Paste a claim, get real citations you can trust
Citely reads the statement you want to support, finds matching papers across scholarly databases, and verifies each one against CrossRef, PubMed, arXiv, and OpenAlex — so every citation you copy points to a paper that actually exists.
Claim-based paper discovery
Every result verified before you cite
Copy-ready APA & MLA citations
Citation finder workspace
Most "citation finders" can't prove their citations exist
Ask a chatbot for citations and you get confident, polished references — some of which do not exist. A citation finder is only useful if every citation it returns survives verification.
Here are two authoritative sources you can cite:
Delgado, P., & Marsh, T. (2021). Spacing effects in applied learning contexts: a meta-analysis. Journal of Memory Optimization, 14(2), 101–125. https://doi.org/10.4419/jmo.2021.0142
Both are widely cited in the learning-science literature.
The journal doesn't exist and the DOI resolves to nothing — but the formatting looks perfect.
Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis
Verified · CrossRefCepeda, N. J.; Pashler, H.; Vul, E.; Wixted, J. T.; Rohrer, D. · Psychological Bulletin · 2006
Using spacing to enhance diverse forms of learning: Review of recent research and implications for instruction
Verified · CrossRefCarpenter, S. K.; Cepeda, N. J.; Rohrer, D.; Kang, S. H. K.; Pashler, H. · Educational Psychology Review · 2012
APA citation — copied
Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354–380.
Citely starts from your claim and ends with a citation whose existence it can prove — evidence included.
From claim to verified citation in seconds
No keyword roulette. Paste the sentence you want to support and let the pipeline do the searching and the checking.
- STEP 01
Paste the claim that needs support
Drop in a sentence, paragraph, or essay section. No keyword guessing — start from the statement you actually want to back up.
- STEP 02
We read the research intent
Citely extracts the claims inside your text and searches on meaning, not just the words that happen to appear in it.
- STEP 03
Real papers, checked against real records
Candidate papers are cross-checked against CrossRef, PubMed, arXiv, and OpenAlex — every result carries its verification evidence.
- STEP 04
Copy the citation and keep writing
Each verified paper comes with a formatted citation in standard styles like APA and MLA, ready to paste into your reference list.
For everyone who argues from evidence
If your writing makes claims, Citely finds the papers that back them — and proves those papers exist.
Students
You wrote the argument first and need citations before the deadline. Paste each unsupported paragraph and cite real papers — not chatbot inventions.
Researchers & PhDs
Fill the citation gaps in a literature review or manuscript draft. Find the paper that supports the sentence, with the metadata already verified.
Science & Health Writers
Back every factual claim in an article with a citable, verifiable study — and keep the receipt for your editor.
Educators
Build reading lists and model good citation practice: show students how a claim traces to a real, verified source.
How Citely compares to other ways of finding citations
Finding a citation is easy. Finding one you can defend in front of a reviewer is the hard part.
| Capability | Recommended Citely Find + Verify | ChatGPT AI chat | Google Scholar Keyword search | Citation generators Formatting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finds papers from a claim or paragraph | ||||
| Verifies every citation against academic records | ||||
| Never returns hallucinated references | ||||
| Copy-ready formatted citations | ||||
| Shows the verification evidence per result |
Based on publicly available features. Chatbots can find and format citations but may invent them; keyword search engines return real records but start from keywords, not claims. Citely starts from your claim and verifies every result.
Stop guessing keywords. Start from your claim.
Paste the paragraph that needs support and walk away with verified, copy-ready citations in seconds.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about finding real, verifiable citations for your writing.
What is a citation finder?
A citation finder takes a claim, sentence, or paragraph and finds academic papers you can actually cite for it. Instead of guessing keywords in a database, you paste the statement that needs support and Citely searches scholarly records for papers that match the argument — then verifies each result against CrossRef, PubMed, arXiv, and OpenAlex before you cite it.
How is a citation finder different from a citation generator?
A citation generator formats a source you already have. A citation finder discovers the source in the first place. Citely does the discovery and the verification: it finds candidate papers for your claim, checks that each one is real, and then gives you a citation you can copy in a standard style.
Are the citations Citely finds real?
Yes — that is the point of the tool. Every paper Citely surfaces is cross-checked against academic databases, and each citation carries its verification evidence: DOI resolution, title and author match, and the database that confirmed it. This is the opposite of asking a chatbot for citations, which can invent convincing references that do not exist.
Can I find citations for an essay paragraph?
Yes. Paste the paragraph and Citely extracts the claims inside it, then finds papers relevant to each claim. It works for essays, literature reviews, thesis chapters, and research drafts — anywhere you have an unsupported statement that needs a source.
Which citation styles are supported?
Citely returns formatted citations in the major academic styles, including APA and MLA, ready to copy into your reference list. The underlying metadata (authors, year, title, venue, DOI) comes from the verified academic record, so the formatted citation matches a real paper.
Is Citely a free citation finder?
This public page is free to read and explains how claim-based citation finding works. Running searches in the Citely workspace may require sign-in, account credits, or a paid plan depending on usage.
