# citation-verification

A skill that sets rules for verifying citations in academic writing, so you don't ship invented or mismatched references.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 1400 installs · ★ 5906
- Author: Galaxy-Dawn
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/Galaxy-Dawn/claude-scholar/tree/HEAD/skills/citation-verification/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-19
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/citation-verification

## What it does

The skill lays out how to verify a citation while you write, not after the draft is done. Canonical sources come first: arXiv, DOI/CrossRef, Semantic Scholar, publisher landing pages and Zotero metadata. Google Scholar is fine for manual discovery, but it isn't the verification authority.

The workflow is concrete. Find a DOI, arXiv ID or publisher page, then confirm title, first author, year and venue, and pull BibTeX from a programmatic source. When you cite a specific claim, the skill tells you to open the PDF and check the claim is actually there. It also covers the usual failures: papers that don't exist, mismatched authors or years, mixed formats, referenced-but-uncited work. Anything you can't confirm gets a `[CITATION NEEDED]` marker instead of a made-up entry.

The skill leans on `WebSearch` and pairs with `ml-paper-writing`, where verification runs automatically during paper writing. When a search turns up nothing, it suggests checking spelling, trying other queries and looking in arXiv, CrossRef or Zotero. Citations generated from memory are the thing it's built to stop.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Galaxy-Dawn/claude-scholar --skill citation-verification -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/citation-verification/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/citation-verification/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Galaxy-Dawn/claude-scholar --skill citation-verification -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/citation-verification/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Galaxy-Dawn/claude-scholar --skill citation-verification -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/citation-verification/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install Galaxy-Dawn/claude-scholar citation-verification
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/citation-verification/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Galaxy-Dawn/claude-scholar --skill citation-verification -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/Galaxy-Dawn/claude-scholar --path skills/citation-verification
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/citation-verification/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add Galaxy-Dawn/claude-scholar --skill citation-verification -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/Galaxy-Dawn/claude-scholar/tree/HEAD/skills/citation-verification/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- verify a reference before it goes into the paper
- find a DOI or arXiv ID for a paper
- match authors, year and venue against the record
- catch AI-invented citations
- flag an unconfirmed source with `[CITATION NEEDED]`

## Example prompts
- verify the Attention is All You Need Vaswani 2017 citation before adding it to the .bib
- find the DOI for this paper and pull the BibTeX from CrossRef
- confirm this claim actually appears in the paper and give me the section

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 1b0130124ad9adaf.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 1b0130124ad9adaf
```text
---
name: citation-verification
description: This skill provides reference guidance for citation verification in academic writing. Use when the user asks about "citation verification best practices", "how to verify references", "preventing fake citations", or needs guidance on citation accuracy. This skill supports ml-paper-writing by providing detailed verification principles and common error patterns.
tags: [Research, Academic, Citation, Reference]
version: 0.1.0
---

# 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 programmatic or canonical scholarly sources first: arXiv, DOI/CrossRef, Semantic Scholar, publisher landing pages, and Zotero metadata. Google Scholar is useful for manual discovery, but it is not the canonical verification authority.

## Core Problems

Citation issues in academic papers seriously impact research integrity:

1. **Fake citations** - Citing non-existent papers (common issue with AI-generated citations)
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

**Special risk with AI-assisted writing**: AI-generated citations have approximately 40% error rate; every citation must be verified via WebSearch.

## Verification Principles

This skill provides verification principles based on canonical scholarly metadata and claim-level checking:

### 1. Proactive Verification (Verify During Writing)

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

- Search for the paper via WebSearch each time a citation is needed
- Confirm the paper exists on Google Scholar
- Add to bibliography only after verification passes

### 2. Canonical Metadata Verification

Preferred authority order:
1. DOI / publisher landing page
2. arXiv ID or arXiv landing page
3. CrossRef
4. Semantic Scholar
5. Zotero metadata imported from a verified identifier
6. Google Scholar only for manual discovery or fallback lookup

**Verification steps**:
1. Find a DOI, arXiv ID, publisher URL, or verified Zotero item.
2. Confirm title, first author, year, venue, and identifier.
```
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 1b0130124ad9adaf

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