# Scholar Sidekick - Cite from any identifier (Obsidian plugin)

Paste a DOI, PMID, ISBN, arXiv ID, ADS bibcode, or PMCID into a note and
replace it with a formatted citation. No reference manager required.

Backed by the public [Scholar Sidekick API](https://scholar-sidekick.com)
— a transparent, composable interface to authoritative scholarly metadata
sources (Crossref, NCBI, arXiv, Open Library, ADS, WHO IRIS).

> Already using a Zotero / BibTeX library inside Obsidian? The
> [Citations](https://github.com/hans/obsidian-citation-plugin) plugin is
> excellent for that workflow. Scholar Sidekick is for the case **before**
> you have a curated library - you want a citation now, from an identifier
> you have right now.

## Commands

| Command                                       | What it does                                                                                                                             |
| --------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Format selection as citation**              | Wraps the selected text (an identifier or text containing one) in a citation in your default style.                                      |
| **Replace identifier at caret with citation** | Detects the identifier under or near the caret and replaces it (or appends, by setting). No selection required.                          |
| **Insert citation…**                          | Opens a modal: type/paste an identifier, pick from 5 quick styles or search 10,000+ CSL styles, insert at caret.                         |
| **Export note citations to bibtex**           | Scans the active note for every identifier and saves a `.bib` file next to the note - ready to import into Zotero / Mendeley / EndNote.  |
| **Export note citations to ris**              | Same, but RIS format.                                                                                                                    |
| **Check identifier at caret for retraction**  | Sends the identifier nearest the caret to the retraction checker (Crossref + Retraction Watch) and surfaces the result via a `Notice`.   |
| **Check identifier at caret for open access** | Sends the identifier nearest the caret to the open-access checker (Unpaywall) and surfaces status + best legal copy via a `Notice`.      |
| **Check note citations for retractions**      | Scans the active note, dedupes identifiers, and opens a modal table with retraction status per item. Optional "Append summary at caret". |
| **Check note citations for open access**      | Same, for open-access status. Modal lists each best legal copy link.                                                                     |
| **Verify selected citation**                  | Opens a verifier modal pre-filled from the selection. Cross-checks the claimed title + identifier against Crossref, PubMed, OpenAlex.    |

## Supported identifiers

- DOI (bare or `doi.org` URL)
- PMID (bare, labelled, or `pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov` URL)
- PMCID (bare or `ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/...` URL)
- ISBN (10 or 13)
- arXiv (modern `2301.07041` or legacy `cs.CL/0301001`)
- ISSN
- ADS bibcode (within the modal - server-side detection)

The detection regexes are vendored from the upstream API source, with a
build-time drift detector ensuring the vendored copy never falls out of
sync with the canonical patterns.

## Settings

- **Default citation style** - Vancouver, APA, AMA, IEEE, CSE built-in;
  the modal lets you persist any of 10,000+ styles.
- **Output format** - plain text or HTML. The five built-in styles
  emit text only; HTML applies to CSL styles selected via the search
  modal (those preserve italics, small caps, and other inline markup
  that survives in Obsidian's reading view). Selecting HTML with a
  built-in style falls back to text rather than failing.
- **Replace mode** - replace identifier in place, or append the citation
  after it.
- **Include source provenance** - sends `?provenance=1` so each citation
  records which upstream registry supplied the metadata, plus the fetch
  timestamp and transform version. Adds a small payload to every response.
- **Include safety checks (retraction + open access)** - sends
  `?checks=retraction,oa` so each formatted citation arrives alongside its
  retraction status (Crossref + Retraction Watch) and open-access status
  (Unpaywall). Off by default; adds a few seconds of latency per request.

## Privacy

- The plugin sends the identifier text you ask it to format directly to
  `https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/format` over HTTPS.
- The retraction / open-access / verify commands additionally send the
  identifier or claim to `https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/retraction-check`,
  `https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/oa-check`, or
  `https://scholar-sidekick.com/api/verify` over HTTPS.
- No API key is required; the API treats the plugin as the anonymous
  rate-limited tier (60 requests / minute / IP).
- Inputs are not retained or used for training. See the API
  [privacy policy](https://scholar-sidekick.com/legal/privacy).

## Provenance

Every API call carries a `x-scholar-transform-version` header so you can
pin reproducibility. The plugin logs `x-request-id` and
`x-scholar-transform-version` to the developer console for diagnostic
support - open the Obsidian dev console (Cmd+Opt+I / Ctrl+Shift+I) to
view them.

## Build from source

See [BUILD.md](./BUILD.md).