# Citation discipline — Fact-check checklist

Source: Black Box Notes, Methodology §04. https://blackboxnotes.com/methodology/citation-standard/
Licence: CC-BY 4.0.
Version: 2026-05-22.

Walk the piece paragraph by paragraph. For each factual assertion:

- [ ] Sourced to primary document with link, OR
- [ ] Supported by named on-the-record source with name + title + date, OR
- [ ] Supported by contributor's documented verification, OR
- [ ] Flagged as publication judgment in text, OR
- [ ] Carries the "publication could not verify" formula

Link discipline:
- [ ] Cited phrase linked, not the entire sentence
- [ ] Link goes to primary document, not its summary
- [ ] Archival capture used where the source may not be stable
- [ ] No links to social-network posts as sources of fact
- [ ] No links to other publications in publisher's portfolio
- [ ] No links to vendor marketing for products under critical discussion

Source-type citations:
- [ ] Regulatory documents: issuing body, title, date, registry identifier, link
- [ ] Research papers: authors, year, title, venue, DOI, preprint flag if applicable
- [ ] Working drafts: organisation, title, version, retrieval date, local copy retained
- [ ] Filings: filing party, registry, date, specific amendment
- [ ] Interviews: name, title, date, paraphrase flag if not verbatim
- [ ] Pseudonymous sources: pseudonymity note in byline block, corroboration documented
- [ ] Tool output: explicitly named as tool output

Citation errors trigger Corrections-log entries.