diff --git a/.github/workflows/update-citations.yml b/.github/workflows/update-citations.yml
index 1ba98cb9..0a5aaae0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/update-citations.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/update-citations.yml
@@ -26,15 +26,25 @@ jobs:
           pip install -r requirements.txt
 
       - name: Run citation update script
+        id: update_citations
+        continue-on-error: true
         run: |
           python bin/update_scholar_citations.py
 
       - name: Configure Git
+        if: always()
         run: |
           git config --local user.email "actions@github.com"
           git config --local user.name "GitHub Actions"
 
       - name: Commit and push if changed
+        if: always()
         run: |
           git add _data/citations.yml
           git diff --staged --quiet || (git commit -m "Update Google Scholar citations" && git push)
+
+      - name: Fail if citation update failed
+        if: steps.update_citations.outcome == 'failure'
+        run: |
+          echo "Google Scholar citation update failed; failure metadata was recorded in _data/citations.yml."
+          exit 1
diff --git a/bin/update_scholar_citations.py b/bin/update_scholar_citations.py
index dd5817f7..b7b5ae98 100644
--- a/bin/update_scholar_citations.py
+++ b/bin/update_scholar_citations.py
@@ -19,18 +19,13 @@
 # Create data directory if it doesn't exist
 os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(OUTPUT_FILE), exist_ok=True)
 
-def get_scholar_citations():
-    """
-    Fetch citation data from Google Scholar for all papers by the specified author
-    """
-    print(f"Fetching citations for Google Scholar ID: {SCHOLAR_USER_ID}")
 
+def load_existing_citation_data():
     citation_data = {
         'metadata': {},
         'papers': {}
     }
 
-    # Try to load existing data first to preserve the last known good values.
     if os.path.exists(OUTPUT_FILE):
         try:
             with open(OUTPUT_FILE, 'r') as f:
@@ -43,6 +38,32 @@ def get_scholar_citations():
         except Exception as e:
             print(f"Warning: Could not read existing citation data: {e}")
 
+    return citation_data
+
+
+def save_citation_data(citation_data):
+    with open(OUTPUT_FILE, 'w') as f:
+        yaml.dump(citation_data, f, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False)
+    print(f"Citation data saved to {OUTPUT_FILE}")
+
+
+def record_fetch_failure(error):
+    citation_data = load_existing_citation_data()
+    citation_data['metadata']['fetch_status'] = 'failed'
+    citation_data['metadata']['fetch_failed_at'] = datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
+    citation_data['metadata']['fetch_error'] = str(error)
+    save_citation_data(citation_data)
+
+
+def get_scholar_citations():
+    """
+    Fetch citation data from Google Scholar for all papers by the specified author
+    """
+    print(f"Fetching citations for Google Scholar ID: {SCHOLAR_USER_ID}")
+
+    # Try to load existing data first to preserve the last known good values.
+    citation_data = load_existing_citation_data()
+
     # Fetch author data with retries
     author_data = None
     for attempt in range(MAX_RETRIES):
@@ -110,13 +131,14 @@ def get_scholar_citations():
     if fetched_papers == 0:
         raise RuntimeError("Google Scholar fetch completed but no publications could be processed")
 
+    citation_data['metadata'].pop('fetch_failed_at', None)
+    citation_data['metadata'].pop('fetch_error', None)
+    citation_data['metadata']['fetch_status'] = 'success'
     citation_data['metadata']['last_updated'] = datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
 
     # Save to YAML file
     try:
-        with open(OUTPUT_FILE, 'w') as f:
-            yaml.dump(citation_data, f, default_flow_style=False, sort_keys=False)
-        print(f"Citation data saved to {OUTPUT_FILE}")
+        save_citation_data(citation_data)
     except Exception as e:
         print(f"Error saving citation data: {str(e)}")
         raise
@@ -124,4 +146,8 @@ def get_scholar_citations():
     return citation_data
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
-    get_scholar_citations()
+    try:
+        get_scholar_citations()
+    except Exception as e:
+        record_fetch_failure(e)
+        raise