Find real academic papers, cited
Ask for research on a topic, by an author, or by title and Zeplik searches a live scholarly database, then answers with real papers, their authors, years, and DOIs. This matters because a language model on its own will readily invent a title, an author list, or a DOI that looks perfectly plausible and leads nowhere. Here every reference is grounded in a record that exists, and when a paper or citation cannot be confirmed Zeplik says so rather than fabricating one.
The lookup is free; you pay only the normal cost of the answer, shown before you send.
How it works
Describe the paper or topic
Ask in plain language, like 'recent papers on transformer efficiency' or 'find the original attention-is-all-you-need paper'. A topic, author, or title is enough for Zeplik to run the search.
Zeplik searches the live database
It queries a live scholarly database of published works, not the model's memory, and treats each result as source material handled as untrusted content, so nothing in an abstract can hijack the answer.
Read the grounded citations and verify
The answer returns real papers with their authors, years, and DOIs, so you can follow the link, confirm the source, and pull them into a literature review with confidence.
Worked examples
Real prompts you can open in the composer with the text ready to review. Nothing sends on its own. Swap in your own details.
Prompt: Find recent papers on retrieval-augmented generation and give me the authors and years
Zeplik searches the live database and returns real papers with real authors and years, so a literature review starts from records that exist, not invented titles.
Open this in ZeplikPrompt: I need the DOI for the paper that introduced the BERT language model
It resolves the actual paper and returns its DOI, so a citation points to the real work rather than a plausible-looking string.
Open this in ZeplikPrompt: Someone cited a 2021 paper titled 'Neural Scaling of Sparse Attention'. Can you verify it exists?
Verification is the point: it checks whether the paper resolves to a real record and tells you plainly if it cannot be confirmed, catching fabricated references.
Open this in ZeplikWhat it can and cannot do
The lookup is precise about what it can verify and honest about its edges. Here is the plain posture.
Search a live scholarly database and get real published works matching your query.
Each result comes back with its real metadata, so you can locate the paper and cite it accurately.
Paste a title or DOI and Zeplik checks whether it resolves to a real record, the direct antidote to fabricated references.
If a paper cannot be found, Zeplik says so plainly instead of inventing an authoritative-looking citation.
It returns metadata and links, not the licensed full text of works behind a paywall. Use the DOI to reach the publisher or your library.
It surfaces real matches ranked by relevance, but it cannot tell you which is the single seminal work. Read the results and use your own judgment or a systematic review.
Grounded, and honest by default
- It cites real records. Every paper comes back with its real authors, year, and DOI, so you can verify each one at the source instead of trusting the model's memory.
- It will not invent a citation. When a paper or DOI cannot be confirmed, Zeplik says so rather than fabricating a plausible-looking reference that leads nowhere.
- Abstract text cannot hijack the answer. Each record is treated as untrusted content: Zeplik reads and reports it but never obeys instructions embedded inside it.
Frequently asked questions
- Why not just ask a chatbot for research citations?
- Because a language model on its own will confidently produce paper titles, author lists, and DOIs that look real and do not exist. This tool searches a live scholarly database and returns real records you can verify, and it refuses to invent a citation when it cannot confirm one.
- Which database does it search?
- It queries a large, free, open scholarly database of published works across disciplines. Give a topic, author, or title and Zeplik returns matching papers with their real authors, years, and DOIs.
- Can it verify a citation I already have?
- Yes. Paste a title or DOI and Zeplik checks whether it resolves to a real record, so you can catch a fabricated or garbled reference before it reaches your bibliography.
- Can it get me the full PDF?
- It returns metadata and links, including the DOI, rather than licensed full text. For papers behind a paywall, use the DOI to reach the publisher or access them through your institution.
- Does the search cost credits?
- The paper lookup itself is free. You pay only the normal model-token cost of the answer written around it, shown before you send, like any other message.
Related skills
More on Zeplik
Reference papers that actually exist
Find and verify real academic papers with their authors, years, and DOIs, grounded in a live scholarly database. Free to start.