Citation system
Citations are Atlas's main verification mechanism. They connect an answer, summary, or generated artifact back to the source material that supports it.
What a citation means
A citation means Atlas found source evidence related to the claim. It does not mean the claim is automatically correct, complete, or strong enough for publication.
For important work, open the citation and inspect the passage yourself.
What to check
| Check | What good looks like |
|---|---|
| Source match | The citation opens the source you expected. |
| Passage relevance | The cited passage directly supports the sentence or paragraph. |
| Claim strength | The answer does not overstate what the source says. |
| Context | Nearby text does not reverse or qualify the cited claim. |
| Conflict handling | Conflicting sources are named rather than hidden. |
Citation states
| State | Meaning | Recommended action |
|---|---|---|
| Present and relevant | The answer has traceable support. | Use it after reviewing the passage. |
| Present but weak | The passage is related but does not fully support the claim. | Ask Atlas to revise or narrow the claim. |
| Missing | The answer lacks source evidence. | Ask for citations or treat the answer as unverified. |
| Wrong source | Retrieval found the wrong material. | Name the source or section that should be used. |
| Anchor unavailable | Atlas has source context but cannot open the exact location cleanly. | Search inside the source manually or retry with a narrower prompt. |
Citation anchors
PDF citations may point to pages or extracted passages. Website and video citations depend on the imported content Atlas can access. If the source is scanned, transcriptless, blocked, or poorly extracted, citation quality will be lower.
How to improve citations
- Ask narrower questions.
- Mention the source, author, section, or concept.
- Ask Atlas to use only project sources.
- Ask for one cited claim per bullet.
- Open weak citations and ask Atlas to revise against the actual passage.