| name | inline-citation |
| version | 1.0 |
| description | Formats hyperlinked inline citations as Author (Year) anchors placed immediately after the claim they support. Use when writing blog posts, technical documentation, internal knowledge bases, or web-published research summaries that require visible attribution and directly accessible sources. |
Inline Linked Citation (APA-inspired)
When Not to Use
- When the output is a formal academic submission requiring strict APA, MLA, Chicago,
or other institutional style compliance — use a dedicated reference manager and
citation style instead
- When the medium does not support hyperlinks (print documents, plain-text exports,
PDF without link annotations)
- When the content is purely creative or fictional and factual attribution is not
required
Interaction Protocol
Before starting, ask if not already clear:
- Is an optional reference list required at the end, or inline citations only?
- Are primary sources already identified, or must sources be located during writing?
Output style:
- Every factual claim carries an inline citation in the canonical form:
<a href="URL">Author (Year)</a>
- Flag any claim that cannot be sourced with
[SOURCE NEEDED]
- Do not silently omit citations for hard-to-source claims — surface them
Inputs and Outputs
Input: Draft text with factual claims plus any source materials provided
Output: Revised text with inline linked citations; optional reference list appended if requested; list of flagged unsourced claims
Composability: Use alongside citation-discipline for full epistemic rigour; apply after research or strategy-author; run speculation-control in parallel to ensure non-factual content is labeled
Citation Format
Canonical form
<a href="URL">Author (Year)</a>
Examples
<a href="https://www.nber.org/papers/w31161">Brynjolfsson (2023)</a>
<a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/oil-market-report-march-2024">IEA (2024)</a>
Placement
- Insert the citation immediately after the claim it supports.
- Place the citation before terminal punctuation where possible.
Correct:
AI adoption improves productivity Brynjolfsson (2023).
Incorrect:
AI adoption improves productivity. Brynjolfsson (2023)
Author Naming
- Use the surname for individual authors:
Smith (2022)
- Use the organisation name when no clear individual author is identified:
IEA (2024)
- Use
et al. for three or more authors: Smith et al. (2021)
- Never use generic labels such as "Source" or "Reference"
Year
- Use the publication year of the cited work.
- If the year is unknown or unavailable, use
n.d. (no date): WHO (n.d.)
Multiple Citations
Do not bundle multiple sources into a single hyperlink or a single anchor element.
Avoid:
<a href="…">Smith (2022); IEA (2024)</a>
Do instead:
<a href="…">Smith (2022)</a>; <a href="…">IEA (2024)</a>
Reuse
- Repeat the full citation each time a claim requires support.
- Do not rely on an earlier citation implicitly — each claim must be independently traceable.
Link Requirements
- The URL must resolve directly to the cited content — not to a homepage, category
page, or search result.
- Prefer primary sources over secondary commentary or summaries.
- Do not use URL shorteners.
- Use HTTPS where available.
Optional Reference List
An alphabetically ordered reference list at the end of the document is permitted
but not required.
If included:
- Format each entry in APA-like style: Author (Year). Title. Publisher/URL.
- Inline citations must still be present regardless — the reference list does not
replace them.
Edge Cases
| Situation | Form |
|---|
| No named author | <a href="…">World Bank (2023)</a> |
| No date available | <a href="…">UNESCO (n.d.)</a> |
| Three or more authors | <a href="…">Smith et al. (2021)</a> |
| Organisation as author | <a href="…">IEA (2024)</a> |
Anti-patterns
- Raw URLs embedded in body text instead of attached to an author–year anchor
- "Click here", "this source", or other non-descriptive link text
- Citations missing an author name or year
- Linking to secondary commentary when the primary source is accessible
- Bundling multiple sources into a single
<a> element
- Using a homepage URL instead of a direct link to the cited content
Mandatory Pre-Output Checklist
Run these checks before marking output complete:
- Author + year present: Every inline citation contains an identifiable author or organisation name and a year (or
n.d.).
- Hyperlink attached: Every inline citation is wrapped in an
<a href="…"> element with a non-empty href.
- Source resolves directly: Each URL points to the specific cited content, not a homepage or summary page.
- Citation at point of claim: Each citation immediately follows the claim it supports; no orphaned citations placed at paragraph or section ends without a corresponding specific claim.
- No bundled citations: No single
<a> element contains more than one author–year pair.
- Unsourced claims flagged: Any claim without a locatable source is marked
[SOURCE NEEDED] rather than left bare.
Failure Modes
- Factual claims without any attached citation
- Generic link text ("click here", "source") instead of Author (Year)
- A single hyperlink covering multiple sources
- Linking to a homepage or aggregator rather than the primary document
- Placing the citation at the end of a paragraph rather than at the point of the specific claim
- Using a URL shortener that obscures the destination
- Omitting the citation on second or later use of the same claim
