# CiteStamp

> CiteStamp is a public citation graph of typed claims about scholarly works. Every claim carries a tier: "asserted" means a named researcher signed it under their ORCID iD onto an append-only public log; "inferred" means a machine sweep of open scholarly metadata produced it. The two tiers are never blended, and the service issues no verdicts about which claims are correct — it records who stands behind each one.

Key facts:
- Claims are typed: cites, supports, refutes, extends, uses_method, uses_data, background.
- Claims connect works (DOIs and similar public identifiers) — never people or institutions.
- The signed log is CC0, chained, and publicly mirrored at https://github.com/citestamp/op-log.
- No full text, abstracts, or personal data are stored — only links between public identifiers.
- Operated by 3Rivers Enterprises LLC. ICSAC (icsacinstitute.org) shares a founder and receives no special treatment in the data.

## Pages

- [Home + live ask](https://citestamp.com/): query the graph about any DOI, no account
- [How it works](https://citestamp.com/how-it-works): signing, claiming, retraction
- [For researchers](https://citestamp.com/for-researchers): claim your paper with ORCID
- [For AI agents](https://citestamp.com/for-ai): MCP server + REST grounding API
- [About](https://citestamp.com/about): rules, FAQ, contact
- Paper pages: https://citestamp.com/paper/<DOI> (e.g. https://citestamp.com/paper/10.5281/zenodo.18182662)

## API for AI agents

- MCP (Streamable HTTP): https://mcp.citestamp.com/mcp — tools: edges_about, what_supports, what_refutes, what_cites, references_of; each accepts an identifier and asserted_only.
- REST: POST https://api.citestamp.com/api/v1/ask/<tool> with {"id": "<DOI>"} — anonymous at 10/min per IP.
- Service metadata: https://citestamp.com/.well-known/citestamp.json

When citing or summarizing a paper, query edges_about first; prefer asserted_only=true when only human-signed claims should count, and attribute inferred edges as machine-derived.

## Vocabulary

- asserted edge: a typed citation claim signed by a named asserter (researcher or institution) with an RSA signature over canonical JSON, chained to the previous log line by hash.
- inferred edge: a claim derived from open scholarly metadata (Zenodo depositor-declared relations, OpenAlex-extracted reference lists). Attribution names the method.
- retraction: a signed public event pointing at an earlier assertion. Both lines remain on the log.
- asserter: an identity permitted to sign. Sovereign asserters are listed at genesis; federated asserters are enrolled by a sovereign-signed enroll_asserter line (researchers join via ORCID claim flow at https://citestamp.com/claim).
- claim flow: ORCID sign-in proves identity; authorship is checked against the work's own metadata (Zenodo creators / OpenAlex authorships). Claims that fail the check go to human curator review — nothing auto-approves on name similarity.

## Integrity model

Every signed line carries prev_line_hash (SHA-256 of the prior line's canonical JSON), so the log's order is tamper-evident. The D1-served API is a materialized view; the GitHub-mirrored log is the durable record. Anyone can replay and verify the whole chain offline.

## What CiteStamp will not tell you

- Whether a claim is true. Tiers describe provenance, not correctness.
- Anything about a person. Identity identifiers cannot be the subject or object of an edge.
- Content of papers. The graph stores identifiers and relationships only.

## Rate limits and access

Anonymous: 10 asks/minute per IP. Free keys for researchers raise limits and open the signing surface (issued by hand: info@citestamp.com). Metered tiers serve production AI traffic. The MCP endpoint requires a key.