Citing evidence

Back up your reports and facilitate an efficient review process using Citation Mode.

Before you start

Before you can cite evidence, you must finish writing your report, and upload all files that you need to reference.

How it works

Citation Mode is a read-only view of your report that contains a set of cross-referencing tools used for:

  • highlighting important information
  • citing all of the source material to back up your key findings and assessments
  • facilitating an efficient review process

Tasks you can perform

The following table outlines the tasks you can perform using Citation Mode:

Task Useful when you need to...

Highlight text

mark words, sentences, paragraphs, or images inserted within the text for review later

Create review notes (to-dos) collaborate with others to ensure the report is conveyed with the right tone, details, facts, and positioning
Cross-reference files cross-reference regulations, standards, or laws

Cross-reference clippings from a supported file type

cross-reference a statement within an email chain that signals proof of fraud

Cross-reference a single cell or a range of cells in an Excel file (.xlsx only) for the purposes of verifying data validity cross-reference a calculation or formula within a monthly bank reconciliation

Pages and rich text editors where Citation Mode is available

You can use Citation Mode within rich text editors on a variety of pages.

Notes

  • Interface terms are customizable, and fields and tabs are configurable. In your instance of Diligent One, some terms, fields, and tabs may be different.
  • If a required field is left blank, you will see a warning message: This field is required. Some custom fields may have default values.
App Page Rich text editor

Projects

Frameworks

Planning File / Reference File Content or Description

Projects

Narrative Description

Projects

Execute Procedure / Walkthrough

Procedure Results / Walkthrough Results

Projects

Issue Details (Issue Information subtab) Description

Projects

Issue Details (Retest Information subtab) Retesting Results Overview

Projects

Testing Testing Results

Projects

Results File Content or Description

Considerations and limitations

Updating and deleting files linked in Citation Mode

When you link a file in Citation Mode, the file is automatically marked as evidence to preserve the integrity of the file. When a file is marked as evidence, you cannot:

  • edit the file online
  • upload new versions of the file with the same name
  • delete the file

To update or delete the file, you must unlink the file from all areas in Citation Mode where the file is referenced. Similarly, before you can delete a page that contains files linked to Citation Mode (such as Planning Files, Narratives, etc.), you must unlink the file from all areas in Citation Mode where the file is referenced.

Tip

You can view where the file is linked by clicking the link icon beside the appropriate file under the Supporting Files section.

Examining files and supported file types

You can cross-reference clippings from any of the following supported file types:

  • PDF .pdf
  • Word .doc or .docx
  • Excel .xls or .xlsx
  • PowerPoint .ppt or .pptx
  • Visio .vsd or .vsdx
  • Images .png, .jpg, .jpeg, .tif, or .tiff

When examining a supported file type, some text formatting may be displayed differently. Password protected documents cannot be examined. If the file is encrypted, corrupted, or too large (prints off more than 10,000 pages), you can link the file, but not clippings within the file.

Currently, there is no support for multiple page .tif or .tiff files when using the Examine file feature.

Note

For security reasons, Diligent One does not accept file attachments with the following extensions: .bat, .com, .dmg, .exe, or .scr.

Editing your report after working in Citation Mode

While you can edit your report after you work in Citation Mode, the recommended workflow is to finish writing your report before you highlight text and link files in Citation Mode.

Caution

If you remove text from your report after working in Citation Mode, you may break links to files or remove highlights.

Limitations on the number of highlights, links, attachments, and clippings

Within each rich text editor that has Citation Mode available, the following limitations apply:

  • a maximum of 400 highlights and links (total of both)
  • a maximum of 30 files per link
  • a maximum of 200 clippings per file

Reporting and integrations with other Diligent products

You cannot export a report that contains the highlights and links captured in Citation Mode. Any in-line to-dos created using Citation Mode display in downloaded reports.

Citation Mode highlights and links are not supported in the following apps that connect to Projects:

  • Reports
  • Diligent HighBond for iOS or Android
  • Offline Projects
  • Analytics

Note

Citation Mode highlights and links are displayed in Mission Control, but cannot be added.

