{"id":6821,"date":"2017-07-14T08:00:14","date_gmt":"2017-07-14T15:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constant-content.com\/blog\/?p=6821"},"modified":"2018-10-11T09:37:59","modified_gmt":"2018-10-11T16:37:59","slug":"5-quick-ways-to-streamline-your-fact-checking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constant-content.com\/content-writing-service\/2017\/07\/5-quick-ways-to-streamline-your-fact-checking\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Quick Ways to Streamline Your Fact-Checking"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><p>Misinformation is a problem that affects content across all industries. A <a href=\"http:\/\/www.journalism.org\/2016\/12\/15\/many-americans-believe-fake-news-is-sowing-confusion\/\">2016 Pew survey<\/a> revealed that 23% of respondents had shared false news on social media and 14% had done so even though they knew the information was phony.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Brands and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.constant-content.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/how-to-become-a-freelance-writer\/\">writers<\/a> risk serious damage to their reputations if they&#8217;re caught sharing unfounded claims or bogus facts. So, it\u2019s clearly critical to fact-check which is why we\u2019ve put together a list of tips to help make it as painless as possible.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"1-know-the-key-candidates-for-fact-checking\">1. Know the Key Candidates for Fact-Checking<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Not every sentence of an article needs to be fact-checked, but a few types of items are definitely worth confirming:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Dates:<\/strong> A quick online search will confirm the dates of major events, but you may need to do a little digging to verify more obscure dates.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Quotes:<\/strong> Take care not to misquote your sources. Not only can this ruffle their feathers, it can get you in legal trouble. Be sure that you haven&#8217;t cut off a quote in a way that might alter its real meaning and double-check for missing words.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Numbers:<\/strong> Statistics, percentages, dollar amounts and other figures all need to be confirmed. One erroneous zero in a figure can completely change a story or infographic!<\/li>\n<li><strong>Names:<\/strong> Double-checking isn&#8217;t just for the names of people. It&#8217;s easy to make a mistake with brand names as well. For example, eBay is spelled with a lowercase &#8220;e&#8221; and a capital &#8220;B.&#8221; Details like this may seem trivial, but getting them wrong can make your writing seem unprofessional.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"2-look-beyond-the-internet\">2. Look Beyond the Internet<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Checking facts online is convenient, but information on the web may be outdated or even inaccurate. In other words, Wikipedia and most blogs aren\u2019t good enough. Try contacting an expert if you\u2019re really unsure. Even if they can\u2019t confirm a piece of information, they can hopefully point you in the right direction.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"3-go-straight-to-the-source\">3. Go Straight to the Source<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>It may seem like obvious advice, but it&#8217;s worth stating that you need to check the original source. If you&#8217;re planning to cite research that&#8217;s mentioned in a blog, track down the original study or survey to make sure it\u2019s authoritative and the results haven\u2019t been misunderstood. Sometimes it can take some detective work to find the original source. I recommend using long-tail search terms with the most unique words or numbers to try and track it down.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A common stat that I see repeated even though it\u2019s not true is that the human brain can process images 60,000 times faster than text. The human brain is amazing, but not that amazing and no one, it seems, <a href=\"http:\/\/cogdogblog.com\/2012\/07\/60000-times-question\/\">can find the original source<\/a> to back up this claim.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"4-trust-your-instincts\">4. Trust Your Instincts<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>If you have an inkling that a fact seems a little &#8220;off,&#8221; go with your gut and track it down. Even if the fact turns out to be accurate, it&#8217;s better to have wasted a few minutes confirming it than to let an error slip through the cracks. If you can\u2019t confirm it, take it out or find an alternate, authoritative source to quote.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"5-follow-directions\">5. Follow Directions<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Not all publications have the same standards and processes for fact-checking. If the details aren&#8217;t defined in the guidelines you were given, ask your editor about the fact-checking protocol for their publication.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><span id=\"fact-check-yourself-before-you-fact-wreck-yourself\">Fact-Check Yourself Before You Fact-Wreck Yourself<\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In an era of fake news, fact-checking is more important than ever. A quick Google search of your facts isn&#8217;t enough. However, it&#8217;s still possible to streamline your fact-checking and remain efficient. Taking some extra time to confirm facts before publishing is far better than potentially harming your professional reputation or that of your client.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.constant-content.com\/freelance-writing-jobs.htm?utm_source=Blog&amp;utm_medium=Bottom%20CTA&amp;utm_content=Letters\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-36467 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cc-west-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2018\/10\/freelance-writing-cta.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"214\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cc-west-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2018\/10\/freelance-writing-cta.png 1200w, https:\/\/cc-west-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2018\/10\/freelance-writing-cta-300x54.png 300w, https:\/\/cc-west-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2018\/10\/freelance-writing-cta-768x137.png 768w, https:\/\/cc-west-blog-assets.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2018\/10\/freelance-writing-cta-50x9.png 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Misinformation is a problem that affects content across all industries. A 2016 Pew survey revealed that 23% of respondents had shared false news on social media and 14% had done so even though they knew the information was phony. &nbsp; Brands and writers risk serious damage to their reputations if&#8230; <a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constant-content.com\/content-writing-service\/2017\/07\/5-quick-ways-to-streamline-your-fact-checking\/\">Continue Reading <span class=\"icon icon-circle-chevron-right\"><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":6822,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[137,633],"tags":[7,20],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v15.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>5 Quick Ways to Streamline Your Fact-Checking - Constant Content<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.constant-content.com\/content-writing-service\/2017\/07\/5-quick-ways-to-streamline-your-fact-checking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Quick Ways to Streamline Your Fact-Checking - Constant Content\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Misinformation is a problem that affects content across all industries. 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