Evidence needs an exact destination.
A citation beside a paragraph does not reveal what it proves. Claim–evidence mapping connects each preserved record to the smallest proposition it can support—and exposes every leap beyond the record. The edge is the reasoning.
The record increases warrant for this exact claim.
Support holds only under an explicit condition.
The record supports a rival proposition.
Useful context is not direct claim support.
A later valid record governs the present state.
A source is not mapped to a page. It is mapped to a proposition.
Claim–evidence mapping is an explicit graph of claim nodes, evidence nodes and typed support edges. It shows which record bears on which claim, in what direction, under which conditions and within what inference boundary.
A proposition that can be evaluated.
One testable relation with defined entities, predicate, scope and time. Compound language must be decomposed before coverage can be measured.
A preserved, inspectable record.
The node carries provenance, observation context, temporal state and quality. A URL by itself is not an evidence object.
The declared reasoning relation.
The edge records whether evidence supports, qualifies, contradicts, contextualizes or supersedes the claim. No edge means no declared support.
Select a claim. Expose its evidence neighborhood.
The graph atomizes a compound statement into three propositions. Select any claim to isolate valid edges, identify missing coverage and inspect the exact inference boundary.
One sentence can hide four evidentiary obligations.
Separate every independently falsifiable component before mapping. If one component lacks support, the compound sentence must be narrowed even when its other parts are strongly evidenced.
“The company appointed Person X as chief executive, effective 1 June, to lead its global expansion.”
The sentence combines identity, role, time and purpose. One appointment record may support the first three while merely attributing—or failing to establish—the fourth.
Requires resolution of the named person and issuer.
Requires the formal relation, not a media label.
Requires an effective date, not publication time.
May be attributed intention rather than observed outcome.
Coverage is not citation count. Coverage is edge completeness.
Five citations attached to one easy claim do not compensate for a decisive proposition with no evidence. The matrix exposes distribution, not volume.
| ATOMIC CLAIM | E-01 FILING | E-02 PROFILE | E-03 CORRECTION | E-04 ARCHIVE | STATE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C-A / Identity is Person X | + | ◇ | · | · | ✓ |
| C-B / Role is chief executive | + | + | ≈ | · | ✓ |
| C-C / Effective date is 1 June | + | · | ≈ | × | ! |
| C-D / Mandate is global expansion | ◇ | · | · | · | ? |
Every line must declare what it means.
Untyped links create false clarity. These five relations prevent direct proof, context, qualification, contradiction and temporal replacement from collapsing into one generic citation relation.
Positive bearing
If the record is valid, the target claim becomes more warranted within the declared scope.
Boundary bearing
The record narrows population, time, definition, certainty or interpretation.
Negative bearing
The record supports an incompatible proposition under aligned conditions.
Explanatory bearing
The record aids understanding without directly establishing the proposition.
Temporal authority
A newer valid record replaces which evidence governs a current-state claim.
The graph reveals what prose tries to hide.
Structural failures become visible before synthesis: claims without evidence, records reused beyond scope and reasoning that circles back into itself.
No incoming evidentiary edge.
The conclusion contains a factual proposition, but no preserved record directly supports or qualifies it. Repetition does not create support.
One record carries unrelated claims.
A record proving identity is also used to infer motivation, performance and future outcome. The inference radius exceeds the evidence.
Many nodes share one origin.
Multiple articles appear to corroborate a claim but all reproduce the same upstream statement. Citation volume masks lineage dependence.
The claim becomes its own source.
A later page cites an earlier page whose only basis is the later page or the same unsupported assertion. No observation enters the loop.
Seven passes. No invisible inference.
The protocol creates a claim graph that can be audited, updated and passed into confidence calibration without losing its boundaries.
Find claims
Identify every factual sentence component.
Split propositions
Separate entity, relation, scope, time and cause.
Identify evidence
Assign each preserved record a stable node.
Declare edges
Mark support, qualification, conflict or context.
Limit inference
State exactly what each edge cannot establish.
Expose gaps
Find orphans, dependencies, overload and cycles.
Calibrate
Send the mapped structure to EVD/10.
Mapping exposes support. Calibration bounds confidence.
EVD/09 creates explicit support paths from records to propositions. EVD/10 evaluates how much confidence the complete mapped structure can justify.
Evidence objects, claims, context and support relations.
EVD / 02CLASSIFYEvidence Types & ClassesObserved, documentary, computational and derived evidence.
EVD / 03LINEAGESource ProvenanceOrigin, custody, transformation and derivation paths.
EVD / 04QUALITYSource QualityAuthority, directness, independence and claim fit.
EVD / 05CAPTUREEvidence Collection & PreservationAcquisition context, integrity and reproducible records.
EVD / 06CORROBORATECorroboration & TriangulationIndependent convergence across sources and methods.
EVD / 07CONFLICTConflicting Evidence ResolutionScope, time, meaning and method divergence.
EVD / 08TIMETemporal Validity & Evidence DecayFreshness windows, volatility and supersession.
EVD / 09MAPPINGClaim–Evidence MappingExplicit support paths from records to propositions.
EVD / 10CONFIDENCEConfidence CalibrationBounded confidence aligned with evidence strength.
EVD / 11GAPSEvidence Gaps & UnknownsMissing observations and unresolved states.
EVD / 12SYNTHESISEvidence Synthesis & Decision ReadinessIntegrated evidence states for bounded decisions.