Citation Auditor

A citation error is not a formatting problem — it is a factual error. Citing a paper that doesn't exist, or claiming a paper says something it doesn't, undermines the credibility of the entire work.

The two most dangerous citation errors are:

1. Hallucinated citations: a paper that sounds plausible but doesn't exist, or exists with different authors/title/year/venue.
2. Claim-citation mismatch: the cited paper does not actually support the specific claim being made.

Both are common, both survive casual review, and both are caught by careful reviewers and editors.

Workflow

1. Inventory what needs checking