A collaborative content management system is disclosed herein for receiving a command to add an annotation object following a character input into a line of a collaborative content item. The system inserts an annotation object onto the line following the character, detects a selection of the annotation object, and displays a secondary collaborative content item in visual association with the character. The system detects textual content that corresponds to a citation within the secondary collaborative content item, and responsive to detecting the textual content, generates for display a template for inputting fields of a citation. The system receives text entered into one or more of the fields, generates a citation based on the text, and inputs the citation into the secondary collaborative content item.