Glossary
What Is an Evidence Chain
An evidence chain is a clickable verification path from a claim to a primary source and then to external corroboration.
- Author
- Xingge
- Published
- 2026-11-09
- Updated
- 2026-11-09
- Level
- L2 Reproducible
- Version
- 1.0
Term details
- Name
- What Is an Evidence Chain
- Type
- Glossary
- ID
- evidence-chain-definition-en
What Is an Evidence Chain
An evidence chain is a clickable verification path from a claim to a primary source and then to external corroboration. This site splits it into six stages: discoverable, openable, extractable, verifiable, attributable, and corroborable. If one stage breaks, the chain is downgraded.
Definition
This site's working definition: an evidence chain is the complete traceable path of a claim on a page, requiring a third party to be able to walk every stage independently, rather than a simple list of reference links.
The downgrade rules are explicit: without a source block, a claim becomes a mere statement; without a clickable original, it becomes a paraphrase; without attribution, it becomes unsourced content.
Boundaries: what it is easily confused with
| Easily confused concept | Key difference |
|---|---|
| Reference link list | A list may be unreachable, unlocated, and lack excerpts |
| Footer disclaimer | A disclaimer does not support claim verification |
| Evidence block | An evidence block presents a single claim; an evidence chain spans stages |
Common misconceptions
- Collecting a pile of external links and calling it an evidence chain. If a link does not open, the chain is broken.
- Writing only an organization name without clause and location. Without location, verification is impossible.
- Self-corroboration loops. Citing only across owned domains at most counts as index cross-corroboration.
Basis and verification
This definition is this site's working definition, marked L2. The operating details of the six hops are covered by the method page in the method index, and completeness is measured by the corresponding metric in the metric index.
Review cycle: 180 days.
Related sections: glossary index, method index, metric index, editorial policy.