Claim Check
Check Research Claims Against Published Evidence
Does a research paper actually support a statement? Does other research disagree? ResearchPal Claim Check helps you investigate a claim by finding relevant studies and showing whether their findings support, refute or present mixed evidence about it.
Enter a statement you want to examine. Claim Check searches scholarly sources, evaluates relevant passages and displays an evidence verdict with the papers behind it. Each study label includes the exact sentence used as evidence, so you can inspect the source rather than relying on an unsupported AI answer.
2 credits per check, only when evidence is found
Try an example:
What Is ResearchPal Claim Check?
ResearchPal Claim Check is an AI-powered research evidence checker designed to help you evaluate statements against published studies. Instead of giving you only a general answer, it organizes relevant findings into three evidence groups: Supports, Refutes and Mixed.
The result includes an overall verdict, a certainty level, study details and source quotations. You can explore the evidence on each side, inspect the context around a quotation and open the source record to review the underlying paper.
Claim Check is designed for research questions that can be investigated through scholarly evidence. It can help you assess a statement before using it in an essay, literature review, thesis, research paper, science article or other evidence-based work.
See the Evidence Behind a Claim
A conclusion is more useful when you can examine the research behind it. Claim Check presents the evidence study by study, allowing you to see which findings support a statement, which challenge it and where the results are mixed.
WHAT YOU GET
Know in seconds what the research says about a claim
A verdict, and how strong each side is
The exact sentence from each paper, ready to cite
Save to your document, or export to Word, PDF or Zotero
See studies that support the claim
Review studies whose reported findings support the statement being investigated. Each evidence card includes the paper's details, its assigned stance and the source sentence used to support that label.
Find conflicting or refuting evidence
Research does not always point in one direction. Claim Check runs additional searches for findings such as “no effect” and “not associated” so that contradictory results have a better chance of appearing in the evidence review.
Examine mixed findings
Some studies report results that do not fit neatly into a supporting or refuting category. The Mixed group helps you identify these cases instead of treating every paper as a simple yes-or-no answer.
Review the overall evidence verdict
Claim Check summarizes the available findings using six verdicts: Mostly supported, Leans supported, Mixed evidence, Leans refuted, Mostly refuted and Limited evidence.
A separate certainty badge (High, Moderate or Low) indicates the strength of the evidence base as assessed by the system. The verdict is a starting point for evaluating the research, not a substitute for reading and interpreting the underlying studies.
Exact Source Quotes You Can Check
AI-generated research answers are easier to evaluate when their claims can be traced to a source. Claim Check pairs each evidence label with the exact sentence selected from the paper as support for that classification.
The system checks the quotation word for word against the available paper text. If the quoted sentence cannot be verified, the associated evidence label is discarded.
You can also open the surrounding context to see how the sentence appears in the paper. Where the source record supports it, use the Open at Quote option to open the paper's abstract on Europe PMC with the relevant sentence highlighted.
This source-checking process helps you inspect where an evidence label came from. It does not guarantee that the AI has interpreted the paper correctly, that the study is methodologically sound or that the paper establishes causation.
How the AI Claim Checker Works
Claim Check turns a research statement into an organized evidence review. A new check typically completes in about 10–20 seconds, although timing and the amount of evidence returned can vary.
1. Enter a claim
Type one statement, between 3 and 300 characters, that published research could reasonably support or refute.
For example, you might enter a statement about a health intervention, an educational approach or a relationship between two measurable variables.
If you enter a broad topic rather than a testable claim, Claim Check can suggest four possible claims to investigate. No search or check charge is applied while you are choosing a suggested claim.
2. Search scholarly sources
Claim Check searches relevant scholarly sources together rather than relying on a single search result. It expands the statement into concepts and related terms to help locate relevant studies.
Depending on the subject, the search can include biomedical research, multidisciplinary scholarly records, education research, registered clinical trials and official FDA drug-label information.
3. Examine relevant study passages
The system identifies passages that address the claim and assigns a stance based on the paper's own findings. It separates supporting, refuting and mixed evidence and drops classifications that fall below its confidence threshold.
