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verify-citations

Verify citations and references in a document, report, or article against real sources. Use when the user asks to fact-check, verify references, check citations, or validate evidence in research reports, tender responses, whitepapers, or academic writing.

Published by sickn33 ↗sickn33/agentic-awesome-skills

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verify-citations

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Use verify-citations to verify citations, arithmetic, and unsupported claims in [document]; I approve transmission of a redacted copy to the hosted verifier. Return verification coverage, per-citation issues, and remediation suggestions—not a truth or publication verdict.

Required inputs

  • [document]

User-approved starter prompt based on a pinned source version; check current skill requirements before running. Task evidence ↗

SKILL.md

name: verify-citationsdescription: Verify citations and references in a document, report, or article against real sources. Use when the user asks to fact-check, verify references, check citations, or validate evidence in research reports, tender responses, whitepapers, or academic writing.category: document-verificationrisk: criticalsource: communitysource_repo: Sketchjar/stipple-agent-skillssource_type: communitydate_added: "2026-08-31"author: Sketchjartags: [document-verification, fact-checking, stipple, authenticity]tools: [claude, cursor, gemini, codex]license: "Apache-2.0"license_source: "https://github.com/Sketchjar/stipple-agent-skills/blob/main/LICENSE"

Citation Verification

Verify that citations in a document actually resolve and support the claims they're attached to. Uses the Stipple API (free anonymous tier, no signup) for citation resolution, arithmetic recomputation, and unsupported-claim detection.

When to use

  • Before submitting or publishing a research report, tender response, or whitepaper
  • Reviewing an LLM-generated document (LLM citations are plausibly-formatted and frequently wrong)
  • Due diligence on third-party reports
  • Academic reference checking

Instructions

  1. Get the document. Ask the user for a URL to the report, or a local file path (PDF, DOCX, Markdown). If the user pastes text directly, skip to step 3 with text input.

  2. Run verification. POST the document to Stipple's citation verification endpoint:

    curl -X POST https://www.stipple.sh/v1/verify-references \
  -F "file=@report.pdf" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STIPPLE_API_KEY"

    The anonymous free tier works without the Authorization header. Deep mode (?deep=true) costs more credits but cross-checks citations against live web sources.

  3. Interpret the response. The result includes:

    • verification_coverage — percentage of claims verified (e.g. "78%")
    • citations[] — per-citation status: resolved and matching, resolved but mismatched, or unresolvable, with the issue explained
    • arithmetic[] — recomputed figures vs stated figures (flags decimal shifts, wrong sums)
    • unsupported_claims[] — claims with no citation at all

  4. Report honestly. Present results as verification coverage, not a truth verdict:

    • "21/27 citations resolve and match"
    • "[x] FY24+FY25 revenue stated $4.2m, actual $3.7m"
    • "[!] 'industry-leading accuracy' — no source in document"
    • Unverified ≠ false. The goal is telling the user which claims are backed and which aren't.

  5. Offer remediation. For failed citations, suggest: fixing the decimal shift, finding the correct source, or removing the unsupported claim.

Output format

Verification coverage: 78%

Citations: 21/27 resolve and match
  [+] "ABS unemployment 4.1% April 2026" — matches abs.gov.au
  [-] "AI adoption grew 340% in 2025" — source states 34%, decimal shifted

Arithmetic: 12/13 recompute correctly
  [x] FY24 + FY25 revenue — stated $4.2m, actual $3.7m

Unsupported claims: 2
  [!] "industry-leading accuracy" — no source in document

Limitations and Safety

  • Uploading a report or manuscript sends its contents to a hosted third party; deep mode also retrieves external sources. Obtain approval before transmission, remove confidential or personal material, and verify current retention and deletion terms.
  • Resolution and textual support do not establish that a source is authoritative or that a claim is true. Inspect consequential citations in the primary source and preserve page, edition, date, and access context.
  • Treat unresolved or unsupported claims as review items, not proof of fabrication, and keep a human reviewer responsible for publication or academic decisions.

Notes

  • Works on PDF, DOCX, MD, TXT. For pasted text, POST JSON: {"text": "..."}
  • Deep verification (deep=true) is slower and costs more credits but resolves citations against live sources
  • Pairs well with verify-document (is the source doc itself authentic?) run first
  • Anonymous free tier: shared weekly allowance. Get a free key at https://www.stipple.sh for your own metering