citecheck: like typechecks, but for citations 📖⛓️

Quick example

Consider this example (all authors and quantities are fictitious):

• Doe (2021) published a method for estimating $V_t$ as a function of $q_p$ and $t$.
• Bloggs (2023) published a method for estimating $R_m$ as a function of $V_t$ and $\rho$, with the explicit requirement that $V_t$ be estimated using the method of Doe (2021) in particular.

The goal for citecheck is that you could implement this as follows:

from citecheck import enforcecite, Cite

@enforcecite
def calc_vt_doe2021(
  qt: float,
  t: float
) -> Annotated[float, Cite("doe2021")]:
    ...

@enforcecite
def calc_rm_bloggs2023(
  vt: Annotated[float, Cite("doe2021")],
  rho: float
) -> Annotated[float, Cite("bloggs2023")]:
    ...

Now, if we try to pass a value for $V_t$ that was not estimated using the method of Doe (2021), we would get an error:

calc_rm_bloggs2023(vt=1.0, rho=1.0) # Error
calc_rm_bloggs2023(vt=calc_vt_doe2021(1.0, 1.0), rho=1.0) # OK

citecheck is still in development, but this is the general idea.

When to use citecheck

You should consider using citecheck when you are implementing functions corresponding to equations or methodologies in multiple papers which refer to one another.

Getting Started with Development

Use Linux, install pyenv, and then run the setup script:

source .\scripts\dev-setup.sh