Identity, bibliographic details, and support are different jobs

Identity asks: is this PMID or DOI the record you think it is? A common error is a real identifier that belongs to another article. The homepage illustration—“the DOI opens, yet the title, authors, or topic do not match”—is that class of problem, shown with simulated copy, not a real submission.

Bibliographic details ask whether the author list, title, year, volume, and pages match the record. Those fields can be wrong even when the identifier is right.

Support asks whether the cited work actually backs the claim in your sentence. That needs text, not just a successful lookup. When a local full text is on hand, MediCrab can extract passages for review. That extraction is not a substitute for reading the paper, and it is limited when the full text is not in the project folder.

Where lookups go

Identifiers are resolved against source records. PubMed, Crossref, and Chinese DOI services are used where they apply. Many Chinese journal articles are not in PubMed; “not in this database” is not the same as “this citation is invented.”

If a work has a DOI, Crossref update records can be checked for retraction notices. A Chinese item without an identifier cannot be checked that way in this product.

Not found, not covered, and request failed

  • Verified: the identifier matches a source record that belongs with the citation.
  • Needs attention: the identifier is real but points elsewhere, or the record disagrees with what the manuscript says.
  • Not found: the identifier did not match a record. That is not a verdict that the paper is fake.
  • Not covered: the databases used for this check do not include that item. Common for some Chinese journals.
  • Request failed: the lookup did not complete. Try again; do not treat it as “not found.”

These states are listed separately on purpose. Merging them would push people to delete valid citations or to ignore real mismatches.

What you still decide

Open the finding, read the source snippet or record, and only then change the manuscript. MediCrab does not certify a reference list and does not replace a librarian or a careful reread of the cited paper.

Outgoing lookups and model review are shown and recorded in the app. Review your institution’s rules before sending unpublished research or patient-related text to an online service.