For up to 16 open-access papers, Claim Check can examine full text. Other records may be assessed using abstracts or available text, so the result should not be treated as a full-text review of every paper.
4. Verify quotations and check retraction status
Each retained evidence label must have a quotation that matches the available source text word for word. The system also checks for retraction, correction and expression-of-concern notices where supported by the source records.
Retracted papers are excluded from the evidence counts and listed separately. Papers with corrections or expressions of concern receive warning indicators.
5. Review the verdict and evidence
The result brings the evidence together in a verdict panel with study counts and a certainty badge. You can inspect individual studies, filter the evidence, compare the strength of each side and request a written AI summary.
Read the relevant papers and consider their methods, populations, limitations and context before using the findings in your own work.
Scholarly Sources Behind Claim Check
Claim Check searches up to nine scholarly and specialist sources, depending on the claim. Each source serves a different purpose.
Europe PMC: Biomedical and life-science literature, including PubMed records and available open-access full text.
OpenAlex: A multidisciplinary catalogue of scholarly work.
ResearchPal's paper index: The research index also used by ResearchPal Search Papers.
ERIC: Education research records for relevant teaching, learning, student and school-related claims.
ClinicalTrials.gov and ISRCTN: Registered clinical trials, including their status and available results, for relevant health claims.
openFDA drug labels: Official drug-label information for claims about named medicines.
Crossref: Retraction, correction and expression-of-concern notices associated with papers identified by DOI.
Unpaywall: Links to legally available open-access full-text PDFs where available.
Not every source applies to every claim. Education and health-related sources are used when the subject calls for them, while the main scholarly sources are searched for general research claims.
The number of relevant records, the availability of full text and the strength of the evidence vary by topic. Claim Check does not guarantee that every relevant study will be found.
Retracted Papers Are Flagged Separately
A retracted paper should not be treated as ordinary supporting evidence. Claim Check removes identified retracted papers from the verdict counts and lists them separately.
The system can also flag papers with corrections or expressions of concern, helping you identify records that need closer inspection before citation.
These checks help you notice publication-status issues, but they do not replace checking the publisher's record or evaluating the paper's research quality. Always review important sources before relying on them in academic or professional work.
Understand the Strength of the Evidence
The number of studies alone does not determine whether a claim is well supported. A large group of small or observational studies may tell a different story from a smaller body of stronger evidence.
Claim Check displays study types and the relative strength of the evidence on each side. Its verdict calculation gives greater weight to certain study types, including meta-analyses, and its certainty badge summarizes the system's assessment of the available evidence.
Use these indicators to guide further reading. Consider whether the studies address the same population, intervention or outcome, whether their methods are appropriate, and whether the results can reasonably be applied to the statement you are checking.
A High certainty badge is not a guarantee of truth, and a Limited evidence verdict does not prove that a statement is false. It can mean that the available search results do not provide enough evidence for a stronger conclusion.
Claim Check vs. Search Papers
ResearchPal offers both paper discovery and claim checking, but they serve different purposes.
Search Papers is designed to help you explore a topic and find research to read. It returns a ranked list of papers, with available findings and summaries, so you can build a reading list and understand what has been written.
Claim Check starts with one testable statement and organizes relevant studies by whether their findings support, refute or present mixed evidence about it. It provides an overall verdict, exact source quotations, study details and retraction indicators.
Use Search Papers when you want to explore a research topic. Use Claim Check when you want to investigate a particular statement against the available research.
The two tools work together. When a Search Papers query looks like a claim or yes-or-no question, you can use the Check this claim option to open Claim Check with the statement filled in.
Who Can Use Claim Check?
Students and thesis writers
Check whether published studies support a statement before including it in an essay, thesis or literature review. Find evidence that challenges your initial position and inspect the original papers before citing them.
Researchers and academics
Explore the evidence behind a proposed hypothesis or statement while preparing a research introduction, discussion or grant. Use the results as a starting point for further reading, not as a replacement for a systematic review or expert assessment.
Health professionals and health writers
Investigate claims about treatments and conditions using relevant research, registered clinical trials and official drug-label information where available. Review the underlying evidence carefully; Claim Check is a research aid, not a medical decision-making tool.
