Tools we use and checked.

Identity

• ORCID ↗
  A free persistent iD for you. Put it on every submission; funders and universities read the ORCID record, not the journal site.
  checked 9 Sep 2026 · info.orcid.org
• ROR — Research Organization Registry ↗
  Look up your institution's persistent identifier. Journals that deposit it make your affiliation countable.
  checked 9 Sep 2026 · ror.org

Before you submit

• Think. Check. Submit. ↗
  The checklist for judging a journal — pair it with Journal Check here for the registry evidence.
  checked 9 Sep 2026 · thinkchecksubmit.org
• DOAJ — Directory of Open Access Journals ↗
  The vetted list of open-access journals. Absence proves nothing; presence means an application was reviewed.
  checked 9 Sep 2026 · doaj.org

References

• Crossref Simple Text Query ↗
  Paste a reference list and get DOIs back from Crossref itself. ScholaRef adds the checks; this is the raw registry.
  checked 9 Sep 2026 · apps.crossref.org
• Zotero ↗
  Free reference manager. Imports the BibTeX and RIS files exported here.
  checked 9 Sep 2026 · www.zotero.org
• Retraction Watch Database (via Crossref) ↗
  Retractions, searchable; the full data is open through Crossref and is what our retraction checks read.
  checked 9 Sep 2026 · retractionwatch.com

Discovery

• OpenAlex ↗
  Open index of works, authors, institutions and citations (CC0). What "My publications" reads for your ORCID.
  checked 9 Sep 2026 · openalex.org
• Semantic Scholar ↗
  Free search across the literature with citation context.
  checked 9 Sep 2026 · www.semanticscholar.org

Access

• Unpaywall browser extension ↗
  Finds the legal free copy of a paywalled paper when one exists.
  checked 9 Sep 2026 · unpaywall.org

Sharing

• Zenodo ↗
  Deposit your accepted manuscript, data or slides and get a DOI — free, run by CERN and OpenAIRE.
  checked 9 Sep 2026 · zenodo.org

Missing one?

Tell us at mou@smartscholars.in. We add a tool only after using it, and we say when we last checked it.