Scite AI Guide

Scite is an AI-powered research platform that helps you find scholarly literature and understand whether later studies support, contradict, or simply mention a research finding through Smart Citations.

Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Open the Scite Website

Open Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or another browser and go to the official Scite website.

Open Scite AI

On the homepage, you can find the main research interface along with options for accessing Scite’s research tools.

What to do:

  1. Open your browser.
  2. Type scite.ai.
  3. Press Enter.
  4. Wait for the Scite homepage to load.

Image for this step:
📸 Take a screenshot showing the Scite AI homepage, logo, main search/AI area, and navigation menu.

Step 2: Click Sign Up

If you don’t already have a Scite account, click Sign Up to create one.

Scite’s current pricing page confirms that users can create a free account, and its free option does not require a credit card.

What to do:

  1. Find Sign Up.
  2. Click it.
  3. Continue to the registration page.
  4. Follow the registration instructions shown by Scite.

Image for this step:
📸 Capture the homepage with the Sign Up button clearly visible or the registration page after clicking it.

Step 3: Create Your Scite Account

Enter the information requested on the registration screen.

A typical registration process requires account information such as your name, email address, and password; institutional access may have additional requirements.

What to do:

  1. Enter your name if requested.
  2. Enter your email address.
  3. Create a strong password.
  4. Accept the required terms.
  5. Click the registration/Sign Up button.

Tip: Use an email address that you can access because Scite may require email verification.

Image for this step:
📸 Screenshot the registration form with your personal information hidden or blurred.

Step 4: Verify Your Email

After registration, check your email inbox for a verification message from Scite.

What to do:

  1. Open your email inbox.
  2. Search for an email from Scite.
  3. Open the verification email.
  4. Click the verification button/link.
  5. Return to Scite.

Image for this step:
📸 Show the Scite verification email, but hide your email address and any personal information.

Step 5: Log In to Scite

Once your account has been created, use the Log In option to access your account.

What to do:

  1. Go to the Scite website.
  2. Click Log In.
  3. Enter your registered email.
  4. Enter your password.
  5. Complete any additional authentication requested.
  6. Click Log In.

Scite’s getting-started documentation identifies the browser platform as the place where users can access Search, Assistant, Collections, and reference-checking tools.

Image for this step:
📸 Capture the Scite Log In screen with the email/password fields visible

Step 6: Use Scite Search

After logging in, start by searching for a research topic, paper, author, keyword, or DOI.

Scite Search goes beyond basic metadata by searching citation statements extracted from full-text research.

Example search:

Artificial intelligence in education

What to do:

  1. Open Search.
  2. Enter your research topic.
  3. Press Enter.
  4. Review the search results.
  5. Open papers relevant to your research.

Image for this step:
📸 Screenshot the Search page showing your search query and research results.

Step 7: Understand Smart Citations

One of Scite’s main features is Smart Citations.

Instead of simply showing how many times a paper has been cited, Scite analyzes citation statements and classifies citations as supporting, contrasting, or mentioning.

What to do:

  1. Open a paper from the search results.
  2. Find its citation information.
  3. Examine the Smart Citation classifications.
  4. Open individual citation statements.
  5. Read the context in which later researchers cited the paper.

This can help you understand whether later research supports or challenges a particular finding.

Image for this step:
📸 Capture a paper’s Smart Citations/citation analysis showing the citation classifications.

Step 8: Use Scite Assistant

Scite Assistant lets you ask research questions and receive answers grounded in scholarly literature. Scite says Assistant is backed by its indexed full-text research and links answers to sources.

Example prompt:

What does recent research say about the impact of AI on student learning?

What to do:

  1. Open Assistant.
  2. Enter your research question.
  3. Submit the question.
  4. Read the generated response.
  5. Open the cited papers.
  6. Verify important claims against the original research.

Scite itself recommends verifying that the cited paper actually supports the specific claim you intend to make.

Image for this step:
📸 Capture the Assistant conversation showing your question, answer, and citations.

Step 9: Create a Collection

Collections allow you to organize papers you want to monitor or use for a research project. Scite says Collections can also help monitor citations and identify supporting or contrasting citations.

What to do:

  1. Find a useful research paper.
  2. Add it to a Collection.
  3. Give the collection a meaningful name.
  4. Add additional relevant papers.
  5. Use the collection to organize your research.

Example collection names:

  • AI in Education
  • Generative AI Research
  • Machine Learning Papers
  • SEO & AI Research

Image for this step:
📸 Screenshot the Collections page showing your collection and saved papers.

Step 10: Try Reference Check

Reference Check is particularly useful if you’re writing a research paper, thesis, dissertation, or academic article.

It allows you to upload a manuscript PDF and examine how its references have been cited elsewhere, including information about contrasting citations and editorial notices.

What to do:

  1. Open Reference Check.
  2. Upload your manuscript PDF.
  3. Wait for Scite to process it.
  4. Review the detected references.
  5. Check supporting/contrasting citation information.
  6. Look for editorial notices or retractions.
  7. Investigate references that require additional verification.

Scite’s documentation notes that Reference Check can identify editorial concerns such as retractions and corrections associated with references.

Image for this step:
📸 Capture the Reference Check upload/report interface, while hiding any private manuscript information.

 

Quick Scite AI Workflow

Create Account → Verify Email → Log In → Search Research → Open Paper → Check Smart Citations → Ask Assistant → Save Papers → Check References → Verify Sources

Official Website