Getting Started with the Web Analyzer
The web analyzer at smartciter.com/analyze works entirely in your browser — no installation required.
1Get a free API key
SmartCiter uses AI to analyze citations. Groq is free and recommended — get a key at console.groq.com/keys in under a minute with no credit card required.
2Add your key in the top bar
Click 🔑 Add Key in the top bar of the analyzer. Select your provider from the dropdown, paste your key, and click Done. Your key is stored only in your browser — never sent to SmartCiter servers.
3Upload or paste your manuscript
Paste text directly into the Paste tab, or switch to Upload and drag a .txt, .pdf, or .docx file. PDF and DOCX files are parsed entirely in your browser — the raw file never leaves your device.
4Click Analyze and watch results stream in
Click ▶ Analyze. Results appear progressively — each citation is scored as soon as it is processed. You don't need to wait for the full analysis to finish.
5Review, fix, and export
Hover over colored citations to see scorecards. Click any 🏁 or 🔴 citation for fix suggestions. Enable Reviewer Mode for a formal report. Use the DOI Finder to search for papers by keyword.
API Key Setup
SmartCiter supports five AI providers. Your key is stored only in your browser's localStorage and is never sent to SmartCiter servers.
For most users, Groq's free tier covers thousands of manuscript analyses per day at no cost.
Installing the Word Add-in
Method 1 — IT Admin Centralized Deployment (Recommended for Institutions)
Step 1: Get the manifest file
Email contact@f2yapps.com to receive your institution's manifest.production.xml file.
Step 2: Upload via Microsoft 365 Admin Center
Go to admin.microsoft.com → Settings → Integrated Apps → Upload custom apps → Office Add-in → upload the manifest. Assign to All Users or specific groups.
Step 3: Done — SmartCiter appears automatically
Within a few hours, SmartCiter appears in the Home tab ribbon for all assigned users. No action required from individual users.
Method 2 — Individual Sideloading
Word Desktop (Windows or Mac)
Insert tab → Get Add-ins → My Add-ins → Upload My Add-in → browse to the manifest file → Upload.
Word Online
Insert → Add-ins → My Add-ins → Upload My Add-in → upload the manifest file.
Understanding Citation Scores
🎯 Relevance (0–100, weighted 40%)
Measures whether the cited paper semantically supports the specific claim. Score 90+ = strong match. Score below 40 = the AI cannot find a logical connection. Common cause: citing papers from a different topic area or reusing a reference list without checking individual relevance.
🏛 Credibility (0–100, weighted 30%)
Peer-reviewed journals in recognized publications: 85–100. Conference papers: 70–85. Preprints (bioRxiv, arXiv): 50–70. Grey literature and reports: 20–50. Websites: 10–30. Uses heuristic signals only — not a live retraction database.
⏰ Recency (0–100, weighted 30%)
Under 3 years: 90+. 3–5 years: 80. 5–10 years: 55–70. Over 10 years: 30–50. Fast-moving fields (AI, genomics, climate) are penalized more for older citations. Seminal foundational papers may be flagged but are often appropriate to cite.
🌎 Diversity & ✓ Completeness
Diversity: Flags when more than 50% of citations come from one geographic region. Completeness: Scans for scientific assertion sentences (demonstrates, suggests, shows) with no nearby citation and lists them as uncited claims requiring support.
All scores are AI estimates — they flag issues for your attention, not make final decisions. Always verify flagged citations manually before acting on them.
Feature Guide
Auto-Fix Suggestions
Click any 🏁 or 🔴 citation to open the Auto-Fix panel. AI finds 3–5 real peer-reviewed papers better suited to the claim, with confidence scores, DOI links, and copy-paste citations in APA, Vancouver, or BibTeX. Always verify DOIs before adding papers to your manuscript.
Reviewer Mode
Enable the Reviewer Mode toggle before clicking Analyze. Generates a formal structured report: Citation Quality Summary, Strengths, Major Concerns, Minor Concerns, Diversity analysis, and Recommendation with overall score. Downloads as .txt.
Global Coverage Map
SVG world map with bubble indicators sized by citation count per region. Shows exact regional percentages. Flags geographic over-representation when one region exceeds 50%.
DOI Keyword Finder
Enter 2–5 keywords in the DOI Finder tab. Returns up to 8 real papers with full metadata, DOI links, relevance scores, and abstracts. Export all as .bib for Zotero, Mendeley, or LaTeX.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I need my own API key? ▼
SmartCiter routes AI requests directly from your browser to the AI provider — your manuscript never passes through SmartCiter's servers. This is what makes the tool genuinely privacy-preserving. Groq is completely free and takes under a minute to set up.
My PDF looks garbled after upload. What's happening? ▼
PDFs from Word or LaTeX extract cleanly. Scanned PDFs (images of pages) cannot be extracted — they require OCR which is not currently supported. If your PDF is a scan, paste the text manually instead. Minor formatting artifacts in extracted text are usually handled well by the AI.
Some citations weren't detected. Why? ▼
The web analyzer detects (Author, Year), Author (Year), and [Author Year] formats. Numeric citations like [1] or [1,2] are not yet detected in the web analyzer — they are handled in the Word add-in. Citations in footnotes or endnotes may also be missed.
A suggested paper's DOI doesn't work. What should I do? ▼
A non-resolving DOI means the AI may have hallucinated the paper. Do not add it to your manuscript. Search for the title manually on Google Scholar or PubMed to find a real matching paper. This is why we always recommend verifying every suggested DOI.
What's the difference between the web analyzer and the Word add-in? ▼
The web analyzer works in any browser with no installation — best for quick reviews of finished manuscripts. The Word add-in works inside Microsoft Word — best for the full writing workflow, including resolving citations by DOI, formatting bibliographies in 12 styles, and running AI analysis without leaving Word.
Can I use SmartCiter for a thesis or dissertation? ▼
Yes — SmartCiter is particularly valuable for theses where citation quality is scrutinized in detail. Run full analysis plus Reviewer Mode before submission. For very long documents, paste individual chapters for best results as very long manuscripts may exceed AI context limits.
Does SmartCiter work offline? ▼
No. An internet connection is required for AI analysis and citation metadata lookup. File extraction (.pdf, .docx) does work offline since it runs in your browser, but analysis requires connectivity.
How do I export my results? ▼
Reviewer Report: click Download .txt in the Reviewer tab. DOI search results: click Export .bib in the DOI Finder tab. Individual citation suggestions: click APA, Vancouver, or BibTeX buttons in the Auto-Fix panel. The Word add-in also supports JSON, BibTeX, and RIS export of your full citation store.
For IT Administrators & Institutions
Organization-Wide Deployment
- Email contact@f2yapps.com with your institution name and domain to receive the manifest file
- Log in to admin.microsoft.com as a Global or Exchange Administrator
- Navigate to Settings → Integrated Apps → Upload custom apps → Office Add-in
- Upload the manifest file and assign to All Users or specific groups
- SmartCiter appears in Word's Home tab for all assigned users within 12–24 hours — no user action required
Admin Dashboard
After purchasing an institutional license, log in to the SmartCiter Admin Dashboard to register your domain, view registered users, monitor usage statistics, and manage your institution's access.