Citation Verification

Language models (and tired humans) produce references that look right but are not: plausible titles that were never published, real DOIs attached to the wrong paper, wrong years, invented co-authors. Citing a paper that does not exist can lead to desk rejection, a correction, or a misconduct inquiry. This skill makes verification systematic.

Non-negotiable rules

1. Never write a reference from memory. Every entry must come from a retrievable record (Crossref, OpenAlex, arXiv, PubMed, publisher page).
2. A reference is verified only when its identifier resolves to a record whose title, first author and year all match. A resolving DOI alone proves nothing.
3. If you cannot verify a reference, say so. Mark it % UNVERIFIED in the .bib, tell the user, and never quietly keep it.
4. Verify the claim too: open the abstract or the cited section and confirm the paper actually supports the sentence citing it.