Example

Backing up statements

Scenario

You are an auditor that works for a federal department, and you have been tasked with preparing an audit report. This audit report will undergo intense scrutiny, as it will eventually be submitted to Congress and made available to the public. Since the report will be reviewed and questioned by Congress, every sentence in the report must be accompanied by proof.

Process

You navigate to the appropriate Walkthrough page and enable Citation Mode. Then, you highlight the relevant portions of text and link the text to files. Finally, you sign off as the preparer and assign a quality assurance team member as the next reviewer.

Result

The relevant portions of text are linked to the files. The quality assurance team member can now review, investigate, and verify the cited references.

Permissions

Only Professional Managers and Professional Users can highlight text and link text to files or specific sections within files in Citation Mode.

Turn on Citation Mode

Turn on Citation Mode in a rich text editor to begin citing evidence.

  1. Do one of the following:
    • To cite evidence in a planning file, narrative, execute procedure / walkthrough, testing round, issue, or results file in a project:
      1. Open the Projects app.

      2. Open a project.
    • To cite evidence in a reference file in a framework:
      1. Open the Frameworks app.
      2. Open a framework.
  2. Navigate to the page and rich text editor where Citation Mode is available.

    For more information, see Pages and rich text editors where Citation Mode is available.

  3. Under the rich text editor, turn on Citation Mode.

    Result Citation Mode opens and displays the report as read-only text on the left side of the page.

Highlight text

Mark words, sentences, paragraphs, or images inserted within the text for review later.

  1. Select the portion of text that you want to highlight.

    Highlighted portions of text can overlap. You can also highlight any images inserted in the text.

  2. Click Highlight .

    Result The text is highlighted in yellow , and the Highlights count is automatically updated. Highlights are listed in the order they display in the rich text editor.

Create a review note (to-do)

Collaborate with others to ensure the report is conveyed with the right tone, details, facts, and positioning.

  1. Do one of the following: 
    • Select the relevant portion of text and click Create to-do .
    • Select an existing highlight, click the To-dos tab, and click + Create to-do.

      The Create to-do side panel opens.

  2. Enter details in the form and click Save

    Result The text is highlighted, and the To-dos count is automatically updated. The person assigned the to-do is notified via email. The assignee can click on the link in the email to update the to-do or post a comment. For more information about to-dos, see Assigning to-dos.

    Note

    Only to-dos with the Open or Cleared status are displayed in the To-dos panel. A full list of to-dos, including those with the Closed status, are available from the To-dos project management tab or Task Tracker.

Cross-reference a file

Link highlighted text to a file, such as a regulation, standard, or law.

  1. Select the highlighted portion of text that you want to cross-reference.
  2. Under Add files or clippings, search for a file by name or enter a keyword or phrase contained in a file that was previously uploaded to the project.

    Any files that exist in the Supporting Files section on the page are listed as Suggested Files. The number of search results found within the file displays next to File contents.

    Note

    Searching for text contained within a file is not supported for files greater than 7 MB. The search operates by scanning the first 100 kilobytes of any file under 7 MB.

  3. Click the file name.

    The Examine File side panel opens and displays the contents of the file.

    Note

    The Examine File side panel only opens if you selected a supported file type. If the file type is unsupported, you can only link the highlighted text to the file (not a section in a file), and download a copy of the file. For more information on supported file types, see Examining files and supported file types.

  4. To link highlighted text to the file, click Link File as Evidence, and close the side panel.

Cross-reference clippings from a file

Link highlighted text to one or more sections from a file.

  1. Select the highlighted portion of text that you want to cross-reference.
  2. Under Add files or clippings, search for a file by name or enter a keyword or phrase contained in a file that was previously uploaded to the project.

    Any files that exist in the Supporting Files section on the page are listed as Suggested Files. The number of search results found within the file displays next to File contents.

    Note

    Searching for text contained within a file is not supported for files greater than 7 MB. The search operates by scanning the first 100 kilobytes of any file under 7 MB.

  3. Click the file name.

    The Examine File side panel opens and displays the contents of the file.

