Why check your own work
Nobody enjoys finding a mistake after publication, and readers who spot one may trust the rest of your work a little less. The difficulty is that writers are poorly placed to catch their own errors. You know what you meant, so you read what you meant instead of what is on the page. A deliberate routine for self fact-checking makes up for that blind spot.
Fact-checking is different from proofreading. Proofreading looks for typos and formatting slips. Fact-checking asks whether what you said is true, current and fairly stated. Keep it as its own pass so you give it full attention.
Step one: find every checkable claim
Print or open the draft and go through it with a highlighter or a comment tool. Mark everything a reader could treat as a fact:
- Names of people, places, organizations and works (check spelling, titles and roles)
- Dates and time periods
- Numbers, percentages, prices and measurements
- Quotations and attributions
- Statements about how something works or what something means
- Claims about cause and effect
- Superlatives such as “first,” “largest” or “only”
It is useful to list these in a separate document or a table with columns for the claim, the source and a check mark. For a short piece, marking the draft itself is enough.
Step two: trace each claim to a source
For each marked item, ask where you learned it. If you remember, go back to the original. If you cannot remember, find a source now. Whenever possible, use primary or authoritative sources: official documents, original publications, organizations’ own materials, or recognized reference works. A second article repeating a claim is not independent confirmation, because both may trace back to the same mistake.
Consider the following when judging a source:
- Who produced it, and what is their expertise?
- How current is it? Information on prices, rules, statistics and technology can age quickly.
- Does it show its own sources? Statements with no support are weaker evidence.
- Does the source have a reason to present things a certain way?
When two reliable sources disagree, note the disagreement. You can report both or word the claim more carefully.
Step three: check the details people get wrong
Certain kinds of errors are especially common.
Names. Confirm spelling letter by letter against an authoritative source, such as the person’s or organization’s own materials. Check titles and affiliations as of the time you are writing about.
Numbers. Recalculate every figure you present. If you convert units, compute percentages or add totals, do the arithmetic again from scratch, preferably in a different order. Make sure units and time frames are stated. Check that numbers in the text match any tables or captions.
Dates. Verify the year, not just the month and day. Be careful with events described as “last year,” since the phrase ages. Where a date matters, use the actual date.
Quotes. Compare your wording to the original, word for word. If you paraphrase, make sure the paraphrase does not change the meaning. Do not attribute a quote you cannot trace; popular quotations are frequently misattributed.
Claims about “firsts” and “bests.” These are the most likely to be wrong. If you cannot confirm that something was the first, say “one of the earliest” or leave out the claim.
Step four: check context and fairness
A statement can be technically accurate and still misleading. Ask whether a number needs context to mean anything, such as a comparison or a time frame. Ask whether you quoted someone in a way that changes their point. Ask whether a general claim is stated more broadly than the evidence allows. Writing conservatively, with words like “often” or “typically” where the evidence supports only that, is a form of accuracy.
Step five: decide what to do with what you cannot verify
Sometimes you cannot find a solid source. You have three honest options:
- Remove the claim. If it is not essential, this is usually the best choice.
- Soften or qualify it. “Some sources suggest…” is acceptable only if you can accurately describe the state of the evidence.
- State the uncertainty. If the point matters, tell the reader what is not known.
What you should not do is keep a claim because it sounds right or because it makes the piece more interesting. This is especially important for health, money, safety and legal topics, where an error can harm readers. For those subjects, it is better to explain general principles and point readers to official guidance than to give specific advice you cannot back up.
A note on AI tools and generated text
If you used AI-assisted writing to produce any part of a draft, treat every factual statement as unverified until you check it. These tools can produce fluent text that includes wrong details, invented sources or confident errors. The same applies to any text you copy or adapt from somewhere else. Fluent wording is not evidence of accuracy.
Record your sources
Keep a simple list of the sources you used. It speeds up future updates and makes it easier to answer a reader who questions a claim. It also makes it straightforward to give source credit where it is due, and to confirm that you have the right to use any material you included.
Make it a habit
A fact-check fits best after structure and wording are settled, since changes to the text can introduce new errors, and before the final proofread. Build a short checklist: names, dates, numbers, quotes, claims of “first” or “only,” and links. Run it every time.
If you still get something wrong
Even with a careful routine, mistakes occur. When one is reported, verify it, fix it promptly, and consider whether a visible note is appropriate. Handling public corrections openly tends to protect trust better than quietly hoping no one noticed.