Theory_of_Requirement_Facts/docs/quality/evidence-policy.md

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• Do not cite a source merely because it discusses the same topic.
• Do not quote from memory.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.