How to Use Scite: A Step-by-Step Guide in 2025

Ever wondered how research papers really use their citations?

Scite helps you figure that out!

We’ll explore the Scite dashboard, learn advanced search tricks, and understand what those citation statements mean.

This tutorial shows you how to use Scite to see if a paper supports, mentions, or disagrees with the work it cites.

Ready to dive in? Let’s go!

Getting Started with Scite

Okay, let’s get you started with Scite! It’s super easy to use.

First things first, you’ll need an account.

Just head over to Scite’s website and click the “Sign Up” button. 

You can create a free account with your email address, or link your Google or ORCID account. Easy peasy!

Now, let’s check out your dashboard. After you log in, you’ll see your main dashboard. Think of it as your home base on Scite.

Here, you can:

• Search for articles: Just type in some keywords in the search bar at the top. You can search for anything, like “climate change” or “artificial intelligence.”
• See your search results: Scite will show you a list of all the articles that match your search. You can sort these results by the number of citations, date, or even by how much other papers agree or disagree with them.
• Check out Scite reports: Click on any article in your search results to see its Scite report. This report tells you all about how other researchers have cited this paper.

Scite is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and uses some really cool technology to help you understand research.

They use something called “natural language processing” to look at the text of each paper and figure out how it’s being cited.

This helps Scite classify citations and show you if a paper supports, mentions, or contrasts the work it cites.

Pretty neat, huh?

With Scite, you can:

• Find supporting citations: See which papers agree with a certain study.
• Uncover contrasting citations: Find papers that disagree with or offer contrasting evidence to a study.
• Stay updated: Set up alerts to get notified about new citations to papers you’re interested in.

So, that’s the basics of getting started with Scite.

Ready to learn more about searching for articles? 

Let’s move on to the next section!

Searching for Articles on Scite

Alright, now that you know the basics, let’s learn how to find the research articles you need on Scite!

Basic Search:

• Keywords: Start by typing keywords into the search bar. For example, if you’re interested in “artificial intelligence in healthcare,” just type that in!
• Author Names: Know the author you’re looking for? Type in their name to find their work.
• DOIs: Every research article has a unique DOI (digital object identifier). If you know it, you can paste it into the search bar to find the exact paper.
• Article Titles: If you remember the title of the paper, or even part of it, try typing it in!

Want to get even more specific with your search? Scite has some awesome filters!

• Date Range: Want to find only recent papers? Or maybe older ones? You can set a date range for your search.
• Publication Type: Looking for articles in journals, or maybe conference proceedings? This filter helps you narrow things down.
• Open Access: Want to find articles that are free to read? Use the open access filter.

Citation Statement Search!

This is where Scite really shines.

You can actually search for papers based on how they cite other work.

For example, you could search for papers that support the idea of climate change, or papers that dispute it.

This helps you see the bigger picture and understand different perspectives on a topic.

Tips for better searches:

• Use quotation marks: Put phrases in quotation marks to search for those exact words together. For example, searching for “heart disease” (with quotes) will give you different results than heart disease (without quotes).
• Use the minus sign: Want to exclude certain words from your search? Put a minus sign (-) before them. For example, searching for “artificial intelligence -robots” will find articles about AI that don’t mention robots.

With these search tips and filters, you’ll become a Scite pro in no time! Ready to see what those search results actually tell you?

Let’s dive into Scite reports in the next section!

Understanding Scite Reports

Okay, you’ve found some articles on Scite.

Now what? This is where Scite reports come in!

They give you the inside scoop on how a research paper is being used by other researchers.

What are Citation Statements?

Think of a citation statement as a short sentence that explains how one paper cites another. For example, it might say something like:

• “This study supports the findings of Smith et al. (2023).”
• “The results of this experiment contrast with the previous work by Jones (2022).”

Scite looks at how other papers cite a specific paper and tells you if they:

• Support the ideas presented in the paper.
• Mention the paper without saying if they agree or disagree.
• Contrast with the paper, meaning they have different findings or disagree with some of the ideas.
• Dispute the paper, meaning they directly challenge or disagree with the findings.

Smart Citations:

Scite uses some really cool technology called “natural language processing” to find and understand these citation statements.

It’s like having a super smart research assistant who reads all the papers for you and figures out what they’re saying! 

This is how Scite can tell you if a citing paper provides supporting citations or contrasting citations to the cited work.

Visualizing Citation Information:

Scite reports show you a bunch of useful information:

• Citing Papers: You can see a list of all the papers that cite the one you’re looking at, along with theircitation type (supporting, contrasting, etc.). You can even click on these papers to see their own Scite reports! It’s like a chain of information!
• Reference List: You can also see the list of papers that the original paper cited.
• Citation Network Graph: This is a visual map that shows you how different papers are connected through citations. It’s a cool way to see the bigger picture of a research field!

