Scite is an __AI platform for scientific research__ whose central feature is unique: __Smart Citations__. Unlike tools that simply count citations, Scite analyzes the context of each citation to determine whether the cited work is __supported__, __contradicted__ or simply mentioned. This database of 1.6 billion citations indexed across 280 million sources is enriched by direct agreements with Wiley, SAGE and 30+ publishers, providing access to __full-text paywalled articles__ that most AI tools cannot access. The __AI assistant__ answers complex questions about scientific literature with verifiable, source-cited answers at the sentence level. Complementary features include __reference verification__, __custom dashboards__, __citation alerts__, patent search, and __API and MCP access__ for developers and organizations.
What is Scite?
Scite is an artificial intelligence platform dedicated to scientific research, focused on verification and evaluation of academic literature. Its founding feature is the Smart Citations system: a deep learning model that analyzes the context of each citation to classify it as supporting, contradicting or mentioning the cited article. The platform indexes 1.6 billion citations across 280 million sources, with publishing agreements providing access to full texts of publications normally accessible only through paid subscription. It offers an AI assistant, semantic search, custom dashboards, alerts and API access.
Key Features
Smart Citations form the technological core of Scite. Each citation is analyzed by a deep learning model that automatically classifies the context: supporting (the citing paper confirms the results), contradicting (it challenges the conclusions), or mentioning (neutral reference). A confidence score is displayed for each classification. The database covers 1.6 billion analyzed citations. Scite’s AI assistant answers complex research questions based on 280 million full-text articles. Each answer is sourced with exact excerpts from the underlying papers, ensuring complete traceability. A table view allows organizing results for literature reviews. Full-text search goes beyond public abstracts to explore the actual content of articles, including those behind paywalls, thanks to agreements with Wiley, SAGE, Frontiers, PNAS, IOP and 25+ other publishers. Reference verification allows uploading a bibliography and instantly obtaining the citation profile of each referenced article. Custom dashboards allow tracking a set of publications, authors or topics over time. Citation alerts notify the user when new works cite a monitored study. An API and MCP access are available for developers and organizations.
Use Cases
Scite targets multiple profiles in the scientific community. Researchers use it to quickly assess whether a study is consensual or controversial in their field before citing it. PhD students verify their final bibliography to avoid referencing retracted or heavily disputed articles. Journalists and science communicators rely on Smart Citations to fact-check research claims before publication. Scientific monitoring teams use dashboards and alerts to track consensus evolution on specific topics. Academic institutions deploy Scite in Organization mode to provide secure access to all their teams. Developers integrate the Scite API into third-party tools.
Advantages
The main benefit of Scite is making scientific research more reliable and faster to evaluate. In just seconds, a researcher can see whether a study has been confirmed or challenged by other works — information that previously took hours of manual reading. Access to paywalled full texts through publishing agreements significantly enhances answer quality and helps avoid bias related to only open-access abstracts. Complete traceability of AI assistant responses eliminates the risk of hallucinations and strengthens confidence in produced information. Automatic bibliography verification is a valuable time-saver for researchers in the submission phase.
Pricing
Scite offers three plan types. The Personal plan targets individual researchers with a 7-day free trial giving access to all premium features including the AI assistant, full-text search, dashboards, alerts and reference verification. The exact monthly or annual rate is not displayed publicly but is competitive compared to traditional academic subscriptions. Discounts are available for students and academics. The Organization plan is quote-based for universities and enterprises with domain-based, IP or email access, API, advanced analytics and dedicated support. The Developer plan is credit-based for API and MCP access, with progressive pricing for high volumes.
Conclusion
Scite is a reference tool for any researcher who places scientific rigor at the heart of their work. Its unique ability to classify citations as supporting or contradicting a study makes it an irreplaceable tool for assessing scientific consensus. The 7-day free trial allows exploring it without commitment, and its adoption by the world’s largest institutions testifies to its value in the research process.