    Note

    The Examine File side panel only opens if you selected a supported file type. If the file type is unsupported, you can only link the highlighted text to the file (not a section in a file), and download a copy of the file. For more information on supported file types, see Examining files and supported file types.

  4. Navigate to the appropriate section of the file.
  5. Select a portion of text, an image, or a table (individual cells or the entire table) that you want to use as evidence and click Add Clipping.

    The cross-referenced text and clipping is listed under Clippings.

    Tip

    You can also use the File Information section to navigate to the page where the original file was attached or download the file. Clicking on a clipping redirects you to the place in the file where you created the clipping.

  6. Optional. Repeat steps 4-5 to add additional clippings, and close the side panel when you are finished.

    Result The text is highlighted in green and linked to the file and the clipping(s) within the file. The Links count, Linked files count, and clippings count is updated. The file is marked as evidence, and cannot be updated or deleted. Links are listed in the order they display in the rich text editor.

Cross-reference a calculation or formula

Link highlighted text to a single cell or a range of cells in an Excel worksheet (.xlsx only).

  1. Select the highlighted portion of text that you want to cross-reference.
  2. Under Add files or clippings, search for an Excel file by name or enter a keyword or phrase contained in an Excel file that was previously uploaded to the project.

    Any files that exist in the Supporting Files or Requested Files section on the page are listed as Suggested Files. The number of search results found within the file displays next to File contents.

    Note

    Searching for text contained within a file is not supported for files greater than 7 MB. The search operates by scanning the first 100 kilobytes of any file under 7 MB.

  3. Click the Excel file name.

    The Examine File side panel opens and displays the contents of the Excel file.

  4. Click Add cell references and select one of the following options:

    Type cell range reference

    1. Complete the following fields:
      • Cell range specifies a single cell or group of cells within the Excel worksheet

        For example, to reference a cell range that includes cells C1, C2, C3, C4, and C5, specify C1:C5.

      • Worksheet specifies the worksheet in the Excel file
      • Name specifies a descriptive name for the single cell or cell range

        The maximum character limit is 245. The name must be unique, and cannot include unsupported characters such as spaces, apostrophes, dashes, exclamation marks, commas, brackets, or quotation marks.

    2. Click Save.

      Result The Excel worksheet and referenced cell ranges display under Clippings.

      Clicking on a clipping downloads a copy of the original cited Excel file. Any specified named ranges in Citation Mode are prepended with _HighBond_.

    Use named ranges

    Tip

    If you have existing named ranges in your worksheet, this is the quickest method.

    1. Select one or more named ranges.

      Note

      Only named ranges stored in A1 notation can be selected from the dropdown list. Named ranges that reference other named ranges, or include Excel formulas, are not displayed.

      For more information on named ranges, see Microsoft Excel Help.

    2. Click Save.

      Result The Excel worksheet and referenced named ranges display under Clippings.

      Clicking on a clipping downloads a copy of the original cited Excel file. Any specified named ranges in Citation Mode are prepended with _HighBond_.

Remove highlights or cross-references

Unlink text or remove highlights, links, and clippings.

Unlink text from a file

  1. Expand the entry in the Links section.
  2. Hover your mouse over the file.
  3. Click and select Unlink file.
  4. Click Unlink to confirm.
    Caution

    Unlinking text from a file also removes any clippings associated with the file.

Remove a highlight

  1. Hover your mouse over the entry in the Highlights section.
  2. Click and select Delete highlight.
  3. Click Delete to confirm.
    Caution

    Removing a highlight also removes any associated to-dos or clippings, and unlinks any associated files. To keep any associated to-dos, select Keep to-dos.

Remove a link to a file

  1. Hover your mouse over the entry in the Links section.
  2. Click and select Delete link.
  3. Click Delete to confirm.
    Caution

    Removing a link also removes any associated to-dos or clippings, and unlinks any associated files. To keep any associated to-dos, select Keep to-dos.

Remove a clipping from a file

  1. From the Examine File side panel, hover your mouse over the clipping in the Clippings section, and click the trash bin .
  2. Click Delete to confirm.