export` |
| "Has this been retracted / corrected?" | `checkRetraction` | `POST /api/retraction-check` |
| "Is there a free / open-access copy?" | `checkOpenAccess` | `POST /api/oa-check` |
| "Is this citation real / did you make it up?" | `verifyCitation` | `POST /api/verify` |
**Critical:** for "is this citation real?", use **`verifyCitation`**, *not* `resolveIdentifier`.
A plain resolve returns whatever the registry holds for the identifier and so misses the
dominant fabrication pattern — a real, resolvable DOI paired with an invented title (Topaz
et al., Lancet 2026). Only `verifyCitation` compares the *claimed* citation against reality
and returns a verdict (`matched` / `mismatch` / `ambiguous` / `not_found`).
## Rules of engagement
- Pass identifiers **verbatim** — don't strip `PMID:`, `arXiv:`, ISBN hyphens, or
`https://doi.org/…` prefixes; detection is automatic.
- `formatCitation` / `exportCitation` accept several newline-separated identifiers (batch).
`checkRetraction` / `checkOpenAccess` / `verifyCitation` take **one** identifier per call.
- Books / ISBNs have no DOI, so retraction and open-access checks return a "no DOI" result.
- **Never fabricate a fallback.** If a call fails or returns `ok: false`, report that — do
not invent a citation, a retraction status, an OA verdict, or a "matched" verdict.
Full agent guide: https://scholar-sidekick.com/AGENTS.md · index: https://scholar-sidekick.com/llms.txt