Teachers and education researchers
Examine education-related statements with relevant research records from sources such as ERIC. Review study context, methods and findings before applying evidence to a classroom or educational policy.
Journalists and science communicators
Use Claim Check to investigate a statement before repeating it in an article, report or public explanation. Examine conflicting findings and follow the source links rather than relying on the verdict alone.
Save, Export and Reuse Your Research
Claim Check helps you carry useful evidence into your wider research workflow.
Filter evidence: View supporting, refuting and mixed studies separately, with filters for study type and publication year.
Inspect context: Open the surrounding sentences to better understand a selected quotation.
Compare study types: Examine the types of research represented on each side of the claim.
Save papers: Add relevant studies to your ResearchPal project library as citations.
Reuse findings: Send a result into your document or export available research data to Word, PDF, BibTeX, RIS or CSV.
Reopen recent checks: Return to your last 30 claims without starting the same workflow again.
Available export options and research tools depend on the current product interface and plan. Review the resulting sources before using them in a submitted paper or publication.
Frequently Asked Questions
An AI claim checker compares a testable statement with relevant evidence and organizes the results to help users evaluate it. ResearchPal Claim Check searches scholarly sources, labels relevant studies as Supports, Refutes or Mixed, and presents an overall verdict with source quotations and study details.
Yes. Claim Check is designed for statements that published research can investigate. It searches relevant scholarly sources and shows studies whose findings support, refute or present mixed evidence about the statement. It may be less useful for opinions, political claims, news events or statements that research papers cannot directly test.
The system checks each retained quotation word for word against the available paper text and discards the associated evidence label if the quotation cannot be verified. However, a verified quotation does not guarantee that the AI has interpreted the paper correctly or that the paper supports the conclusion as a whole.
“Mostly supported” is one of six overall verdicts used by Claim Check. The verdict summarizes how the system assesses the available supporting and refuting evidence. The certainty badge provides a separate indication of the assessed strength of the evidence base. Review the individual studies and their limitations before drawing a conclusion.
Claim Check separates supporting, refuting and mixed findings so that conflicting results are visible. It also performs additional searches for negative or null findings. The amount and quality of contradictory evidence depend on the claim and the available literature.
Yes. Relevant education claims can trigger searches in ERIC, while health claims can trigger searches in clinical-trial registries and FDA drug-label information. These sources supplement the scholarly literature when applicable. Claim Check summarizes research and does not replace medical advice or professional judgment.
Claim Check supports claims written in other languages by translating them for searching. Search coverage and the availability of relevant research can vary by language and subject.
No. It can examine the full text of up to 16 open-access papers per check. Other papers may be assessed using abstracts or other available text. The result should therefore be treated as an evidence-finding aid, not a comprehensive full-text review of every relevant publication.
A completed check costs two credits when evidence is found. No check charge applies when a topic produces suggested claims, no evidence is found, or you stop the process early. Requesting the AI-generated summary costs one additional credit. Check the current ResearchPal pricing page for plan allowances and subscription terms.
Yes. You can save relevant papers to the project library as citations and export available results to formats including Word, PDF, BibTeX, RIS and CSV. Check the source details and original publication before using a reference in academic work.
No. Claim Check helps you find and organize evidence for a specific statement. It does not guarantee that every relevant study has been identified, and its verdict is not a substitute for a formal systematic review, critical appraisal or expert assessment.
Treat the result as a reason to investigate further. Refine the statement, search for additional literature, review the source records and consider whether the claim is too broad or difficult to test. Limited evidence does not, by itself, establish that a claim is true or false.
Try Claim Check in ResearchPal
When a statement needs evidence, start with the research rather than relying on a general answer. Claim Check helps you locate relevant studies, inspect supporting and conflicting findings, and trace evidence labels to the sentences used to justify them.
Enter a claim, review the evidence on both sides and open the original papers before deciding what the research supports.
ResearchPal Claim Check is a research aid. Its verdicts and evidence labels are AI-generated assessments of available research and can be incorrect. Review the original sources, consider the quality and limitations of the studies, and use appropriate professional judgment before relying on a conclusion.