Disclaimer & Terms of Use

1. Service Overview

Cite Checker (the "Service") is a free web tool that extracts citations from academic paper PDFs and verifies them against external databases (Crossref, OpenAlex). This Service is provided as an assistive tool for researchers, students, and editors to check citation accuracy.

2. Disclaimer of Liability

The operator assumes no responsibility for any damages arising from the use of this Service, including but not limited to direct, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages. This includes:

• Damages from decisions based on incorrect verification results
• Paper rejections, revision requests, or other academic consequences
• Damages from service interruption or unavailability
• Data loss or corruption

3. Accuracy and Limitations

Verification results are for reference only and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete. Please note the following:

• Citation extraction accuracy varies depending on PDF layout and formatting
• References not registered in external databases may appear as "not found"
• Books, reports, and web pages may not be verifiable
• Author name or year variations may result in low match scores for valid references
• Always perform final verification yourself

4. Data Handling

This Service is designed with privacy in mind:

• PDF Processing: Uploaded PDFs are processed entirely in your browser and are never uploaded to our servers
• Citation Data: Extracted citation metadata (titles, author names, etc.) is sent to external APIs for verification
• Access Logs: We use Google Analytics for service improvement
• Cookies: Third-party cookies may be used for advertising purposes

5. Third-Party Services

This Service uses the following external APIs. Please review their terms of service:

• Crossref REST API - Academic metadata search
• OpenAlex API - Open academic database
• GROBID - Citation structure analysis (optional)

We are not responsible for the availability, accuracy, or changes to these external services.

6. Intellectual Property

The source code of this Service is available on GitHub under the CC BY 4.0 license. Copyright of uploaded PDFs remains with the user, and this Service claims no rights over them.

7. Advertising

To provide this Service for free, we display advertisements through Google AdSense and similar services. Ad content is delivered by third parties, and the operator is not responsible for their content. Please direct advertising inquiries to the respective advertisers.

8. Service Changes and Termination

The operator may modify or terminate this Service without prior notice. The operator is not responsible for any damages resulting from such changes.

9. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Japan. Any disputes arising from this Service shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Tokyo District Court.

10. Contact

For questions or feedback about this Service, please visit our GitHub Issues.