Scholar Sidekick

mlava/scholar-sidekick-mcp

Wraps the Scholar Sidekick API to resolve DOIs, PMIDs, PMCIDs, ISBNs, arXiv IDs, ISSNs, NASA ADS bibcodes, and WHO IRIS URLs into structured metadata. You get seven tools: resolve identifiers to CSL JSON, format citations in 10,000+ styles (Vancouver, APA, IEEE, or any CSL style ID), export to BibTeX/RIS/EndNote, check retraction status via Crossref and Retraction Watch, check open access availability through Unpaywall, and verify citations against their actual records to catch AI fabrications (real DOI with invented title). All tools accept batch input as comma or newline-separated lists. Requires a RapidAPI key. Useful when you need programmatic citation workflows, integrity checks, or OA link resolution without hitting individual APIs yourself.

GitHub stars: 11
tools: 7
transport: STDIO, HTTP
last updated: Oct 15, 2026

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Install

From registry metadata

$ npx add-mcp https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/mcp --name scholar-sidekick-mcp

Run in your terminal. add-mcp asks which agents to add it to (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and more). Add -g to install it for every project.

Review the command, arguments and environment values before installing. MCP servers run with your local permissions.

Other ways

Claude Code

$ claude mcp add --transport http scholar-sidekick-mcp https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/mcp

Run in your terminal. Add --scope user to make it available in every project.

Tools

Verified live · 7 tools

Verified live against the running server on Nov 6, 2026.

verifyCitationVerify a claimed citation against the resolved record at its identifier. Detects the dominant AI-driven fabrication pattern documented by Topaz et al. (Lancet 2026): a real, resolvable identifier (DOI / PMID / PMCID / arXiv / etc.) paired with a title that does NOT correspond...14 params

Verify a claimed citation against the resolved record at its identifier. Detects the dominant AI-driven fabrication pattern documented by Topaz et al. (Lancet 2026): a real, resolvable identifier (DOI / PMID / PMCID / arXiv / etc.) paired with a title that does NOT correspond...

Parameters* required

adsstring

NASA ADS bibcode (19 chars).

arxivstring

arXiv ID (e.g. '2301.08745' or 'arXiv:2301.08745'; old-style 'hep-ph/0501023' accepted).

authorstring

First-author family name as cited. Refines the verdict — a title-vs-resolved-title match plus an author mismatch raises suspicion of fabrication. Pass only the family name (e.g. 'Topaz', not 'Topaz...

containerstring

Journal or container name as cited (e.g. 'The Lancet', 'Neuroscience'). Soft signal — surfaced as a mismatch field but does not gate the verdict.

doistring

DOI as cited (with or without https://doi.org/ prefix). Provide whichever identifier(s) the cited reference carries; the verifier uses the first one in priority order doi > pmid > pmcid > arxiv > a...

isbnstring

ISBN (10- or 13-digit, hyphens tolerated).

issnstring

ISSN for journal-level resolution.

pmcidstring

PubMed Central ID (e.g. 'PMC1234567' or 'PMCID:1234567').

pmidstring

PubMed ID as cited (digits only, or with 'PMID:' prefix).

screenWithLlmboolean

Opt-in Stage 3 LLM screen. Fires only when the pre-LLM verdict is mismatch with low confidence (the informal-abbreviation false-positive bucket). Gated: requires an authenticated first-party API ke...

semanticTitleboolean

Opt-in semantic title check (any tier). On a string-level matched verdict, a calibrated model judgment of whether the claimed and resolved titles describe the same work; catches one-word swaps in l...

title*string

The title as it appears in the cited reference. This is the field the verifier cross-checks against the resolved record at the supplied identifier. Required.

whoIrisUrlstring

WHO IRIS URL (https://iris.who.int/...).

yearinteger

Publication year as cited. Wrong year alone does not flip the verdict, but >=2-year gap from the resolved record lowers confidence.

auditBibliographyVerify a WHOLE bibliography in one call — the batch counterpart to verifyCitation. Each entry runs the same fabrication check (real, resolvable identifier paired with a title that does NOT match the resolved paper; Topaz et al., Lancet 2026) plus a retraction lookup, and the t...6 params

Verify a WHOLE bibliography in one call — the batch counterpart to verifyCitation. Each entry runs the same fabrication check (real, resolvable identifier paired with a title that does NOT match the resolved paper; Topaz et al., Lancet 2026) plus a retraction lookup, and the t...

