17. A computer readable medium having computer-implemented instructions executable on a processor for determining valid citation patterns in text of an electronic document, the instructions comprising: a storage access module configured to access, from a memory, at least one citation pattern, wherein each citation pattern includes a set of citation components which together define a predetermined pattern of citation components, each citation component associated with a citation component criteria; and a citation processing module configured to: (i) compare text in the electronic document with the predetermined pattern of the citation components corresponding to the at least one citation pattern; and (ii) determine valid citation patterns in the text by identifying the predetermined pattern of citation components corresponding to the at least one citation pattern in the text.
20. The medium of claim 17 , the instructions further comprising: an annotation module that inserts an annotation into the electronic document corresponding to text determined to be a valid citation pattern.