Scite is now a Claude connector
Scite is now available as a verified connector in the Claude directory. If you use Claude for research, writing, or analysis, you can add Scite in one click and start grounding Claude's answers in real peer-reviewed literature instead of generic web content.
What this means
Claude is one of the most capable AI assistants available, but like any large language model, it doesn't actually know what the latest research says about a given topic. It generates plausible-sounding answers based on patterns in its training data, which means it can produce confident statements that aren't backed by any specific source, or cite papers that don't exist.
Connecting Scite changes that. Instead of relying on what Claude has memorized, your research questions get answered using Scite's database of full-text peer-reviewed papers. Every claim Claude makes can point back to a real citation you can verify, and Smart Citations tell you whether each finding has been supported or contradicted by other research in the field.
How to set it up
- Open Claude and go to Settings → Connectors
- Find Scite in the directory and press Connect
- Sign in with your Scite account
That's it. No config files, no MCP server URLs to copy, no developer setup. The connector is verified by Anthropic, which means the authentication and permissions are handled for you.
A Scite subscription is required to use the connector. If you don't have one, you can start a 7-day free trial.
What you can do with it
A few things the connector is good for:
- Literature reviews. Ask Claude to summarize what the research says on a topic and it'll pull the relevant papers from Scite, synthesize the findings, and cite each claim back to its source.
- Fact-checking claims. Drop in a statement and ask whether the research supports it. Claude will surface supporting and contradicting studies side by side.
- Finding papers. Describe what you're looking for in plain language and get back a list of relevant work, even if you don't know the right keywords.
- Pre-meeting prep. Get a quick, citation-backed brief on a topic before a call with a researcher, vendor, or stakeholder.
If your institution has access through Scite, your holdings resolve automatically, so Claude can link you straight to the full-text PDF without bouncing through paywalls.
Why this matters
The biggest barrier to using AI for serious research has always been trust. You can't cite an answer if you can't verify the source, and you can't rely on a tool that occasionally makes things up. Pairing Claude's reasoning with Scite's research infrastructure addresses both problems at the source: Claude does what it does best, and Scite handles the citation layer.
This is also part of a broader shift in how research tools work. Scite's MCP server already powers integrations with ChatGPT, Cursor, and Copilot, and the Claude connector is the latest piece of that. The goal is the same regardless of which AI tool you prefer: research grounded in real literature, citations you can verify, and a workflow that doesn't require switching between tabs.
