Run the evidence-gated academic mode (EGAM) — procedure

Procedure for running Evidence-Gated Academic Mode with authoritative sources, fail-closed verification, academic register, evidence labels, and confidence reporting.

Purpose

This guide explains how to run Evidence-Gated Academic Mode. The workflow applies academic register, evidence labels, authoritative-source requirements, confidence scoring, and fail-closed behavior. It is for producing source-supported academic-style output, not for broad literature search, grammar-only editing, or unsupported claim completion.

When to use this

Use this section to decide whether this workflow is the right fit before you configure prompts, policies, or reference material.

Use case
The answer must use academic register and evidence labels
Use this when the output must be formal, neutral, source-backed, and explicit about what is verified, not verified, missing, and confidence-scored.
Use case
A factual or scholarly claim needs evidence review
Use this when a factual, technical, scholarly, or research claim must be checked against authoritative sources or supplied artifacts with stable locators.
Use case
The answer needs confidence reporting
Use this when the user needs confidence tied to source quality, source coverage, recency or version fit, and unresolved evidence gaps.

Decision guide

Choose the EGAM evidence mode

Select whether the workflow is verifying public-world claims or supplied artifacts. The academic output contract stays the same, but the allowed evidence changes.

Option 1 · Authoritative public sources
World-claims EGAM
Use this mode for claims about public facts, products, mechanisms, timelines, numbers, standards, or documented behavior.
Evidence boundary: Authoritative public sources with stable locators.
Best for: Research-style answers and claim verification where public-source evidence is required.
Use when: The task asks whether a public factual claim is supported by authoritative sources.
Do not use when: The task is only about private files, logs, screenshots, excerpts, or a supplied ZIP.
Option 2 · Supplied artifacts
Local-artifacts EGAM
Use this mode when the task concerns supplied files, logs, screenshots, excerpts, tables, or ZIPs.
Evidence boundary: Only the artifacts supplied in the current task.
Best for: Academic-style review of private or local material where external sources cannot prove the local state.
Use when: The user provides the artifacts that the answer must inspect.
Do not use when: The artifacts are missing or the answer requires current public facts.

Workflow assets

Required workflow assets

Open the prompts, policies, and reference pages needed to run this workflow correctly.

Required prompt
Evidence-Gated Academic Mode prompt
Applies academic register, evidence labels, authoritative-source rules, fail-closed behavior, and confidence reporting.
Type: Instruction-layer evidence mode
Belongs in: Instruction layer
Use when: The workflow needs a reusable academic evidence profile.
Do not use when: The task is only files-only extraction, creative writing, grammar-only editing, general rewriting, or full literature review.
Open prompt
Required policy
Academic-style output with cited sources and confidence
Defines the EGAM rules for claim taxonomy, academic register, evidence labels, source support, confidence scoring, and fail-closed behavior.
Type: Academic evidence policy
Controls: Academic register, evidence labels, confidence scoring, source support, and unsupported-claim handling.
Read policy
Required policy
Base evidence policy for public-world claims
Defines the authoritative-source boundary that EGAM uses when the task contains public-world factual claims.
Type: Base evidence policy
Controls: Authoritative public-source citation requirements and evidence verification.
Read policy

Implementation procedure

Step-by-step implementation procedure

Follow the workflow in order. Each step gives one action and one verification check before continuing.

  1. Instruction layer

    Configure the academic evidence mode

    Add the Evidence-Gated Academic Mode prompt to the instruction layer when the mode will be reused.

    Action
    Use the managed EGAM prompt page as the setup source. Do not link to the raw system prompt as the primary user-facing path.
    Verify
    The instruction layer requires academic register, evidence labels, authoritative-source support, confidence reporting, and fail-closed behavior.
    Open prompt

  2. Reference layer

    Set the evidence boundary

    Choose whether the task uses authoritative public sources or supplied artifacts.

    Action
    Provide sources with stable locators for public-world claims, or provide artifacts for local-state claims.
    Verify
    The allowed evidence boundary is explicit before the answer is generated.

  3. Runtime prompt layer

    Ask the current academic review question

    Provide the claim, research question, draft section, source boundary, relevant sources or artifacts, and output constraints.

    Action
    Keep the current question and source material outside the reusable EGAM instruction block.
    Verify
    The task identifies what must be verified and what evidence is available.

  4. Verification layer

    Separate verified claims from unsupported material

    Place cited, source-supported claims under verified output and place unsupported, ambiguous, or user-provided claims under not-verified output.

    Action
    Do not treat plausible claims, user claims, or uncited text as verified without source support.
    Verify
    Every verified claim is supported by an authoritative source or supplied artifact locator.

  5. Verification layer

    Report confidence and next steps

    Tie confidence to source quality, source coverage, artifact coverage, recency or version fit, and unresolved evidence gaps.

    Action
    List the missing sources, sections, standards, artifacts, or locators needed to raise confidence.
    Verify
    The final output reports uncertainty without inventing evidence.

Verification checklist

Use this checklist before accepting the output, publishing it, or using it as evidence for a downstream workflow.

Evidence boundary
The allowed source type is explicit
The task states whether the evidence comes from authoritative public sources or supplied artifacts.
Academic register
The writing is formal and evidence-matched
The output avoids marketing tone, unsupported absolutes, rhetoric, and certainty beyond the available evidence.
Claim support
Verified claims have citations or artifact locators
Every verified material claim is tied to an authoritative source, stable locator, or supplied artifact location.
Unsupported material
Not-verified material is separated
Unsupported, ambiguous, user-provided, insufficiently sourced, or local-state claims without artifacts are not placed under verified output.
Confidence
Confidence is evidence-based
Confidence reflects source quality, source coverage, missing evidence, recency or version fit, and unresolved uncertainty.

Next step