Citation Workflow Doctor
Fix broken citations, duplicates, and bad metadata before submission
Zotero freezes on "updating document." Mendeley duplicates everything with track changes on. Your citations are wrong because metadata fields are missing. This recipe diagnoses the problem, stabilizes the document, and produces a submission-ready citation QA pass.
INGREDIENTS
PROMPT
Create a skill called "Citation Workflow Doctor". Ask for: - Reference manager: Zotero / Mendeley / EndNote / other (if other: unspecified) - Writing tool: Word / Google Docs / LaTeX / other - Symptom: duplication, freezing, slowdowns, wrong output, library problems - Deadline urgency: hours/days/weeks (if unspecified, assume moderate urgency) Output: 1) Immediate triage steps (lowest-risk first). 2) Metadata hygiene checklist (what fields to verify, typical failure patterns). 3) A recovery plan to produce a stable "submission-ready" document. 4) A prevention plan (backup/export schedule, safe editing rules). Rules: - Prefer reversible steps first. - Never suggest deleting a library without export/backup steps.
How It Works
Citation workflows break at the worst possible time. This recipe focuses on three things:
recovering the document, preventing re-breakage, and cleaning reference metadata
so formatting is correct.
What You Get
- A triage decision tree (symptom → likely cause → safe fix)
- Immediate stabilization steps (lowest-risk first, always reversible)
- A metadata audit checklist (missing journal, wrong item type, missing fields)
- A deduplication and "finalize citations" plan for submission stage
- A prevention plan (backup/export schedule, safe editing rules)
Setup Steps
- Tell the Claw your tool (Zotero/Mendeley/EndNote) and writing platform (Word/Docs)
- Describe the symptom (duplicates, crash, stuck updating, wrong citation output)
- Tell the Claw your deadline urgency (hours/days/weeks)
- The Claw generates stabilization steps, prevention steps, and a final QA checklist
Tips
- Always export/backup your library before trying fixes
- The Claw prioritizes reversible steps — nothing gets deleted without a backup
- Common fix: wrong item type in your reference manager is the #1 cause of bad formatting