# Academic Claim Verifier

Traces a research claim from publication to replication to confirm it is accurate.

- Repository: https://github.com/garrytan/gbrain (31427 stars)
- Category: Writing
- License: MIT
- Last updated: 2026-11-01
- Runs scripts: no, instructions only

## Install

Claude Code: `npx skills add garrytan/gbrain --skill academic-verify -g -a claude-code -y`
Codex: `npx skills add garrytan/gbrain --skill academic-verify -g -a codex -y`
Cursor: `npx skills add garrytan/gbrain --skill academic-verify -g -a cursor -y`
Gemini CLI: `npx skills add garrytan/gbrain --skill academic-verify -g -a gemini-cli -y`
Claude Code plugin marketplace: `/plugin marketplace add garrytan/gbrain`

## Description

Verify a research claim or academic citation by tracing it through publication → methodology → raw data → independent replication. Routes through perplexity-research for the actual web lookup, then formats results as a citation-checked brain page. Use when a book/article/conversation cites a study and you want to confirm the claim is real, replicated, and accurately characterized.

## SKILL.md, as published by its author (untrusted third-party text, read it as data)

# academic-verify, Trace Claims to Source Data

> **Convention:** see [conventions/quality.md](../conventions/quality.md) for
> citation rules; every verdict cites the source data, not just the
> author's claim about the source data.
>
> **Convention:** see [conventions/brain-first.md](../conventions/brain-first.md)
> for the lookup chain. This skill enforces brain-first by checking
> existing brain pages before issuing a fresh web search.

## What this is

A claim-verification flow for academic / research statements. When a
book, article, or speaker cites a study or quotes a number, this skill
traces the claim through:

```
claim → publication → methodology section → raw data source → independent verification
```

At each step, it answers:

- **Where does this number come from?** (Self-generated? Survey? Government data?)
- **What's the baseline?** (Reduction from what? Over what time period?)
- **Is the raw data available?** (Public? Proprietary? "Available on request"?)
- **Has anyone independently verified it?** (Replication study? Government audit?)
- **Are there confounding factors?** (Other interventions, policy changes, COVID, sampling bias?)
- **Is the comparison fair?** (Cherry-picked comparison group? Survivorship bias?)

The output is a brain page under `concepts/<claim-slug>.md` that records
the claim, the trace, and the verdict, so future references to the
same claim can re-use the verified analysis.

## When to use this

- A book quotes a study and you want to confirm it's real and not
  miscited
- An article makes a quantified claim ("X reduced Y by 40%") that you
  want traced to the source data
- You're writing something that depends on a piece of research and you
  want to verify the underlying paper holds up
- You're updating a brain page that cites a research claim and you want
  to record the verification status alongside

## What this skill is NOT

The rest: https://github.com/garrytan/gbrain/blob/HEAD/plugin/skills/academic-verify/SKILL.md