How do I install the Citation Literacy skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add catcorner22/citation-literacy in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Citation Literacy safe to use?

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Which AI agents work with Citation Literacy?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Citation Literacy free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Citation Literacy?

CatCorner22 (@catcorner22) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Citation Literacy by catcorner22 — Agent Skill

Name: Citation Literacy
Author: CatCorner22

Citation Literacy

Format and check academic citations: APA 7, MLA 9, and Chicago (notes-bibliography), in-text vs bibliography, common mistakes, and when to use which style. Use when the user asks how to cite a source, format references, or fix bibliography entries. Scope boundary: writing the paper body → `academic-writing`; claim-level attribution → `journalistic-attribution`; DOI/URL lookup mechanics only when tied to a citation question.

CatCorner22 Updated Sep 21, 2026

File contents

Citation literacy

Rule: Cite to credit, locate, and support — not to decorate. Every in-text cite must appear in the reference list and vice versa.

Pick the style

Style	Typical disciplines	In-text	List title
APA 7	Psychology, nursing, education, sciences	(Author, Year)	References
MLA 9	Humanities, literature, some composition	(Author page)	Works Cited
Chicago NB	History, some humanities	Footnote + bib	Bibliography

When unsure: syllabus wins → department guide → APA as default for sciences.

APA 7 quick patterns

Journal article:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume(issue), pages. https://doi.org/xxxxx

In-text: (Author, Year) or (Author, Year, p. 12) for direct quote.

Book:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work: Subtitle. Publisher.

Website (no author):

Title of page. (Year, Month Day). Site Name. URL

Common APA fixes:

Sentence case for article titles; italicize journal name and volume
DOI as URL when available
Retrieved from dropped in APA 7 for most URLs
Et al.: 3+ authors from first cite in APA 7

MLA 9 quick patterns

Book:

Author Last, First. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

In-text: (Author page) — no comma between name and page.

Article:

Author Last, First. "Article Title." Journal Name, vol. X, no. Y, Year, pp. XX-XX.

Website:

Author Last, First. "Page Title." Website Name, Day Month Year, URL.

Chicago notes-bibliography (short)

First footnote: full cite. Later notes: shortened. Bibliography: full entries alphabetically.

In-text rules (all styles)

Do	Don't
Cite paraphrases, not just quotes	Cite only at end of paragraph without mapping to source
Introduce quotes ("According to X…")	Drop block quotes without analysis
Use `et al.` per style rules	Invent page numbers

Missing metadata workflow

If author/date/page unknown, say so and use style-specific placeholder (e.g., APA: (n.d.), (n.p.)) — never guess a year or page.

Output format

When asked to cite, return:

In-text example for the sentence context given
Full reference-list entry
Style note if ambiguous (e.g., preprint vs published)

Boundaries

Verify against the current style manual for edge cases (legal, social media, AI-generated sources — many institutions ban citing a chatbot as a source)
This skill formats; journalistic-attribution and huggingface-papers help find and name real sources

---name: citation-literacydescription: Format and check academic citations: APA 7, MLA 9, and Chicago (notes-bibliography), in-text vs bibliography, common mistakes, and when to use which style. Use when the user asks how to cite a source, format references, or fix bibliography entries. Scope boundary: writing the paper body → `academic-writing`; claim-level attribution → `journalistic-attribution`; DOI/URL lookup mechanics only when tied to a citation question.---# Citation literacy**Rule:** Cite to **credit**, **locate**, and **support** — not to decorate. Every in-text cite must appear in the reference list and vice versa.## Pick the style| Style | Typical disciplines | In-text | List title ||---|---|---|---|| **APA 7** | Psychology, nursing, education, sciences | (Author, Year) | References || **MLA 9** | Humanities, literature, some composition | (Author page) | Works Cited || **Chicago NB** | History, some humanities | Footnote + bib | Bibliography |When unsure: **syllabus wins** → department guide → APA as default for sciences.## APA 7 quick patterns**Journal article:**```Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume(issue), pages. https://doi.org/xxxxx```In-text: `(Author, Year)` or `(Author, Year, p. 12)` for direct quote.**Book:**```Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work: Subtitle. Publisher.```**Website (no author):**```Title of page. (Year, Month Day). Site Name. URL```**Common APA fixes:**- Sentence case for article titles; italicize journal name and volume- DOI as URL when available- `Retrieved from` dropped in APA 7 for most URLs- Et al.: 3+ authors from first cite in APA 7## MLA 9 quick patterns**Book:**```Author Last, First. Title of Book. Publisher, Year.```In-text: `(Author page)` — no comma between name and page.**Article:**```Author Last, First. "Article Title." Journal Name, vol. X, no. Y, Year, pp. XX-XX.```**Website:**```Author Last, First. "Page Title." Website Name, Day Month Year, URL.```## Chicago notes-bibliography (short)First footnote: full cite. Later notes: shortened. Bibliography: full entries alphabetically.## In-text rules (all styles)| Do | Don't ||---|---|| Cite paraphrases, not just quotes | Cite only at end of paragraph without mapping to source || Introduce quotes ("According to X…") | Drop block quotes without analysis || Use `et al.` per style rules | Invent page numbers |## Missing metadata workflowIf author/date/page unknown, say so and use style-specific placeholder (e.g., APA: `(n.d.)`, `(n.p.)`) — **never guess** a year or page.## Output formatWhen asked to cite, return:1. **In-text example** for the sentence context given2. **Full reference-list entry**3. **Style note** if ambiguous (e.g., preprint vs published)## Boundaries- Verify against the current style manual for edge cases (legal, social media, AI-generated sources — many institutions ban citing a chatbot as a source)- This skill formats; **`journalistic-attribution`** and **`huggingface-papers`** help find and name real sources

Frequently asked questions