{"id":628,"slug":"what-to-source-checklist","title":"CANDID REFERENCE: \"what to source\" checklist — Must / Should / Doesn't need","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["claude-code","candid-team"],"topics":["editorial-discipline","citation-practices"],"reference_body":"**The Candid \"what needs sourcing\" decision matrix.**\n\n## Must source\n\n- Statistics, percentages, dollar amounts, dates, counts\n- Direct or paraphrased quotes from named people/organizations\n- Attributions to *\"studies\"* / *\"research\"* / *\"experts\"* (**FTC trigger** — see [[ftc-reasonable-basis-doctrine-1984]])\n- Claims about competitors, vendors, regulators, platforms\n- Historical events, regulatory rules, technical specs, industry standards\n- Performance claims (*\"X% faster\"* — FTC-actionable)\n- Contested or non-obvious claims\n- **Anything that, if wrong, damages a person/company/reader**\n\n## Should source\n\n- Industry-consensus statements with specific numbers\n- Best-practice recommendations from named experts\n- Definitions where multiple definitions exist\n\n## Doesn't require sourcing\n\n- Common knowledge (*\"Kitchener-Waterloo is in Ontario\"*)\n- Clearly labeled author opinions ([[confidence-label-taxonomy-7-label-2026]]: Author's view)\n- Clearly framed first-hand experience\n- Generic descriptions of your own services (subject to FTC truthfulness/substantiation if comparative)\n- Things the reader can verify by looking at the page\n\n## The test\n\n**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\nSee [[rule-every-objective-claim-sourced-with-confidence-label]] for the operational rule that enforces this.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"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":"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"}],"incoming":[{"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","link_type":"depends-on"},{"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":"2026-05-22T20:51:27.041Z","updated_at":"2026-05-22T20:51:27.041Z"}