Source Attribution

Guidelines for adding citations and references to research-style reports. Credibility depends on source attribution—readers need to verify claims.

When to Apply

• Task output is a research report, comparison report, or synthesis document
• Report contains quantitative data (RPS, benchmarks, metrics, percentages)
• Report makes factual claims about technologies, frameworks, or tools
• Validation criteria include "References section" or "source attribution"

Citation Rules

1. Inline Attribution

• Quantitative claims: Always cite. e.g. "FastAPI achieves 15k–30k RPS [Official Docs]" or "PyPy is up to 4.4x faster [Task 2_1]"
• From artifacts: Use [Task N] (e.g. [Task 2_1], [Task 3_2])
• General knowledge: Use [Official Docs], [Industry Benchmark], or [Framework Name - documentation]

2. References Section (Required)

At the end of the document, add:

## References

- [Task 2_1] Python runtime research report - CPython, PyPy comparison
- [Task 3_2] Backend framework comparison - Express, NestJS, Fastify
- [Official Docs] FastAPI - https://fastapi.tiangolo.com
- [Industry Benchmark] TechEmpower benchmarks - web framework performance

• From artifacts: [Task N] artifact name - brief description
• With URL (from WebSearch/WebFetch): [Source Name](url) - description. Prefer real URLs when available.
• General knowledge: [Official Docs] Framework - documentation or [Industry] benchmark description

3. Never Do

• State specific numbers (RPS, benchmarks, percentages) without attribution
• Omit the ## References section for research/comparison reports
• Use vague "industry standard" for precise metrics—either cite or qualify ("typically", "commonly")

Workflow

1. While writing: Add [Source] inline when stating facts or numbers
2. Before Finish: Ensure ## References section exists and lists all cited sources
3. Validate: Run task-output-validator; "References section is non-empty" must pass

Quality Checklist

• Every quantitative claim has inline [Source]
• ## References section present
• References section lists all sources (no orphan citations)
• Format consistent (Task N, URL, or general source)