Parameters* required

bibliographystring

Raw bibliography text to parse and audit — BibTeX, RIS, CSL-JSON, or a plain-text reference list (one reference per line, numbered, or blank-line separated). Provide EITHER this or `claims`, not bo...

checksarray

Per-entry enrichment checks. Defaults to ['retraction'] (flags retracted / corrected / expression-of-concern works via Crossref + Retraction Watch, keyed on each resolved DOI). Pass [] to skip the...

claimsarray

Pre-parsed citations to audit — an alternative to `bibliography` for agents that already hold structured references. Each needs a `title` plus whatever identifiers the citation carries.

formatstring

Override format auto-detection for `bibliography`.one of bibtex · ris · csl-json

screenWithLlmboolean

Opt-in Stage 3 LLM screen applied per entry (same gating as verifyCitation: authenticated first-party key or paid RapidAPI tier). Default false.

semanticTitleboolean

Opt-in semantic title check applied per entry (any tier; see verifyCitation). Default false.

checkRetractionCheck whether a single scholarly work has been retracted, corrected, or had an expression of concern raised. Use when the user asks 'has this paper been retracted?' or wants to verify a paper's standing before citing it (clinical, regulatory, evidence-synthesis contexts). To c...1 params

Check whether a single scholarly work has been retracted, corrected, or had an expression of concern raised. Use when the user asks 'has this paper been retracted?' or wants to verify a paper's standing before citing it (clinical, regulatory, evidence-synthesis contexts). To c...

Parameters* required

id*string

A single scholarly identifier to check. 1–500 characters. Non-DOI inputs are resolved to a DOI server-side before the lookup; if no DOI can be derived, the tool returns doi=null with reason='no_doi...

checkOpenAccessCheck whether a single scholarly work is openly accessible and where to find the best legal version. Use when the user asks 'is this open access?', 'where can I read this for free?', or wants the OA license/version before reusing or redistributing. Sourced from Unpaywall. Reso...1 params

Check whether a single scholarly work is openly accessible and where to find the best legal version. Use when the user asks 'is this open access?', 'where can I read this for free?', or wants the OA license/version before reusing or redistributing. Sourced from Unpaywall. Reso...

Parameters* required

id*string

resolveIdentifierResolve scholarly identifiers to structured CSL JSON metadata (title, authors, journal, year, identifiers). Use when the user wants raw bibliographic data to inspect, transform, or feed into another tool — not a formatted citation. Common single-shot conversions: PMID → PMCID,...1 params

Resolve scholarly identifiers to structured CSL JSON metadata (title, authors, journal, year, identifiers). Use when the user wants raw bibliographic data to inspect, transform, or feed into another tool — not a formatted citation. Common single-shot conversions: PMID → PMCID,...

Parameters* required

text*string

One or more identifiers to resolve (DOIs, PMIDs, PMCIDs, ISBNs, arXiv IDs, ISSNs, ADS bibcodes) separated by newlines or commas

formatCitationFormat scholarly identifiers into a finished citation in a specific style. Use when the user wants a paste-ready citation string for a manuscript, slide, message, footnote, or in-line reference. Style defaults to vancouver if unspecified; ask the user before defaulting if any...5 params

Format scholarly identifiers into a finished citation in a specific style. Use when the user wants a paste-ready citation string for a manuscript, slide, message, footnote, or in-line reference. Style defaults to vancouver if unspecified; ask the user before defaulting if any...

Parameters* required

footnoteboolean

Format as footnotes instead of bibliography entries

langstring

Locale for formatting (e.g. en-US, en-GB, fr-FR)

outputstring

Output format (default: text)one of text · html · json

stylestring

Citation style: vancouver (default), ama, apa, ieee, cse, or any CSL style ID

text*string

One or more identifiers (DOIs, PMIDs, ISBNs, arXiv IDs, etc.) separated by newlines or commas

exportCitationExport scholarly identifiers to a bibliography file format ready to write to disk or paste into a reference manager. Use when the user wants a file (.bib, .ris, .nbib, .xml, .rdf, .csv) for Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote, RefWorks, BibTeX/LaTeX, Pandoc, or Excel. Format parameter i...4 params

Export scholarly identifiers to a bibliography file format ready to write to disk or paste into a reference manager. Use when the user wants a file (.bib, .ris, .nbib, .xml, .rdf, .csv) for Zotero, Mendeley, EndNote, RefWorks, BibTeX/LaTeX, Pandoc, or Excel. Format parameter i...

Parameters* required

format*string

Export formatone of bib · ris · csv · csl · endnote-refer · endnote-xml

langstring

Locale for formatting (e.g. en-US)

stylestring

Citation style (used only for txt export)

text*string

One or more identifiers (DOIs, PMIDs, ISBNs, etc.) separated by newlines or commas

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