Audit, fix, and format bibliographies for academic manuscripts. Cross-references inline citations against the reference list to find orphans in both directions. Complements scientific-style (citation prose quality) and submission-prep (formatting checklists).
Audit, fix, and format bibliographies for academic manuscripts.
submission-prep)Combine with: scientific-style for citation prose quality (reporting verbs, integral vs. non-integral), submission-prep for journal-specific formatting requirements.
Perform a bidirectional cross-reference check. This is the core function.
Invoke with:
/bibliography audit manuscript.mdProcedure:
Identify the citation system — Read the first 3-5 inline citations. Classify as author-year (APA/Harvard), numbered (Vancouver), or other. See CITATION_FORMATS.md.
Extract all inline citations — Scan the entire body text (everything above the References/Bibliography section). For author-year systems, capture both parenthetical (Smith, 2024) and narrative Smith (2024) forms. For numbered systems, capture all [N] references. Normalize each to a lookup key.
Extract all bibliography entries — Parse the References section. Extract author surname(s), year, and title from each entry. Generate matching lookup keys.
Cross-reference: citations → bibliography — For each inline citation, find the matching bibliography entry. Record any citations that have no match ("cited but not listed").
Cross-reference: bibliography → citations — For each bibliography entry, find at least one matching inline citation. Record any entries with no match ("listed but not cited").
Scan for informal mentions — Build a surname list from the bibliography. Scan body text for these surnames appearing outside of formal citations. Flag instances like "Tufte argued that..." where a formal citation is missing.
Generate the audit report — Use the template in AUDIT_REPORT_TEMPLATE.md. Include counts, status assessment, and specific issues with locations.
The bidirectional check:
BODY TEXT BIBLIOGRAPHY
───────── ────────────
(Smith, 2024) ──────────────────► Smith, J. (2024)... ✓
(Jones, 2023) ──────────────────► Jones, K. (2023)... ✓
Lee (2024) ───── ? ──────────► ✗ CITED BUT NOT LISTED
Adams, R. (2022)... ✗ LISTED BUT NOT CITED
"Tufte argued" ─── informal ─────► ⚠ INFORMAL MENTION
Resolve issues found during audit. Always run audit first.
Invoke with: /bibliography fix manuscript.md
Procedure:
Run audit (if not already done) to identify all issues.
Cited but not listed — For each missing entry:
[TODO: Complete reference for Smith (2024)]Listed but not cited — For each orphaned entry:
Informal mentions — For each informal mention:
Re-run audit to verify all issues are resolved. Report the before/after comparison.
Validate and standardize reference formatting to a target style.
Invoke with: /bibliography format --style apa manuscript.md
Procedure:
Identify the target style — Use the --style flag (apa, vancouver, chicago) or detect from the manuscript. See REFERENCE_STYLES.md.
Check each bibliography entry against the target style rules:
Check inline citations for style consistency:
& vs. andReport issues with specific entries and the required corrections.
Apply corrections if requested, preserving the semantic content while fixing formatting.
| Concern | Skill |
|---|---|
| Whether a citation exists and is linked to a bibliography entry | bibliography |
| Reference formatting correctness (APA, Vancouver, etc.) | bibliography |
| How to integrate a citation into prose (integral vs. non-integral) | scientific-style |
| Reporting verb choice ("found" vs. "demonstrated") | scientific-style |
| Overall submission checklist (figures, cover letter, etc.) | submission-prep |
| Claim calibration (hedging strength) | scientific-style |
| Problem | Detection | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Cited but not listed | Citation in text, no matching bibliography entry | Add bibliography entry |
| Listed but not cited | Bibliography entry, no inline citation | Add citation or flag for removal |
| Informal mention | Author surname in text without (YYYY) | Convert to formal citation |
| Duplicate entries | Same work listed twice with slight variations | Merge into single entry |
| Inconsistent style | Mix of APA and Vancouver formatting | Standardize to one style |
| Wrong et al. usage | Too few authors for et al. (APA: need 3+) | List all authors or use correct threshold |
| Broken numbering | Vancouver numbers skip or repeat | Renumber sequentially |
| Year mismatch | Inline says 2024, bibliography says 2023 | Verify correct year and fix |
| Author name mismatch | Inline says "Smith" but entry is "Smyth" | Verify correct spelling |
(Smith, 2024a) and (Smith, 2024b) — add letter suffixes(Smith 2024a) and (Smith 2024b)(Smith, 2020, as cited in Jones, 2024) — only Jones appears in bibliography("Article Title," 2024).bib file for all entries.bib entries may not be \cited)\cite{smith2024} map to @article{smith2024,...} in the .bib fileBefore finalizing any bibliography work: