DiFlowRin Research Verified References
Free WordPress plugin for authors
AI writing tools invent sources that look real, and careful authors still get years, journals and DOIs wrong. Verified References checks every source of a post right in the block editor, fixes wrong details in one click and shows your references as a formatted list.
One invented study or a wrong year is enough to cost a post its credibility, with readers and with search engines. Checking each source by hand means searching several databases per reference. This plugin does that search for you, inside the editor, before you hit Publish.
In the block editor, open DiFlowRin Verified References from the toolbar (the list icon with a check mark) and click Check references.
References blocks, a list or paragraphs under a "References", "Bibliography", "Sources" or "Works cited" heading, footnotes, and DOI, arXiv and PubMed links anywhere in the text. You can also paste a bibliography: up to 100 references, any style, BibTeX or RIS.
Each reference is matched by DOI, ISBN, arXiv or PubMed ID, then by title, authors and year, in Crossref, OpenAlex, DataCite, PubMed, Open Library and Semantic Scholar.
Correct in the post replaces a miscited reference with the record, in your citation style. Download the results as a text report or a CSV table. An optional pre-publish reminder lists sources that were not confirmed; publishing is never blocked.
Found in a database, and the details match.
The work exists, but the year, authors, title, journal or DOI differ from the record. Both values are shown side by side, and Correct in the post rewrites the reference from the record. No correction is offered when the authors differ: that is usually a different work with a similar title.
No good match in the databases. Links to Google Scholar and WorldCat help you check by hand.
A report, policy, news article or blog post, which academic databases do not list. The plugin asks the Internet Archive whether the page existed.
"Not confirmed" never means "fake". Older books, local publications, theses and reports are often missing from the databases, and the panel says so next to every such result.
Add the References block and add sources by DOI, ISBN, arXiv or PubMed ID, as full text, or paste a whole bibliography. Found references are formatted for you.
#ref-1, #ref-2…), so citations in your text can link to it.citation property, each with the type that fits. With Yoast SEO they join its Article data.References
Checks run in the author's own browser, which talks directly to the public databases, and only when you click a check button or add a reference.
vrefs_render_list filter and the structured data with vrefs_schema.Under Settings → Verified References you can set:
It uses the same checking engine as the Fake Citation Detector browser extension and the Bibliography Checker plugin.
0
real references marked "not confirmed"
120of 120
invented references caught
55of 55
references with a changed year, journal or author flagged
Tested in October 2026 on about 400 references in seven citation styles. Real bibliographies are messier, especially for older and local sources, so treat the result as a first pass, not a verdict.
In WordPress, go to Plugins → Add New, search for DiFlowRin Verified References, then install and activate it.
Edit a post in the block editor, open DiFlowRin Verified References from the toolbar at the top right, or from the Options menu (⋮) → Plugins, and click Check references.
Add the References block where the list should appear, and review Settings → Verified References if you like.
Downloads from WordPress.org
22
Daily downloads read live from the WordPress.org plugin API, over the last 30 days it returns. The plugin has been in the directory since 3 November 2026.
Going further
This plugin checks that each source exists and is cited correctly. It does not read the sources. DiFlowRin Research does: its Verify citations feature is free, uses your own AI key, reads the full text of every source and checks each cited sentence against it. Want visitors to check their own bibliographies? That is the Bibliography Checker plugin.
No. It means none of the databases searched had a good match. Many real sources are missing from them: old books, local and non-English publications, theses, reports, standards and web pages. Invented references usually end up here, but so do some real ones, so check those by hand with the links shown next to each result.
It uses the same checking engine as the Fake Citation Detector browser extension. On about 400 test references in October 2026, no real reference was marked Not confirmed, all 120 invented references were caught, and all 55 references with a changed detail were flagged as having wrong details. Real bibliographies are messier, so treat the result as a first pass, not a verdict.
No. The author's browser talks directly to the public databases. Nothing goes to the plugin author. Your server only stores the post, as usual, and, if you turn on the optional page proxy, opens the addresses of cited web pages for your authors.
No. Visitors get one small stylesheet on pages with a References block, and no JavaScript. In the editor, nothing is checked until you click a button.
Not yet: the panel and the References block need the block editor. Posts written in a single Classic block can be converted with Convert to blocks.
Yes. Each reference has an anchor such as #ref-3, shown under it in the editor with a Copy link action. Select your citation text, add a link and paste the anchor. If a page has two lists, give the second one another anchor prefix in the block settings.
The databases are free public services. Checking at most 100 references at a time, a few at once, with short pauses, keeps the tool within their fair-use rules.
The list uses your theme's fonts and colors, and the block supports the usual typography, color and spacing settings. Developers can change the markup with the vrefs_render_list filter and the structured data with vrefs_schema.