Citation Gap Finder — Troubleshooting
Three answers that solve the most common things users run into. If none of these match what you're seeing, the last section tells you exactly what to send and we'll respond within 24 hours.
1. My references aren't being detected
The extension recognises a reference list when the heading sits on
its own line and reads References,
Bibliography, Works Cited,
Reference List, Literature Cited, or
Notes. It's case-insensitive and a trailing colon
(References:) or a leading chapter number
(5. References) are both fine.
The most common reason a reference list isn't detected is that the entries themselves were created using Format → Bullets & Numbering → Numbered list in Google Docs. Google Docs sometimes strips list-marker numbers from its plain-text export, so the extension sees a wall of unnumbered entries and can't tell where one stops and the next begins.
Fix. Type the numbers as plain text. Type
1. followed by a space, then the reference; press
Enter; type 2. and continue. If Docs auto-converts
your typing to a numbered list (you'll see the indent jump),
press Ctrl+Z once immediately to revert
it. APA-style author-year lists don't need numbers — just make
sure each entry starts on a fresh line beginning with a
capitalised surname and a comma.
2. Some citations are flagged as orphans, but I can see them in the body
This usually means your manuscript was authored with
superscript citation markers (e.g. risk¹
rendered as a tiny floating digit) that got flattened during
Google Docs export. The extension catches the most common forms
— risk.1, states.2,3,
(T2DM).5,6, Kuwait24,
settings25,26 — but two specific shapes can slip
through:
-
A digit fused directly to a word with fewer than 3
lowercase letters in front of it (e.g.
BMI24,TP53) — these look indistinguishable from gene names or acronyms, so we conservatively skip them to avoid false positives. -
A digit attached to a word in ALL CAPS (e.g.
WHO24) — same disambiguation problem.
Fix. Convert the affected superscripts to
plain text in the source doc. In Google Docs: highlight the
citation, Format → Text → Superscript (toggle
off), then add a comma or period before the digit (e.g.
WHO,24 or BMI.24). The extension
then catches them via the after-punctuation pattern. Re-run
the check.
3. The check failed with "No reference list section found"
The extension couldn't find any of the supported headings on its own line. Three common causes, each with its own fix:
Cause A — the heading is part of a longer line
References and Acknowledgments won't match because
the heading isn't on its own line. Split it: put
References on a line by itself, then
Acknowledgments as a separate heading on the next
line if needed.
Cause B — the heading uses a non-standard label
Words like Sources, Citations, or
Further Reading aren't supported in v1. Rename the
heading to one of the supported labels (listed in section 1
above) — your bibliography entries don't need to change.
Cause C — the heading is styled but mis-typed
Refernces, Refrences, or other typos
won't match. Heading styling (Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.)
doesn't help here; the extension reads the underlying text.
Fix the typo and re-run.
Still stuck?
Email support@gradsummit.com with these two things and we'll get back to you within 24 hours:
- The exact heading text you're using for your reference list.
- One full reference entry copied from your document.
If you can also attach a screenshot of the extension's error message, even better — but those two pieces of text alone are usually enough to diagnose the issue within a minute.