{"id":632,"slug":"rule-every-objective-claim-sourced-with-confidence-label","title":"RULE: Every objective claim in Candid content carries a named source + date + verbatim quote ≤25 words + confidence label","kind":"rule","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","claude-code","candid-team"],"topics":["agency-methodology","editorial-discipline","citation-practices"],"reference_body":"**Rule:** Every objective claim in Candid Creative client deliverables, KB entries, and Candid's own public writing carries:\n\n1. A **named source** (person + institution where applicable)\n2. A **publication or retrieval date**\n3. A **verbatim quote ≤25 words** where possible (the link-rot survival layer)\n4. A **confidence label** from the [[confidence-label-taxonomy-7-label-2026]]\n\n**Why:**\n- Reader trust default in 2026 is distrust ([[edelman-2025-trust-barometer-7-in-10-leaders-mislead]] — 7 in 10 believe leaders mislead)\n- BBC §3.2.2, Reuters Handbook, SPJ Code all converge on named-source-preferred ([[bbc-editorial-3-2-2-sound-evidence]], [[reuters-handbook-anonymous-sources-weakest]], [[spj-code-identify-sources-clearly-2014]])\n- Wikipedia's \"verifiability not truth\" model ([[wikipedia-verifiability-not-truth-policy-foundational]]) is the largest working example\n- FTC reasonable-basis doctrine ([[ftc-reasonable-basis-doctrine-1984]]) makes unsourced objective claims legally actionable\n- AI engines preferentially cite content with structured citations, named sources, explicit dates ([[profound-680m-citations-perplexity-citation-behavior]])\n- The verbatim quote is the **highest-leverage link-rot defense** ([[link-rot-mitigation-9-step-plan]])\n\n**How to apply:**\n- Use [[what-to-source-checklist]] as the decision matrix for what needs sourcing\n- Use [[citation-pattern-library-8-patterns-2026]] for the format (Candid default: inline parenthetical for research/KB, hover footnotes for long-form, dedicated source page for marketing)\n- The test: **if a skeptical reader asks \"where did that come from?\" and you can't answer in one sentence with a name and a date, it needs sourcing**\n- For LLM-assisted drafting: every claim the LLM produces must be traced to a named source before it ships — the Simhi et al. finding ([[simhi-llm-hallucinate-with-high-certainty-feb-2025]]) is the reason","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"edelman-2025-trust-barometer-7-in-10-leaders-mislead","title":"Edelman 2025 Trust Barometer (n=33,000, 28 countries): 7 in 10 believe government/business/journalists deliberately mislead them","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"bbc-editorial-3-2-2-sound-evidence","title":"BBC Editorial Guidelines §3.2.2: \"All BBC output...must be well sourced, based on sound evidence, thoroughly tested\"","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"reuters-handbook-anonymous-sources-weakest","title":"Reuters Handbook of Journalism: \"A named source is always preferable to an unnamed source. Anonymous sources are the weakest sources\"","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"spj-code-identify-sources-clearly-2014","title":"SPJ Code of Ethics (2014): \"Identify sources clearly. The public is entitled to as much information as possible to judge reliability and motivations\"","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"wikipedia-verifiability-not-truth-policy-foundational","title":"Wikipedia: \"The threshold for inclusion is verifiability, not truth\" — four claim types always need inline citations","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"ftc-reasonable-basis-doctrine-1984","title":"FTC reasonable-basis doctrine: advertisers must possess \"the amount and type of substantiation the ad actually communicates\"","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"simhi-llm-hallucinate-with-high-certainty-feb-2025","title":"Simhi et al. (Technion/Oxford/Hebrew U, Feb 2025): \"models can hallucinate with high certainty even when they have the correct knowledge\"","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"confidence-label-taxonomy-7-label-2026","title":"CANDID REFERENCE: 7-label confidence taxonomy — Verified / Industry-consensus / Single-source / Estimated / Author's view / Contested / Stale","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"citation-pattern-library-8-patterns-2026","title":"CANDID REFERENCE: 8-pattern citation library — inline links, hover footnotes, end-of-section, archive pairs, schema","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"what-to-source-checklist","title":"CANDID REFERENCE: \"what to source\" checklist — Must / Should / Doesn't need","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"depends-on"},{"slug":"rule-cite-with-named-source-and-url","title":"RULE: Every non-trivial claim carries a named source with author/institution + date + URL. Confidence flag honest.","kind":"rule","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-confidence-sources-dated-claims","title":"Research brief: Confidence Levels, Sources, and Dated Claims — why every statement on a credible site should be verifiable (piece 15 of 15)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-05-22T20:51:27.061Z","updated_at":"2026-05-22T20:51:27.061Z"}