rf-cite-format

name	rf-cite-format
description	Reformat an existing reference list to a different or corrected citation style (APA, IEEE, Chicago, Vancouver, Harvard). Also cleans up inconsistently formatted references. Accepts a pasted reference list or reads from the project's references file. Trigger phrases: "reformat my references", "convert citations to APA", "fix my reference list", "change citation style to IEEE", "/rf-cite-format".

Citation Reformatter

Convert or clean up a reference list to a target citation style. Takes whatever the user has — messy, mixed-style, or another format — and outputs a clean, consistently formatted list.

Before You Begin

Load _rf/research-context.md for the default citation style. Check _rf-output/citations/references.md for the existing reference list.

Step 1 — Input

Ask: "Where is the reference list?"

Options:

1. Project references file — use _rf-output/citations/references.md
2. Paste it here — user pastes a raw reference list
3. Both — combine and deduplicate

Also ask: "What is the target citation style?"

• If different from the project default, note it (and ask if they want to update the project default)

Step 2 — Parse Incoming References

For each reference in the input, extract the raw metadata:

• Authors, year, title, journal/venue, volume, issue, pages, DOI, URL
• If metadata is incomplete, flag the entry and ask the user to provide the missing fields
• Identify duplicates (same DOI, same title) and flag them

If the input is very messy (inconsistent formats, Google Scholar copy-paste artifacts, mixed styles), do a cleanup pass first:

• Remove extra whitespace, stray HTML, odd characters
• Standardize author name format
• Identify and separate individual references (sometimes they run together)

Step 3 — Reformat

Apply the target citation style rules exactly (same rules as in rf-cite-generate).

Common reformatting scenarios:

• APA → IEEE: switch from author-date to numbered, abbreviate journal names, reorder fields
• Numbered → Author-date: replace [N] tags with (Author, Year), reorder alphabetically
• Mixed/unknown → target style: infer existing metadata, apply target format
• Capitalization fix: APA title case → sentence case for article titles; vice versa for Chicago

Step 4 — Sort and Number

Sort the formatted list:

• Author-date styles (APA, Chicago, Harvard): alphabetically by first author's last name; for same author, by year ascending
• Numbered styles (IEEE, Vancouver): by order of first appearance in the text (if the user provides the document, scan for citation order; otherwise number alphabetically)

Step 5 — Quality Check

After formatting, run a quick quality pass:

• All required fields present for each reference type?
• DOIs formatted correctly (as https://doi.org/ URLs for APA; as doi: for Vancouver)?
• Journal names fully spelled out (APA, Chicago) or abbreviated (IEEE)?
• Author name format consistent throughout?
• No orphan et al. without enough preceding authors?

Flag any entries that still have missing or uncertain data.

Output

Save _rf-output/citations/{date}_{run}_references-formatted.md:

# Formatted Reference List
**Style:** [target style]
**Count:** [N]
**Reformatted from:** [original style or "mixed"]
**Date:** [date]

---

[Full formatted reference list]

---

## Flagged Entries
[References with missing data or formatting uncertainty]

## Duplicates Removed
[Any duplicates found and removed]

After saving: "Your reference list is formatted. Run /rf-cite-check to validate that your document draft doesn't have missing or broken citations."