Fake co-author checker
Quick answer: a citation checker that only verifies the DOI or the title cannot catch a fabricated name added to a real paper's real author list — the paper is still real, so nothing it checks is wrong. This tool checks the other half: paste one name, or a whole author list, and see whether each name has any record at all in OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar or ORCID.
Nothing here is uploaded or stored; each name is looked up directly from your browser.
The three steps, in full
-
1.
Take the full author list. Copy the names exactly as the reference lists them — comma-separated surnames-and-initials or full names both parse the same way.
-
2.
Check each name against three independent registries. OpenAlex and Semantic Scholar index researchers directly, with a publication and citation history attached. ORCID is the identifier researchers register for themselves. A real co-author usually turns up in at least one.
-
3.
Read a "no trace" result correctly. It means none of the three has a matching record right now — suspicious, not proof. A very new researcher, a differently transliterated name, or a recent name change can produce the same result and still be a real person.
Why the paper being real doesn't help here
A citation checker built to answer "does this DOI resolve" or "does this title match a registry record" is answering a question about the paper. It has nothing left to flag once the paper checks out — and a fabricated name added to a real paper's real author list leaves the paper itself completely untouched. The DOI still resolves. The title still matches. The only thing wrong is one name that was never part of the original author list, which is exactly the kind of small, plausible addition a generative model can produce without inventing a whole fake reference.
Why three registries, not one
Coverage differs, and a name absent from one registry is routinely present in another. Checking OpenAlex, Semantic Scholar and ORCID together, and requiring only one of the three to hold a matching record, is more forgiving of a real but obscure researcher than checking any single source alone — and correspondingly more telling when a name has no trace in any of them.
A few things people ask
Why would a real paper have a fake co-author?
A citation checker that only verifies the DOI or title never notices, because the paper genuinely exists and the DOI genuinely resolves. The only thing wrong is one extra name on the author line.
Does "no record found" mean the name is definitely fabricated?
No. It means none of the three registries has a matching record right now. A first-time author or a differently transliterated name can produce the same result. Treat it as a reason to look closer, not a verdict.
Can I check a single name, or does it need a whole author list?
Either works. Paste one name to check just that person, or paste the full author list from a reference and every name is checked at once.
Which registries does this check, and why these three?
OpenAlex and Semantic Scholar both index researchers directly. ORCID is the identifier researchers register for themselves, independent of any publisher. All three answer directly from a browser, so nothing about the name you're checking is sent anywhere but them.
What if a match is actually a different person with the same name?
A real risk when a citation gives only a surname and one initial: OpenAlex alone can hold several different real researchers matching, say, "Vaswani" and "A.", and the most-cited one is not always shown first. When more than one person matches, this tool says so rather than presenting the first result as the only one — and the full given name, where you have it, matches far more precisely than an initial ever can.
This checks the author line. A full audit also catches phantom DOIs, retracted sources, wrong years and mismatched journals across every reference at once.
Audit your references — free30 references a day, no card.