Why are Scite reports helpful?

• Find gaps in the literature: You can quickly see if there are any areas where research is missing or where there’s disagreement.
• Critically engage with research: You can see how other researchers are using a paper and form your own opinions. This is really helpful for a literature review or critical analysis.
• Find relevant articles: If you find an important paper, you can easily see which other papers cite it, which might lead you to even more relevant articles.

Scite reports are one of the most powerful ways to understand how research is being used and discussed.

They help you go beyond just counting citations and actually see how a paper fits into the broader literature.

Using Scite for Different Purposes

Scite is a super helpful tool for all sorts of things! Let’s look at a few ways you can use it:

Literature Reviews:

Imagine you’re writing a paper on climate change. You need to find a bunch of relevant papers and see what other researchers are saying about them. Scite makes this easy! You can:

• Quickly find papers you are citing and see if they mostly have supporting citations or contrasting citations. This helps you see if the paper’s ideas are generally accepted or if there’s a lot of debate in the field of study.
• Use the Smart Citations feature to understand the context of each citation. Instead of just seeing a citation count, you can see how each citing paper actually uses the information contained in the original paper.
• See if there are any gaps in the research or areas where people disagree. This can help you find gaps in the literature and come up with new research ideas.

Fact-Checking:

Ever read something online and wondered if it was true? Scite can help you check! Let’s say you read an article that claims a certain drug cures COVID-19. You can use Scite to:

• Find scientific articles about that drug.
• See how other researchers are citing the paper that made the original claim. Do they agree with the original findings, or do they have different results?
• Check if other studies support or contradict the claim. This helps you avoid relying on information uncritically and form your own opinion based on the evidence.

Staying Up-to-Date:

Want to keep track of the latest research in your field of study? Scite can help! You can:

• Save your searches and get notifications whenever a new paper was cited. This is like having your own personal research assistant who keeps you updated on the latest developments in your area of research.
• See how new research builds on older research. You can see how ideas evolve over time and how new discoveries are changing our understanding of a topic.
• Find out about new trends and discoveries in your area of research.

Writing Research Papers:

Scite can help you write better research papers too! You can use it to:

• Find evidence to support your arguments. Instead of just saying “many researchers believe X,” you can use Scite to find papers you are citing that actually support your claims.
• Make sure your citations are accurate. Scite helps you understand how other researchers are using a paper, so you can make sure you’re citing it correctly.
• Discover new papers that you might have missed in your literature search. Scite can help you find specific papers that arerelevant to your research, even if you didn’t know they existed!

Here are some other cool things you can do with Scite:

• Sort the results: You can sort the results of your searches by the number of supporting citations, date, or even by how much other papers agree or disagree with them. This helps you quickly find the most relevant and impactful papers.
• See a number of helpful features: Scite has a bunch of helpful features, like the ability to see editorial notices like retractions (e.g., if a paper was withdrawn due to errors) and to quickly access the full text of articles.
• Quickly access Scite with the browser extension: You can install the Scite browser extension to quickly access Scite from any webpage. This is super handy if you’re reading a paper online and want to see its Scite report. You can even use it with reference management tools like Zotero!
• Also create custom dashboards: You can also create custom dashboards to track specific topics or groups of publications. This is helpful if you want to stay up-to-date on a specific topic of interest, like a particular disease or a new technology.

Scite is a really powerful way to improve your research and writing.

It helps you understand research better and find the information you need quickly and easily.

Conclusion

So, there you have it! We’ve explored all the cool things you can do with Scite.

It’s a really helpful tool for anyone who wants to understand research better.

Whether you’re a student writing a paper, a researcher exploring a new topic, or just someone who wants to learn more about the world, Scite can help! 

Scite helps you see how research papers are being used by other researchers. You can find out if a paper is mostly being supported or contrasted by other studies.

This gives you a better idea of how the research process actually works – sometimes people agree, and sometimes they don’t!

Scite uses smart technology to understand the meaning behind citations. 

Instead of just seeing a bunch of papers listed, you can see how each one uses the information from another paper.

You can use Scite for all sorts of things, like writing papers, fact-checking, and staying up-to-date in your field.

For example, if you’re writing a paper, you can use Scite to find supporting and contrasting citations for the papers you are citing. 

This helps you build a strong argument and show that you’ve considered different perspectives. Scite is like having a superpower for understanding research! 

It helps you cut through the noise and find the information you need quickly and easily. So, what are you waiting for?

Go explore Scite and see what you can discover!

Frequently Asked Questions