Follow citations back to a source
Use this guide to open a citation from an Atlas answer, inspect the supporting passage, and decide whether the claim holds up.
What this page covers
Open citation evidence, move through to the source passage, assess support, and handle unavailable anchors.
When to follow a citation
Follow a citation whenever an answer will affect a note, a literature review, a decision, or a deliverable. Do not skip verification for important claims.
Steps
- Identify the claim in the chat answer that you want to verify.
- Select the citation badge attached to that claim.
- The source viewer opens at the cited passage.
- Read the highlighted sentence.
- Read the surrounding paragraph for context and caveats.
- Decide whether the passage supports the claim.
If a sentence has multiple citations, inspect them one at a time. One citation may support the method while another supports the result.
What to check when reading the passage
- Does the source make the claim Atlas described?
- Is the answer stronger or more certain than the source?
- Is there a caveat or limitation in the surrounding text?
- Does another source in the project disagree?
What to do based on what you find
| What you find | What to do |
|---|---|
| The citation supports the claim | Save or reuse the finding |
| The citation is related but incomplete | Ask a narrower follow-up question |
| The citation does not support the claim | Treat the answer as unverified, ask again with more context |
| No citation appears | Ask Atlas to cite the evidence for that claim |
Save verified findings
When a claim matters, save it in a note with a mention of the source it came from. A verified finding with a traceable source is more useful than one you cannot check later.