Embedded Files
We understand full-on fact-checking is an art in and of itself. We’re not expecting the layers of verification that go into major publications, although if you want to do a full Daniel Radcliffe visits The New Yorker fact-checking office, be our guest. But we do need you to go deep enough to confirm that the sources you’re delivering to the client back up the info in the project.
What To Check
What To Check
Everything! Any sources the writer has included, click the link. Make sure the link works, that’s the first hurdle. Assess whether or not the source is a competitor and if it’s a reliable, allowable source. If the writer makes claims and fails to provide sources (see more below), do a bit of digging to determine if you can easily add a source yourself or if you’ll have to ask the writer to revise.
How To Check
How To Check
What are you looking for? Any claim made by the writer should be easily verifiable by the source cited.
Let’s look at an example:
Draft 1: While it can pass between pets, it most frequently comes from exposure to wild animals like bats, raccoons, and foxes [ASPCA: “Common dog diseases.”]. Dogs are prone to the virus, but it is reported in cats more than any other species in the U.S.
Notice how the last sentence makes two claims that have no supporting citations. You’ll need to check the previously cited source to see if it covers these claims. If it does, you might move the citation to the end of the paragraph to indicate the source covers the entire paragraph. If not, identify the missing sources and add them in.
Edited draft: While it can pass between pets, rabies in dogs most frequently comes from exposure to wild animals like bats, raccoons, and foxes {American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA): “Common dog diseases.”}. Each year, about 400 to 500 cases of rabies are reported in domestic pets like cats, dogs, and ferrets {American Humane: “Rabies Facts & Prevention Tips.”}. Rabies isn’t particularly common in dogs in the United States, because it is 100% preventable with vaccination.
What To Do When Sources Are Missing or Insufficient
What To Do When Sources Are Missing or Insufficient
It's not a full-on decision tree, but here are some common scenarios and tips on how to approach them as an editor.
If the guidelines require sourcing and the article has none, request a revision.
If you’ve fact-checked three sources and none match the info, request a revision and use the Compose.ly Bot to let us know.
If sourcing issues are something you can fix yourself in 15 minutes, go ahead and do that. Often, in the course of checking on something, you might find a better source anyway, in which case you can add it in.
Alternatively, maybe the writer has misinterpreted a source, and their take on the information doesn’t fully mesh with what you’re seeing in the source. This is the time for collaboration. If it’s a wording issue and you’re fully confident a small line-level tweak will resolve the factual issue while still providing the information the client’s looking for, go ahead and fix it. If you’re not totally sure, propose an edit and pass it back to the writer to confirm your edit retains their intended meaning while matching the source, or confirm that a changed fact still supports the argument they were building.
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