Inspect the suspicious citations
Inspect the suspicious citations
A teammate drafted an article using an AI answer as the source. Before it goes out under the team's name, you check what the answer's citations are worth.
Flag every part that should not be trusted as-is — where the citation must be opened and confirmed first.
The AI answer
Remote-work research summary: According to a 2021 Stanford study, remote workers are 13% more productive. Dr. Elena Marsh, who led the study, called the effect 'transformative'. Most companies now require two office days per week. Return-to-office policies have been debated publicly for years. Check your own organization's current policy before acting on any of this.
Hint
Numbers, names and quotes are the three things a citation must prove.
One sentence sends you to a better source — is that a problem, or good practice?
Why this is the answer
The three flagged parts all carry checkable specifics — a study, a named researcher, a quantitative sweep — attached to sources that must be opened before reuse. The two you leave alone either assert nothing specific or point you at the real source. That contrast is the skill: specificity demands evidence; generality does not.