Scite
See how research papers actually cite each other, not just how often
Overview
Scite's core idea is simple but useful: a citation count tells you nothing about whether other researchers agree with a paper's findings. Scite's model reads the actual citing sentence and tags it as supporting, contrasting, or just mentioning the source, so you can see at a glance whether later work backed up or pushed back on a claim. Upload a manuscript and it checks every reference in your bibliography, flagging retractions or contested findings before a reviewer catches them for you.
It is built for academics, grad students, and research teams who need to move fast through literature without missing a retracted or discredited source. The free tier is limited to basic browsing, real use of Smart Citations and the Reference Check tool requires the Personal plan at $20/month, or about $12/month with the student discount. For anyone doing a lit review or writing a paper for publication, that is a reasonable trade for catching a retraction before your reviewer does.
Key Features
Smart Citations: Classifies over 1.6 billion citation statements as supporting, contrasting, or mentioning.
Scite Assistant: An AI research assistant backed by 280M+ full-text articles, including paywalled publisher content, with every answer linked to a source.
Reference Check: Upload a manuscript PDF and see how every cited paper has been cited elsewhere, including retractions.
Collections and Monitoring: Build collections from Zotero, Mendeley, or a CSV of DOIs and get alerted to new citations or retractions.
Dashboards: Track how a research field's citations evolve over time with filters and sorting.
MCP and API Access: Runs inside Claude, ChatGPT, and any MCP-compatible assistant, plus a direct API.
Pricing
Starting price
$20/mo
Free: $0/month. Basic access to citation search.
Personal: $20/month (or ~$144/year, about $12/month). Smart citations, full-text search, Scite Assistant access.
Student: Roughly $12/month with verified student discount.
Organization: Custom pricing. For universities and research institutions, contact sales.
Developer/API: Custom pricing. For platforms integrating scite's citation data via API or MCP.
Disclaimer: pricing may change, confirm on Scite's own pricing page before buying.
Pros
Citation Context, Not Just Count: Shows whether later research actually supports or contradicts a paper, not just how often it is cited.
Catches Retractions: Flags retracted or disputed sources in your own reference list before you submit.
Huge Full-Text Index: Scite Assistant draws on 280M+ full-text articles, including paywalled publisher content.
Works Inside Tools You Already Use: Integrates with Zotero, Claude, ChatGPT, and any MCP-compatible assistant.
Cons
Free Tier Is Thin: Real value sits behind the $20/month Personal plan, the free tier will not satisfy a serious literature review.
Coverage Gaps Outside Science: Strongest in STEM and biomedical fields, thinner coverage in humanities and social sciences.
Per-Seat Pricing For Teams: Organization plans require contacting sales, no transparent per-seat number published.
Still Requires Judgment: Classifying a citation as supporting or contrasting is automated, but you still need to read the actual context to be sure.
What Makes It Unique
Citation Classification, Not Just Counting: Scite tags each citation as supporting, contrasting, or mentioning, a level of detail that plain citation-count tools like Google Scholar do not offer.
Kay Score
7.8
/ 10
Tool Information
Pricing
$20/mo
Category
Research & Productivity
Platform
Web / iOS / Android
Last Updated
