For Research Groups & Labs
Every paper the group sends out, references checked.
A research group writes a lot of papers, by a lot of people, in a lot of styles. RefRunner gives every member of the group the same check on every manuscript: each reference verified against Crossref, OpenAlex, and the other public indexes, DOIs filled in, fabricated and retracted citations flagged — before it goes to a journal, a committee, or a funder.
No account needed to try it — check our sample or upload your own paper, free and right in your browser.
A free account adds 50 lookups a day, saved reference lists, and free months when you refer colleagues.
📱 On a phone? Create a free account now and your reference lists will be waiting when start working on your paper.
How a pilot works
1. Ask for a pilot
Tell us the group's size. You get a pack of seats free for 90 days — no card, no contract.
2. Hand out the seats
Add people by email or share a code. Everyone checks their next paper as they finish it; you see nothing of theirs unless they share it.
3. Decide with real numbers
After the pilot you know how many references the group checked and what was found. Keep the pack, resize it, or walk away.
Ready for RefRunner? Get it for your group
A pack is a set of seats you hand out yourself. Each seat checks up to 1,000 references a month; for every ten seats, one is unlimited — for the PI, the lab manager, or whoever checks everything before it goes out. Annual is the usual choice; three months covers a grant deadline or a special issue.
| Seats | Unlimited seats | Annual | 3 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 1 | $400 · $40/seat | $150 · $15/seat |
| 20 | 2 | $700 · $35/seat | $240 · $12/seat |
| 50 | 5 | $1,500 · $30/seat | $500 · $10/seat |
| 100 | 10 | $2,500 · $25/seat | $800 · $8/seat |
| 250 | 25 | $5,000 · $20/seat | $1,500 · $6/seat |
| 500 | 50 | $8,000 · $16/seat | $2,500 · $5/seat |
- You manage the seats: add people by email or share a code, swap them out as students graduate and postdocs arrive.
- Most groups fit in a 10- or 20-seat pack. A department or institute is a 50 or 100.
- Every pack starts with the free 90-day pilot.
Ask about a pilot
Why groups adopt it
Every Paper the Group Sends Out, Checked
Grad students, postdocs, and visiting collaborators all write with different tools and different habits. Every manuscript that leaves the lab gets the same check: each reference verified against Crossref, OpenAlex, and the other public indexes, DOIs added or corrected, retracted work flagged.
The Citation an AI Assistant Made Up
Writing assistants produce plausible references that don't exist. One in a submitted paper is embarrassing; one in a grant report is worse. RefRunner catches them before a reviewer or a program officer does.
One Reference List, Any Journal's Style
The same paper goes to a second journal after a rejection. Switch the style — over 10,000 journal styles are built in — and the list is reformatted in seconds, from the verified records rather than from what was typed.
Nothing Leaves the Browser
Unpublished manuscripts are never uploaded to a server. RefRunner runs in the browser and queries only public bibliographic databases, so there is nothing to clear with your data office.
Know another group that would want this? Every member has an invite link — a colleague who signs up with it gets a free month, and so do they.