Evidence Brief Builder

Produce a short decision brief with evidence the reader can inspect. The full ZIP includes source and claim schemas, a screening-log template and a Python 3.10+ traceability checker. Browsing is needed to verify online sources; the helper itself is offline and uses no dependencies.

Bound the question

Define the decision, population or context, alternatives, outcomes, date range and search budget. Default to a targeted evidence brief. If a systematic review is requested, surface the need for a protocol, comprehensive search, independent screening and discipline-specific appraisal; this kit alone does not establish those methods. Read evidence rules.

Log actual databases/sites, complete queries, search dates, result counts when available and stopping limits in search-log.csv. Keep a screening record for considered sources with include/exclude decision and a concrete reason. A search result snippet is discovery material, not proof of a claim.

Verify before synthesis

Open each relied-on source. Verify title, author or issuing body, publication/version date and URL or DOI against the primary record. Mark inaccessible full text explicitly; never imply that an abstract verifies unobserved methods or results. Record correction/retraction checks where pertinent. Do not invent missing citations, excerpts, counts or source details.

Adapt evidence.json. Put permitted short supporting excerpts or user-supplied evidence text in local UTF-8 files and record exact excerpt and line numbers. Keep these files private when their contents are private. Each claim links to source evidence with supports, contradicts or context; a context link alone cannot substantiate a conclusion. Separate measured findings, source authors' interpretations and your own inference.

python3 scripts/check-evidence.py /path/to/evidence.json

The checker resolves source files relative to the JSON file, validates IDs and line-bound exact quotes, hashes source files, and flags claims without supporting or contradicting evidence. It does not access the web, establish that a citation is authentic, assess study quality or prove that the quote entails the claim. Manually review every relationship and source verification record.

Write the brief

Use decision-brief.md. Put the decision and defensible finding first; report contradictory results, context mismatches and material missing evidence. Do not count several reports of one study as independent replication. Use effect sizes with units, denominators and uncertainty when available; avoid deriving a pooled estimate from incompatible designs.

Deliver the brief, matrix, search and screening logs, source metadata and checker report. Match conclusion strength to the weakest necessary inference. Label evidence gaps directly; a polished summary does not convert uncertainty into fact.