diff --git a/scripts/idle-draft b/scripts/idle-draft
index ec40c89..5617787 100755
--- a/scripts/idle-draft
+++ b/scripts/idle-draft
@@ -92,6 +92,7 @@ RETRYABLE_STDERR_MARKERS = (
 
 ITEM_FILENAME_RE = re.compile(r"^(\d+)-(.+)\.overview\.md$")
 ABS_PATH_RE = re.compile(r"/home/[^\s`)\]\"'>,;]+")
+LINE_RANGE_SUFFIX_RE = re.compile(r"^(.*/[^/:]+):\d+(?:-\d+)?$")
 
 SCRIPT_PATH = Path(__file__).resolve()
 REPO_SELF = SCRIPT_PATH.parent.parent  # small-scripts repo (holds data/idle-draft)
@@ -721,6 +722,16 @@ def extract_absolute_paths(text: str) -> list[str]:
     return ABS_PATH_RE.findall(text)
 
 
+def strip_line_range(p: str) -> str:
+    """Strip a trailing ':<digits>' or ':<digits>-<digits>' citation line-range suffix.
+
+    Only strips when the remainder still looks like a path (has a filename
+    segment before the colon); a plain path with no suffix is unchanged.
+    """
+    m = LINE_RANGE_SUFFIX_RE.match(p)
+    return m.group(1) if m else p
+
+
 def validate_output(work_type: str, text: str) -> tuple[bool, str]:
     if not text or not text.strip():
         return False, "output is empty"
@@ -729,7 +740,7 @@ def validate_output(work_type: str, text: str) -> tuple[bool, str]:
     if not first_line.startswith(prefix):
         return False, f"first non-blank line does not start with '{prefix}': {first_line!r}"
     if work_type == "research":
-        dead = [p for p in extract_absolute_paths(text) if not Path(p.rstrip(".,;:")).exists()]
+        dead = [p for p in extract_absolute_paths(text) if not Path(strip_line_range(p.rstrip(".,;:"))).exists()]
         if dead:
             return False, f"dead cited path(s): {dead}"
     return True, "ok"
diff --git a/specs/idle-draft.spec.md b/specs/idle-draft.spec.md
index 00f2310..09481d8 100644
--- a/specs/idle-draft.spec.md
+++ b/specs/idle-draft.spec.md
@@ -247,7 +247,11 @@ For the selected `(item_or_dossier, work_type, provider)`:
 7. Validation (on exit 0, before promotion): the temp output file must be non-empty and
    its first non-blank line must be a top-level Markdown heading (`# ...`). For
    `research` work type specifically: every absolute path matching `/home/\S+` cited in
-   the file must exist on disk (`Path.exists()`); any dead path fails validation.
+   the file must exist on disk (`Path.exists()`); any dead path fails validation. Citations
+   may carry a trailing line-range suffix in `path:120-145` or `path:120` form (per the
+   research prompt template's required citation format); this suffix is stripped — via
+   `re.sub(r":\d+(-\d+)?$", ...)`, only when the remainder still looks like a path — before
+   the existence check, so a valid ranged citation is not flagged as a dead path.
 8. On validation pass: `os.replace()` the temp file to the canonical path
    (`<repo>/<dossier>/<NN-slug>.<work_type>.md`, or append to
    `<dossier>/TOPIC-PROPOSALS.md` for `topic_ideas`) — atomic, never a partial file
diff --git a/tests/test-idle-draft.sh b/tests/test-idle-draft.sh
index dc9bad8..ef2645e 100755
--- a/tests/test-idle-draft.sh
+++ b/tests/test-idle-draft.sh
@@ -409,6 +409,26 @@ bad_text = "# Research: topic\n\nSee /home/nonexistent-user/definitely-not-here.
 ok, why = m.validate_output("research", bad_text)
 check("citation validation: rejects research output citing a dead path", ok is False, why)
 
+ranged_good_text = f"# Research: topic\n\nSee {real_path}:12-18 for detail.\n"
+ok, why = m.validate_output("research", ranged_good_text)
+check("citation validation: accepts existing path cited with a :12-18 line range", ok is True, why)
+
+bare_good_text = f"# Research: topic\n\nSee {real_path} for detail.\n"
+ok, why = m.validate_output("research", bare_good_text)
+check("citation validation: accepts existing path cited bare (no line range)", ok is True, why)
+
+ranged_bad_text = "# Research: topic\n\nSee /home/nonexistent-user/definitely-not-here.md:1-20 for detail.\n"
+ok, why = m.validate_output("research", ranged_bad_text)
+check("citation validation: rejects nonexistent path cited with a :1-20 line range", ok is False, why)
+
+bare_bad_text = "# Research: topic\n\nSee /home/nonexistent-user/definitely-not-here.md for detail.\n"
+ok, why = m.validate_output("research", bare_bad_text)
+check("citation validation: rejects nonexistent path cited bare (no line range)", ok is False, why)
+
+noisy_text = f"# Research: topic\n\nSee ({real_path}), also `{real_path}`, and {real_path}, again.\n"
+ok, why = m.validate_output("research", noisy_text)
+check("citation validation: accepts existing path with trailing comma/backtick noise", ok is True, why)
+
 ok, why = m.validate_output("research", "")
 check("citation validation: rejects empty output", ok is False, why)