Evidence and citation

For any content that makes factual claims: health, science, finance, technical comparisons, product claims. The pattern: research doc first, page second. If a fact is not in the research doc, it is not on the page.

Evidence hierarchy

Use the strongest available source for each claim (adapt the levels to the domain):

1. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses; official standards and specifications
2. Well-designed primary studies or primary data; official documentation
3. Lab, benchmark or mechanistic studies (good for how, weaker for outcomes)
4. Position statements and guidelines from recognised bodies
5. Expert consensus in reputable textbooks or references
6. Practical experience (allowed, labelled as such, never presented as research)

Certainty labels

Label	Meaning
High	Unlikely to change; consistent strong evidence or settled fact
Moderate	Probably right; a few consistent sources or strong reasoning plus some data
Low	Plausible but uncertain; single small source, reasoning or opinion
Insufficient	Not known; conflicting or absent evidence. Say so plainly

• One small study supports at most Moderate.
• Do not generalise beyond the population or conditions studied; state them.
• A measured proxy is not the outcome (for example, a benchmark score is not real-world performance). Say what was actually measured.

Source registry

All sources live once in docs/research/sources.md (template) with an ID, full citation, link (DOI or official URL), status and a one-line note in your own words.

Status	Meaning	Publishable?
Verified	Record and finding checked against the primary	Yes
Verified (details to confirm)	Finding checked; some bibliographic detail still to confirm	Yes, after details are confirmed
Verified via secondary	Finding seen in a reputable secondary source	Yes, never as sole support for High certainty
To verify	Not yet checked	No

Rules

• MUST NOT cite a source that has not been verified to exist with the stated title, authors, venue and year. AI-suggested citations are guilty until proven real.
• Read the primary source for any claim that drives a recommendation.
• IDs are never reused or renumbered. Withdrawn sources are marked and every page citing them updated.
• Paraphrase. Quotes are under 15 words and only when exact wording matters. Never reproduce figures or tables; describe them or draw your own.
• Pages render citations as links with author, year, title and venue.
• Research docs carry a version and changelog; pages record which research-doc version they were built from, and the build fails on a mismatch.

Checklist

• Every claim has a source ID or is labelled as experience
• Certainty label on every recommendation
• No “To verify” sources behind published claims
• Populations and limits stated
• No copied text or figures