The useful result
Check a list of AI-suggested references and keep only the ones you have found, matched and read.
- Check a list of AI-suggested references and keep only the ones you have found, matched and read.
You ask an AI for five sources and get five neat citations, each with an author, year and journal. Your library search finds nothing. Mohawk College Library gives an example in which two real journals are cited for articles that do not exist, and warns that sometimes the journal itself does not exist. The Jerry Falwell Library at Liberty University adds that even partial inaccuracies make a citation unreliable.
So check every reference, one by one. This lesson uses a reference check table in three steps: list the references exactly as given, find each in a library database or on the publisher’s site, then match the details and confirm the source says what your text claims. Your school’s rules decide whether AI may suggest sources.
The examples below are illustrative exercises, not recorded results from any tool. Sources were checked on 25 October 2026; menus, limits and prices change, so confirm details on the linked pages.
Before you start
- The list of references the AI gave you
- Access to your library search, Google Scholar or the publisher’s site
- A spreadsheet or document for the check table
Review evidence
Documentation-based review · 2026-10-25
Primary documentation and official guidance checked on 25 October 2026. Examples, checks and exercises are original illustrations, not recorded tool tests. Cover artwork is a conceptual illustration.
Start a reference check table
Make a table with one row per reference and these columns: number, citation as given, where I found it, author, year, title and journal or DOI matches, says what I claim, verdict. Copy each reference exactly as the AI wrote it. A prompt can split the details into columns, but compare the result with the original, because a tool can quietly repair or invent details.
Put the references below into a table with columns: number, authors, year, title, journal or publisher, DOI. Copy each detail exactly as written. Do not correct, complete or guess anything; write “not given” for missing details. Do not say whether any reference is real.
References:
[paste references]Example / expected result
Illustrative example; not a recorded model result.
1 | Rivera and Chen | 2019 | “Sleep and Exam Recall in First-Year Students” | Journal of Study Skills | DOI not given.
Check your result
Every reference has its own row and no detail appears that was not in the original list.
Find each source in a database or on the publisher’s site
Search the exact title in quotation marks in Google Scholar or your library search. If nothing appears, try the title without its subtitle, the author’s name, or the journal plus keywords. If a DOI is given, put doi.org/ in front of it: the page should show the same title, authors and journal. Record the link in your table or write “not found”. Unsure? Ask your librarian.
Example / expected result
Illustrative example; not a recorded model result.
The quoted title gives no match. The author has other papers, and the journal exists but that issue holds no such article. Verdict: not found, so drop it.
Check your result
Each row has a link to the real record or the words “not found”.
Match the details and confirm the source says what you claim
For each source you found, compare author, year, title and journal with the real record and mark each column Match or Mismatch. If the paper is real but the AI’s year or author was wrong, cite from the record, not the AI. Then open the paper, at least the abstract and ideally the relevant section, and find the sentence that supports your claim. Remove every reference you cannot match or have not read.
Example / expected result
Illustrative example; not a recorded model result.
Row 2 is found, but the AI says 2018 and the record says 2017, so use 2017. The abstract supports “sleep affects recall” but not “for all ages”, so narrow your sentence.
Check your result
Every kept row shows all details matching the record, and a note on where the source supports your claim.
When it goes wrong
“Not found” means not verified, not always fake. Books, theses, reports, non-English papers and paywalled items can be hard to locate, so ask a librarian before you decide. A DOI that opens a different article is a mismatch. Never paste an unchecked AI reference list into graded work.
Make it your own
Take five references from any AI answer on a topic you know, run the table and count how many pass every column.
Useful next resources
Sources and review
- Mohawk College Library: Fake Citations & Media (Generative Artificial Intelligence guide)
- Jerry Falwell Library, Liberty University: What are AI-generated or “hallucinated” sources?
- Anthropic: Reduce hallucinations (Claude documentation)
Last checked Oct 25, 2026. Features and account limits can change. Verify important results against your original material.
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