research-stackby DCA
MVP · records to 2026-09-27 · every number is from the project's records, listed at the end
guideplain words2026-09-27

How to check the citations in an AI research report.

To check an AI research report, open each cited source and find the exact words that support the sentence, then check every figure, the scope and the date against those words. Most errors are small: a year off by ten, a figure from the next row, a claim wider than its source.

seq 1Questionsix checks

Six checks, in order.

  • 1 · open the sourceThe page itself, not the tool’s summary of it. A dead or paywalled link leaves the claim unverified, which is not the same as false.
  • 2 · find the wordsSearch the page for the claim’s key terms. A source about the topic is not a source that says the thing.
  • 3 · check every figureNumbers are where claims drift: a year off by ten, a percentage from a neighbouring row, a range narrowed to one value.
  • 4 · check the scopeThe source’s population, period and conditions. A result about one country or one year does not become a general one.
  • 5 · check the dateWhether the source is current for the claim, and whether a newer one supersedes it.
  • 6 · read what it could not findA report that lists nothing it failed to establish has probably written around its gaps.
seq 2Argumentmeasured

Figures drift even when the quote is right.

claims stating a figure · share whose figure no quote of their own carries 100% plan v1 · investigator x2 73 of 220 · 33% EXTRACT-1 · live pass goldext-v5 51 of 359 · 14% COVER-1 · re-measure goldext-v6 4 of 32 · 12% LIFT-1 · ten tasks goldext-v8 89 of 356 · 25% A7's own figure rule: two or more digits, a decimal, a sum of money or a percentage a model or mission number (Apollo 12) counts too, so the share is an upper bound on real errors source: issue #1419, the 27 September diagnosis · read-only copies of the four ledgers

We measured check 3 on our own engine, where every claim must carry a quote found word for word in the stored page. That guarantees the quote is real. It does not guarantee the claim repeats the quote’s numbers. In four passes, 12 to 33 percent of the claims that state a figure stated one none of their own quotes contained. One was a study year written as 2019 where every quote says 2009.

Our answer check refuses such a figure before it reaches a report; a tool without that check prints it. Some of the flagged figures are harmless, such as a mission number, so the share is an upper bound on real errors.issue #1419

seq 3Runwhat helps

What makes a report checkable in the first place.

The six checks take minutes per claim when a report hands you the passage, and much longer when it hands you only a link. A report built for checking gives the quote, the page it came from as it was read, and what the run could not establish.

one sentence of a real report opened to the bytes: the worked example · what that takes: auditable deep research · the terms: glossary