Loop 072
The claim-ledger research loop
A source-grounded research workflow for contested or decision-relevant claims that records provenance, evidence polarity, negative checks, confidence, and stopping reasons.
Ready-to-use prompt
Copy the loop
Investigate exactly one contested or decision-relevant claim. Define the claim, decision it supports, source scope, known evidence, conflicts, confidence target, and pass limit. Inventory sources by type and choose the next highest-value evidence action: retrieve a primary source, verify a citation, compare conflicts, extract facts, test an alternate explanation, run a negative check, or mark access blocked. Update a source ledger and claim ledger with provenance, extracted facts, reliability, limitations, and whether each fact supports, weakens, contradicts, contextualizes, or does not affect the claim. Stop at confidence, contradiction, underdetermination, unavailable access, human judgment, or no useful next action.
Verify / stop
The claim status is supported by a source and evidence ledger.
The final output names the claim status, source scope, source ledger, claim ledger, conflicts, negative checks, confidence, decision impact, next action or stopping reason, and never relies on uncited assertions.
Context and guidanceWhen to use it, steps, safety notes, and related loops
Use this when
Use this when a research claim is contested, decision-relevant, or easy to overstate without a source-by-source evidence ledger.
How to run it
- Define the claim, decision context, source scope, confidence target, known evidence, conflicts, and pass limit.
- Inventory available sources and label their type and reliability before drawing conclusions.
- Choose the next evidence action with the highest expected value for changing the claim status.
- Update the source ledger and claim ledger with extracted facts, provenance, limitations, and evidence polarity.
- Stop when confidence is reached, contradicted, blocked, underdetermined, or no next action could materially change the conclusion.
Why it works
A claim ledger keeps research from collapsing into narrative by showing which facts actually affect the claim and which source gaps remain.
Implementation note
Never invent citations, hide uncertainty, or treat absence of evidence as disproof unless the source scope makes that inference valid.