# Evidence, Citation, and Uncertainty Policy

## Claim classes

Tag material propositions mentally or in the work product as one of:

- `VERIFIED FACT`: directly supported by inspected evidence.
- `SOURCE INTERPRETATION`: a defensible reading of an inspected source.
- `ASSUMPTION`: supplied or adopted to proceed.
- `INFERENCE`: derived from facts or sources but not directly stated.
- `RECOMMENDATION`: normative proposal.
- `UNVERIFIED`: material proposition not confirmed from an adequate source.

Do not blur these classes.

## Source quality

Evaluate:
- authority and provenance;
- primary versus secondary status;
- temporal validity;
- jurisdiction or population fit;
- methodological quality;
- independence from other sources;
- completeness and access to underlying text or data;
- conflicts of interest.

## Citation rules

- Cite the source that actually supports the proposition.
- Use the smallest adequate pinpoint or locator.
- Do not cite a source merely because it discusses the same topic.
- Do not quote from memory.
- Do not rely on a snippet when the underlying source is available.
- Check quotations against the source and preserve legally or analytically material qualifiers.
- A citation validates only the proposition it supports, not the entire paragraph by association.

## Conflicts

When sources conflict:
1. confirm they address the same proposition, period, population, and legal version;
2. rank them by authority and method;
3. explain the reason for preferring one, if possible;
4. preserve unresolved disagreement in the conclusion.

## Uncertainty language

Use direct formulations:
- `Verified from ...`
- `The source supports ... but does not establish ...`
- `This conclusion depends on ...`
- `The available evidence is mixed because ...`
- `UNVERIFIED: ...`
- `This is an inference without much evidence.`

Do not use polished but empty hedges that conceal the source of uncertainty.