Practical guide
Add usable citations to news summaries
Map factual fields to source records before rendering. Place concise references near the supported claim, use descriptive titles in a collapsed source section, and reject unknown or broken citation paths.[1][2]
Why this gets difficult
Citations fail when a source list appears only at the bottom or one link is expected to support several unrelated claims in a generated paragraph.[1][2]
A practical way through
- Capture each source with a stable ID, canonical URL, title, and private access metadata.[1][2]
- Assign source IDs to factual fields and claims in the editorial record.[1][2]
- Render inline references and a visible evidence section from that map.[1][2]
- Validate field paths, source IDs, URLs, and nearby claim support before publication.[1][2]
An example
The situation: A summary states a policy deadline, price, and market reaction but supplies three links with no claim mapping.[1][2]
What changes: The official notice maps to the deadline, the product page maps to price, and attributed reporting maps to reaction.[1][2]
What you get: The reader can verify each statement without guessing which link was intended.[1][2]
What to watch for
Sources worth keeping
How Scottie helps
Scottie keeps source links separate from the written summary, then attaches and checks those links after the brief is written.[3]