Paste a bibliography or open a .bib / .ris - and check every entry before it enters your library. Catch fabricated citations, retractions, and missing open-access copies, then import only the clean ones.
Free Zotero 7-9 plugin. No API key required. A thin client over the Scholar Sidekick API.
Most items in your library are already trustworthy - you added them with Zotero's own identifier lookup. The risky moment is the import boundary: a collaborator's .bib, a manuscript reference list, or an AI-generated bibliography, where the claimed metadata may not match what the identifier actually resolves to. This plugin steps in there - before bad data becomes a trusted library item.
This does not replace Zotero's built-in features. Zotero already does identifier lookup, CSL formatting, exports, and native Retraction Watch warnings on items in your library. The plugin adds the one thing it doesn't: a claimed-vs-resolved fabrication check, plus catching retractions before you import rather than after.
.bib / .ris file.retracted (colored red in the items list).DOI, PMID, PMCID, ISBN, ISSN, arXiv ID, ADS bibcode, and WHO IRIS URL. .bib / .ris entries are parsed by Zotero's translators; pasted prose is scanned for identifiers server-side. Pasted prose can be resolved but not fully verified - the fabrication check needs a claimed title paired with an identifier, which a structured .bib / .ris provides.
https://scholar-sidekick.com (/api/verify, /api/lookup, /api/retraction-check, /api/oa-check, /api/detect).Zotero does not have an official plugin directory yet, so the plugin installs from a file:
scholar-sidekick-0.1.0.xpi..xpi..xpi; installed copies auto-update.It adds a verification step at the import boundary. Open Tools - Verify & import bibliography, paste text or pick a .bib / .ris file, and each entry gets a verdict before anything enters your library: Verified, Mismatch, Resolved, Not found. Retraction / correction status and open-access copies surface on each row. You tick which entries to add; imported items carry the resolved metadata plus a note recording exactly what was checked.
Yes - and the plugin deliberately doesn't duplicate it. Zotero already resolves identifiers, formats citations, exports, and even shows Retraction Watch warnings on items that are already in your library. The gap it fills is the moment before that: items arriving via a collaborator's .bib, a manuscript reference list, or an AI-generated bibliography, where the claimed metadata may not match what the identifier resolves to. The unique value is the claimed-vs-resolved fabrication check, and catching retractions before you import rather than after.
When an entry has a claimed title and an identifier, the plugin cross-checks the claim against the metadata the identifier actually resolves to (via Crossref, PubMed, and OpenAlex). The failure mode documented by Topaz et al. (Lancet, 2026) - a real DOI paired with an invented title and authors - shows up as a Mismatch with the specific fields flagged. Bare identifiers with no claimed title can't be verified this way; they're resolved instead.
The resolved (canonical) metadata for the identifier - title, authors, journal, year, DOI / ISBN / ISSN in first-class fields - filed into the collection you choose. Each imported item gets a child note documenting the verdict, any claimed-vs-resolved differences, retraction and open-access status, and the request / transform / verify versions for reproducibility. Retracted items are tagged 'retracted' (colored red).
Yes. No account, no API key, no payment. The plugin uses a trusted-client handshake that grants the anonymous tier of the Scholar Sidekick API. Paste a Scholar Sidekick or RapidAPI key in the plugin settings for higher rate limits if you process large bibliographies.
DOI, PMID, PMCID, ISBN, ISSN, arXiv ID, ADS bibcode, and WHO IRIS URL. For .bib / .ris files the plugin uses Zotero's own translators to parse entries; for pasted prose it asks the API to extract identifiers. Note: pasted prose can be resolved but not fully verified, because there's no claimed-title-to-identifier pairing to cross-check - use a .bib / .ris export for the fabrication check.
The plugin sends only the bibliographic entries you ask it to check - to https://scholar-sidekick.com over HTTPS (/api/verify, /api/lookup, /api/retraction-check, /api/oa-check, /api/detect). It does not read the rest of your library. No API key required for the anonymous tier. Inputs are not retained or used for training; see the privacy policy for full disclosure.
Zotero 7, 8, and 9. Each Zotero major release can change plugin APIs, so the supported ceiling is bumped as new versions are tested.
GitHub issues on the plugin source at github.com/mlava/scholar-sidekick-zotero. Include your Zotero version, the plugin version, and the x-request-id shown in the verification note when filing API-related issues.