Upgrade StorageNew Scholar Sidekick plugin for Zotero 7-9: verify .bib/.ris at the import boundary
Just in case announcement posts are appropriate, I made a little plugin to fill a hole I kept running into: check claimed metadata of a .bib or .ris before import.
Zotero has lookup by identifier, export, Retraction Watch warnings of items within the Zotero library, etc, but at the import boundary (collaborator bibliographies, manuscript reference lists, AI-generated drafts), claimed metadata can get very separated from what the identifier actually resolves to.
The plugin parses each item, runs it by the Scholar Sidekick API, and presents a verdict per row before any committing is made:
- Verified - claimed title/authors match the identifier
- Mismatch - claimed metadata does NOT match (the classic AI-fabrication pattern, where a real DOI is paired with a made-up title; see Topaz et al, Lancet 2026)
- Resolved - only an identifier given, nothing to verify against, it resolved fine
- Not found - the identifier couldn't be found at all
Each row also shows the retraction/correction status (Crossref + Retraction Watch) and open-access status (Unpaywall). You can then choose which entries to import; on import, Zotero items get the resolved metadata, a child note recording what was checked, and a tag (if retracted).
Honestly, the Retraction Watch portion is sort of redundant, since Zotero shows native Retraction Watch warnings once items are in the library, but the added value is the pre-import check, and the claimed-vs-resolved fabrication detection.
Install instructions (.xpi + step-by-step): https://scholar-sidekick.com/integrations/zotero
Source: https://github.com/mlava/scholar-sidekick-zotero (MIT)
Works with Zotero 7 through 9; installed copies update automatically.
Free anonymous tier, doesn't require an account or API key for regular usage. Open to bugs, feedback, etc!
Zotero has lookup by identifier, export, Retraction Watch warnings of items within the Zotero library, etc, but at the import boundary (collaborator bibliographies, manuscript reference lists, AI-generated drafts), claimed metadata can get very separated from what the identifier actually resolves to.
The plugin parses each item, runs it by the Scholar Sidekick API, and presents a verdict per row before any committing is made:
- Verified - claimed title/authors match the identifier
- Mismatch - claimed metadata does NOT match (the classic AI-fabrication pattern, where a real DOI is paired with a made-up title; see Topaz et al, Lancet 2026)
- Resolved - only an identifier given, nothing to verify against, it resolved fine
- Not found - the identifier couldn't be found at all
Each row also shows the retraction/correction status (Crossref + Retraction Watch) and open-access status (Unpaywall). You can then choose which entries to import; on import, Zotero items get the resolved metadata, a child note recording what was checked, and a tag (if retracted).
Honestly, the Retraction Watch portion is sort of redundant, since Zotero shows native Retraction Watch warnings once items are in the library, but the added value is the pre-import check, and the claimed-vs-resolved fabrication detection.
Install instructions (.xpi + step-by-step): https://scholar-sidekick.com/integrations/zotero
Source: https://github.com/mlava/scholar-sidekick-zotero (MIT)
Works with Zotero 7 through 9; installed copies update automatically.
Free anonymous tier, doesn't require an account or API key for regular usage. Open to bugs, feedback, etc!