cite-your-sources

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.

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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

Don't: Vague	Do: Cited
"Per recent analysis, churn is up."	"Q3 churn was 4.1% (SaaS metrics workbook -> Q3 tab)."
"Legal said it's fine."	"Per Priya's note in #project-helios, legal review concludes Friday."
"The deck shows growth in EMEA."	"EMEA grew 18% YoY (Q3 board deck -> slide 7)."
"According to the report…"	"Per Q3 risk register, row 14, the OFAC review is the top risk."

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

• Every link opens for the target audience.
• Numbers cite the cell / row, not just the workbook.
• Quotes are verbatim from the source.
• Person attributions point to where the person actually said it.
• Synthesis claims labeled and reproducible from the matrix.

Related

• verify-before-send, research-synthesis
• reviewing-output
• protect-sensitive-info — make sure the cited source is appropriate to share