Corroba

Source Trust Score

Is this source actually any good?

ChatGPT handed you a source and you're not sure you can trust it? Paste a DOI, link, or citation and Corroba grades the source itself in one glance — peer-reviewed or preprint, retracted or clean, indexed, how often it's cited, and whether there's a free copy. Grounded in real databases — never guessed.

Grounded in real databases · always free

What it checks

Peer-reviewed?

Is it a peer-reviewed article, a preprint that hasn't been reviewed yet, a scholarly book, or just a webpage?

Retracted?

Cross-checked against the Retraction Watch record (via Crossref) — so you don't cite a withdrawn study.

Indexed & cited

Whether the journal is listed in DOAJ, and how many times the work has been cited — signals of traction.

Free to read?

If a legal open-access copy exists, we link straight to it.

Questions

How do I check if a source is trustworthy?
Paste its DOI, link, or citation. Corroba resolves it to the real record and grades the source itself — whether it's peer-reviewed, a preprint, or a webpage; whether it's been retracted; whether the journal is indexed in DOAJ; and how often it's been cited. It's a factual snapshot from real databases, not an opinion.
How do I know if a paper has been retracted?
Corroba checks the source against the Retraction Watch database, which is now part of the free Crossref record. If the work has been retracted or withdrawn, you'll see a clear warning — one of the most important things to catch before citing.
What's the difference between peer-reviewed and a preprint?
A peer-reviewed article has been vetted by independent experts in its field before publication. A preprint has been posted publicly but not yet reviewed — it can be perfectly good, but it hasn't been checked, so cite it with that caveat. Corroba tells you which you're looking at.
Is it free?
Yes — check as many sources as you like, free, with no sign-up.

Checking a whole reference list, not one source? Run it all through Corroba Verify →