> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.sharly.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Sources & Citations

> Check the source of every answer, cite the papers you read in APA, BibTeX or RIS, and see what each paper cites.

Sharly helps with four citation tasks:

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Check a source" icon="magnifying-glass" href="#check-where-an-answer-comes-from">
    See the exact text and page behind every answer.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Cite this paper" icon="quote-left" href="#cite-this-paper">
    Copy an APA or BibTeX citation, or export it to your reference manager.
  </Card>

  <Card title="See what a paper cites" icon="list" href="#see-what-a-paper-cites">
    Browse the paper's own reference list.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Cite Sharly" icon="graduation-cap" href="#cite-sharly">
    Disclose your use of Sharly in your paper.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Check where an answer comes from

Click **Citations** under any answer. Each source card shows the exact text from your document, with its page number.

* Click **Open page** to jump to that page in the document viewer.
* Mathematical formulas in excerpts are displayed as formatted math.
* When you and a colleague upload the same paper, citations always open your own copy.

## Cite this paper

For published journal articles, each source card has a **Cite** button.

<Frame>
  <img className="block dark:hidden" src="https://mintcdn.com/sharly/GlZZKvcNA0wIRZQW/images/cite-button-light.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=GlZZKvcNA0wIRZQW&q=85&s=0f087e8e32041b8087f92700d9396a0c" alt="The Cite menu on a source card, with Copy APA reference, Copy in-text citation, Copy BibTeX and Download RIS file" width="1099" height="1212" data-path="images/cite-button-light.png" />

  <img className="hidden dark:block" src="https://mintcdn.com/sharly/GlZZKvcNA0wIRZQW/images/cite-button-dark.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=GlZZKvcNA0wIRZQW&q=85&s=1ee6c179a260fe774b1d3e73b186fbb1" alt="The Cite menu on a source card, with Copy APA reference, Copy in-text citation, Copy BibTeX and Download RIS file" width="1099" height="1212" data-path="images/cite-button-dark.png" />
</Frame>

| Option | Use it for |
| - | - |
| **Copy APA reference** | Your reference list, in APA 7th edition |
| **Copy in-text citation** | Your text, for example (Nakamura & Ito, 2024) |
| **Copy BibTeX** | LaTeX and Overleaf |
| **Download RIS file** | EndNote, Zotero and Mendeley |

**From the paper's DOI record** opens the paper's official record.

### Add it to your reference manager

| Tool | In Sharly | Then |
| - | - | - |
| **Zotero** | Download RIS file | **File → Import**, then choose the file |
| **EndNote** | Download RIS file | **File → Import → File**, with the **Reference Manager (RIS)** option |
| **Mendeley** | Download RIS file | **File → Import → RIS** |
| **Overleaf or LaTeX** | Copy BibTeX | Paste it into your `.bib` file and cite it by its key, for example `\cite{nakamura2024retrieval}` |

### Which papers get a Cite button

The Cite button works with published journal articles that print their DOI on the first page. Sharly checks the title and authors against the DOI record before offering it.

<Accordion title="Papers without a Cite button">
  Books, chapters, preprints, reviews, commentaries, corrections, retracted papers, and scanned documents without a DOI.
</Accordion>

## See what a paper cites

Open the **Insights** tab next to the document viewer and expand **Citations**. It lists the references from the paper's own bibliography, in APA and MLA.

If the paper has no bibliography, Sharly shows **No reference list found.**

## Cite Sharly

At the bottom of every citations list, **How to cite Sharly** opens the citation page, with the version of Sharly you are using.

For ready-made methods and AI-use sentences, see [Cite Sharly in your paper](/academia/citing-sharly).


This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.