# Reference Audit Guide

> Use when the user asks for citation-verification principles, reference-audit best practices, or guidance on preventing fake or inaccurate citations in academic writing.

- Skill: `chanw-research/reference-audit-guide` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 9 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add chanw-research/reference-audit-guide`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/chanw-research/reference-audit-guide/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Security
- Author: chanw-research (https://skillmd.com/u/chanw-research)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/chanw-research/reference-audit-guide

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# Citation Verification Reference Guide

A reference guide for citation verification in academic paper writing, providing verification principles and best practices.

**Core Principle**: Proactively verify every citation during the writing process using trusted scholarly sources rather than memory.

## Core Problems

Citation issues in academic papers seriously impact research integrity:

1. **Fake citations** - Citing non-existent papers
2. **Incorrect information** - Mismatched authors, titles, years, etc.
3. **Inconsistent formatting** - Mixed citation formats
4. **Missing citations** - Referenced but uncited work

These issues can lead to:
- Paper rejection or retraction
- Damage to academic reputation
- Reviewers questioning research rigor

## Verification Principles

This skill provides verification principles based on trusted scholarly sources:

### 1. Proactive Verification

**Core idea**: Verify immediately when adding a citation, rather than checking after writing is complete.

- Search for the paper each time a citation is needed
- Confirm the paper exists in a trusted source
- Add to bibliography only after verification passes

### 2. Source Hierarchy

Prefer these sources:
- publisher page or DOI resolver
- PubMed for biomedical papers
- arXiv for preprints
- Crossref or Semantic Scholar for metadata cross-checking
- Google Scholar as a fallback discovery aid

### 3. Information Matching Verification

**Information that must match**:
- Title
- Authors
- Year
- Publication venue

### 4. Claim Verification

**Key principle**: When citing a specific claim, confirm the claim actually appears in the paper.

- Access the paper PDF
- Search for relevant keywords
- Confirm the accuracy of the claim
- Record the section or page where the claim appears

## Best Practices

1. **Never generate citations from memory**
2. **Do not guess when verification fails**
3. **Mark unverifiable references clearly**
4. **Differentiate preprints from published versions**
5. **Verify the claim, not just the metadata**