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is_a::[[Form Type]]
has_status::[[Seed Stage]]
in_domain::[[Deep Context Architecture]]
in_precinct::[[Garden Precinct]]

Citation Form

Core question: “What do I need to know about this source?”

A structured dossier on a single work: metadata, abstract, analysis, insights, connections to other works, bibliography, and archived source material. A compound object containing glosses, extracted principles, and typed relations to other citations. Append-only; new insights accumulate but analysis isn’t rewritten.

Naming Convention

Citations follow the pattern Author (Year) Abbreviated Title, with an optional venue suffix , in/from Publication when venue adds important context:

[\[\[Roy (2026) Words Without Consequence, from The Atlantic\]\]↑](../NODES.html#:~:text=Roy%20%282026%29%20Words%20Without%20Consequence%2C%20from%20The%20Atlantic)
[\[\[Chatlatanagulchai (2025) Agent READMEs\]\]↑](../NODES.html#:~:text=Chatlatanagulchai%20%282025%29%20Agent%20READMEs)

The citation_slug: frontmatter field provides a short cross-referencing key (e.g., roy-2026-words-without-consequence).

Structural Contract

A citation lead file has 7 required sections:

Bibliographic Entry — Full inline citation: bold-italic title, year, [type], italic author(s), publication details, URL.
Summary — ~75 words. What the work covers and why it matters. Practitioner voice.
Key Points — Analytical summaries in our voice (not quotes). Bold subheading per point. 7-10 points for Growing/Evergreen; fewer acceptable at Seed.
Key Quotes — Verbatim quotes with section/page reference. 2-5 minimum.
Influence — Impact on field and methodology/significance. ~60-80 words.
Sources — Where this node’s content comes from (the work itself, secondary sources consulted).
Relations — Typed predicate links to other garden nodes.

Frontmatter includes citation_slug: and publication_year: alongside standard fields.

Compound Structure

Citations graduate from atomic (single file) to compound when analysis deepens:

Author (Year) Abbreviated Title/
├─ Author (Year) Abbreviated Title.md    ← lead file
├─ analysis.md                           ← primary source analysis (default)
├─ insights.md                           ← extracted takeaways
├─ Renditions/
│  └─ source-title.md                    ← markdown copy of source
└─ Archives/
   └─ citation-slug.pdf                  ← original binary

When both primary and secondary analysis exist, rename analysis.md to analysis-primary.md and add analysis-secondary.md.

Typical Predicates

is_a::[\[\[Citation Form\]\]](Citation%20Form.html)
has_status::[\[\[Seed Stage\]\]](Seed%20Stage.html)
in_domain::[\[\[Domain Name\]\]↑](../NODES.html#:~:text=Domain%20Name)
cites_work_by::[\[\[Person Name\]\]↑](../NODES.html#:~:text=Person%20Name) — who wrote the cited work (subject is the citation node: “this citation cites a work by…”)
cited_by::[\[\[Other Citation\]\]↑](../NODES.html#:~:text=Other%20Citation) — reverse citation links
cites::[\[\[Other Citation\]\]↑](../NODES.html#:~:text=Other%20Citation) — forward citation links

Exemplars

[[Roy (2026) Words Without Consequence, from The Atlantic]]↑ — Seed stage, atomic. Philosophical argument grounding the [[Human Authority Over Augmentation Systems]] principle.
[[Chatlatanagulchai (2025) Agent READMEs]]↑ — Seed stage, atomic. Empirical study validating the architecture’s treatment of context files as living documents.

Sources

Definition from [[Deep Context as an Architecture for Captured Reasoning]], lines 68-69.

Citation Form vs. Opus Form

Citation Form and [[Opus Form]] share compound structure (analysis.md, insights.md, Renditions/, Archives/) but serve opposite relationships to the work:

Citation Form: a dossier ABOUT someone else’s work. Key predicate: cites_work_by::[\[\[Person\]\]↑](../NODES.html#:~:text=Person). The lead file summarizes and analyzes. The source is fixed and external. Append-only (new analysis accumulates but doesn’t rewrite).
Opus Form: the author’s OWN work. Key predicates: authored_by::[\[\[Person\]\]↑](../NODES.html#:~:text=Person), principal::[\[\[Person\]\]↑](../NODES.html#:~:text=Person). The lead file IS the work. The source is living and local. Revisable (the work evolves, analysis updates).

Both forms share the principal-agent attribution framework (see [[Role-Specific Attribution Predicates for Opus Form]]↑) but apply it differently: Citation uses cites_work_by:: (third-person attribution); Opus uses authored_by:: and principal:: (first-person attribution).

Relations

relates_to::[[Gloss Form]] — citations contain glosses as interpretive annotations
relates_to::[[Reference Form]]↑ — references synthesize multiple citations
relates_to::[[Pattern Form]] — citations may contain pattern instances
relates_to::[[Opus Form]] — opuses capture the author’s own works; citations capture others’ works

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