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validate-bib

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Validate bibliography entries against citations in manuscript and Quarto book files. Find missing entries, unused references, potential typos, and quality issues. This skill should be used when asked to "check the bibliography", "validate citations", or "validate-bib".

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Source SKILL.md: https://github.com/brycewang-stanford/Auto-Empirical-Research-Skills/blob/HEAD/skills/41-sticerd-eee-sewage-econometrics-check/skills/validate-bib/SKILL.md

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Validate Bibliography

Cross-reference all citations in manuscript and book files against bibliography entries.

Workflow

Step 1: Read the bibliography

Read docs/overleaf/refs.bib and extract all citation keys.

Step 2: Scan all files for citation keys

  • .tex files in docs/overleaf/: look for \textcite{, \parencite{, \cite{, \citet{, \citep{, \citeauthor{, \citeyear{}
  • .qmd files in book/: look for @key, [@key], [@key1; @key2]
  • Extract all unique citation keys used

Step 3: Cross-reference

  • Missing entries (CRITICAL): Citations used in files but NOT in refs.bib
  • Unused entries (informational): Entries in refs.bib not cited anywhere
  • Potential typos: Similar-but-not-matching keys (Levenshtein distance)

Step 4: Check entry quality

For each bib entry:

  • Required fields present (author, title, year, journal/booktitle)
  • Author field properly formatted (Last, First and Last, First)
  • Year is reasonable (1900-2026)
  • No malformed characters or encoding issues
  • Entry type appropriate (@article, @incollection, @techreport, etc.)

Step 5: Report findings

## Bibliography Validation Report
**Date:** YYYY-MM-DD
**Bibliography:** docs/overleaf/refs.bib
**Total entries:** N
**Files scanned:** N .tex + N .qmd

### Missing Entries (CRITICAL)
| Citation Key | Used In | Line |
|-------------|---------|------|
| ... | ... | ... |

### Unused Entries
| Citation Key | Entry Type |
|-------------|------------|
| ... | ... |

### Potential Typos
| Used Key | Similar Bib Key | File |
|----------|----------------|------|
| ... | ... | ... |

### Quality Issues
| Citation Key | Issue |
|-------------|-------|
| ... | Missing journal field |

Files to scan

docs/overleaf/*.tex
book/*.qmd

Bibliography location

docs/overleaf/refs.bib