| name | cite-your-sources |
| category | kata |
| description | Every factual claim in a Copilot-assisted deliverable links to a file, message, URL, or named source the reader can open. Use whenever you produce research, analysis, recaps, or any document that informs a decision. Triggers: any quoted number, named individual, "per the…", "according to…", Copilot summaries. |
Cite Your Sources
Citations are how trust scales. Without them, every reader has to re-do your work to believe you.
Quick Reference
| Claim type | Citation form |
|---|
| A number | Link to the cell / row / report section |
| A quote | Link to the message / page / minute-mark, with verbatim text |
| A decision | Link to the decision record / meeting minute |
| A person's view | Link to where they wrote / said it |
| A synthesis | Label as "Synthesis:" + link to the matrix / sources |
| Public fact | Link to the canonical source (not a Copilot summary of it) |
When to Use
- Research syntheses, briefs, decision memos, recaps, audit responses.
- Any number or quote that didn't come from your own head.
- Any time you used Copilot to summarize or extract — link the source it summarized.
- Anything cross-team or external — your reader's tolerance for "trust me" is zero.
How to Use
- Inline links to the actual artifact (file, Loop, Teams thread, URL). Not "per the deck" — link the deck.
- For named individuals, link the person card or the message where they said it.
- For numbers, link the report cell or the row, not just the workbook.
- For Copilot-generated paragraphs, ask Copilot to list the sources it used and verify each before keeping the paragraph.
Examples
Critical Rules
- Link the artifact, not the summary. Don't cite Copilot — cite what Copilot read.
- Inline citations, not footnotes. Readers don't follow footnotes.
- Numbers cite to the cell. Workbook-level citation is too coarse.
- Synthesis claims are labeled. "Synthesis:" tells the reader this is your inference.
- If you can't cite it, cut it or downgrade to an open question.
Common Pitfalls
- Citing the prompt instead of the source.
- Citing a doc the audience can't open (different SharePoint site, different tenant).
- Trusting Copilot's invented "according to..." attributions.
- Linking to the file but not the section / cell / minute mark.
- Citation-by-vibe ("per recent analysis") — useless.
Anti-Patterns
- "Per recent analysis" — useless. Which analysis. Where.
- Citing the prompt instead of the source. Copilot is not a source.
- Trusting Copilot's invented "according to..." attributions. Verify or strip.
- Footnote-only citation — out of sight, out of mind.
Verify Before Citing
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