CitationLX

A citation repair tool for research data and software — paste a broken export or DOI, see exactly what's wrong, and get a clean, registry-verified citation back.

🌐 citationlx.online

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Overview

CitationLX is a browser-based citation repair tool built for academics, researchers, and students who cite datasets and software. Rather than generating citations from scratch, it repairs mangled records: broken BibTeX, RIS, or CSL exports from reference managers, misidentified or version-less DOIs, scrambled author names, and records missing the metadata that funders and journals now require.

Paste a DOI, a repository link, or a bad export and CitationLX checks the record against the DataCite or Crossref registry, shows exactly which fields it changed, assigns a citation health score, and returns a journal-ready citation — plus clean exports in BibTeX, RIS, or CSL JSON.

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Who it's for

• Researchers citing datasets, software, and code in papers, theses, and grant applications
• Data stewards and repository staff cleaning reference lists and Data Availability Statements
• Students learning to cite data correctly across disciplines
• Anyone who has ever pasted a Zenodo DOI into a reference manager and watched the author list fall apart

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Features

Version-DOI guard

Zenodo, Dryad, and figshare records are checked for concept-vs-version DOIs, with one-click switching to the exact snapshot your results depend on — so you cite the version you actually used.

Retraction & update warnings

Every DOI fetch checks Crossref's update metadata. Retracted or corrected records are flagged — with a link to the notice — before you cite them.

Software & code mode

Paste a GitHub repository, a CITATION.cff file, or a Zenodo release DOI and get proper software citations: @software BibLaTeX, RIS type COMP, and CSL software.

ORCID author pickup

Paste an ORCID iD and the verified name is pulled from the ORCID public API, fixing scrambled and organisational names at the source.

"Fix this citation" bookmarklet

Drag one button to your bookmarks bar. On any repository or journal page, a single click finds the DOI and opens it in CitationLX — no browser extension required.

Installable app with dark mode

CitationLX is a Progressive Web App: install it from your browser menu, keep working offline, and flip to dark mode for late-night writing sessions.

Seven citation styles

Style	Notes
APA 7
DataCite	Registry-native
Chicago
MLA 9
Harvard
IEEE
Vancouver

Rendered by the DataCite registry where possible — not approximated.

Batch & dedupe

Paste a whole reference list or .bib file: duplicates are dropped, every DOI is re-fetched, and one clean .bib, .ris, or CSL JSON file comes out.

Private by design

Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you paste is uploaded or stored — the public registries are queried directly from your device.

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How it works

1. Paste
Drop in a DOI or repository link, a broken BibTeX / RIS / CSL export from your reference manager, or build a record manually for data shared without a DOI. The Software tab reads GitHub repos and CITATION.cff files.

2. Diagnose & repair
CitationLX checks the record against the DataCite or Crossref registry, fixes the resource type, version, authors, and year, and shows you exactly which fields changed — alongside a citation health score. It also checks Crossref for retractions and updates before you cite.

3. Export
Copy a journal-ready citation in seven styles, download clean BibLaTeX, RIS, or CSL JSON, and generate a funder-ready Data Availability Statement (NIH DMS, NSF, PLOS, Nature, Elsevier) or a Zotero Extra snippet.

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Technical notes

• Runs entirely client-side in the browser — no server-side storage of user input
• Queries the DataCite, Crossref, and ORCID public APIs directly from the user's device
• Available as a Progressive Web App (installable, offline-capable)
• Bookmarklet available for one-click DOI capture from repository and journal pages
• Batch processing supports .bib input and .bib / .ris / CSL JSON output

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Links

• Web app: citationlx.online
• Bookmarklet: available from the app's toolbar (via desktop only)
• Install: via your browser's "Install app" / "Add to Home Screen" menu