reference-checker

A collection of functions to check for the existence of references (in Web of Science) in a reference list.

How to use:

1. Get an API key from the Clarivate Developer Portal and subscribe to the Web of Science Starter API. Authentication is by API key (X-ApiKey).

2. Store the key in ~/.Renviron (recommended) as WOS_API_KEY=XXXX.

3. Prepare your references.txt file, with one reference per line.

4. Run source("verify_wos_existence.R") or from the terminal:

   Rscript verify_wos_existence.R refs.txt
   

   or, if providing a custom output file name,

   Rscript verify_wos_existence.R refs.txt results.csv
   

Notes and limitations

• API coverage and plans: The Starter API provides basic metadata and supports simple field‑tag searches (e.g., DO, TI, AU, PY) with per‑plan request limits;

• Web of Science API Expanded offers richer metadata and full field‑tag support if your institution licenses it. For simple “existence” checks, Starter is sufficient.

• Rate limits: The script includes a modest inter‑request delay (0.25 sec); try to increase it if you hit HTTP 429 responses (i.e. too many requests). Plan limits vary (e.g., free plan ~50 requests/day; institutional plans allow more).

• Query construction: This script assumes each line is a full citation. Parsing The Starter API’s supported field tags are listed in its Swagger (e.g., DO, TI, AU, PY).

• Alternative in R: If you already use the legacy wosr package (Web Services / InCites clients), note it authenticates via session IDs (username/password) and targets different endpoints; it is not the same as the Starter API’s API‑key model. For new workflows, Clarivate recommends the newer Starter/Expanded REST APIs.

Scripts and notes above were built with the help of MS365 Copilot, powered by ChatGPT 5.0.