Fact-Checkers' Popularity Test

Do your submissions pass?

by Kathy Summers

Every health story tests a writer's mettle for accurate reporting. Health "facts" can be so capricious, with trusted sources contradicting one another and even the strongest expert opinions changing with new information. That makes old news and misinterpreted research results as easy to pass along as a high school rumor. To keep us all out of trouble, health editors run articles by their fact-checkers. Naturally, editors like assigning articles to writers who make their fact-checkers' jobs easier. Curious to know how you rate with fact checkers? Take this test to find out: 

 Fact Checkers' Popularity Test  
(Hint: answer yes to everything)  

1. Do you use primary research instead of settling for what you read in other people’s articles, even credible information from national publications?
Yes    No

2. Do you question secondhand quotes (even the ones you believe to be common knowledge), and look for additional information to back up controversial quotes from expert interviews? Yes    No  

3. Do you use summaries of studies appearing in books, other magazines, or newspapers ONLY as background information, not as primary sources? 
Yes    No  

4. If you do find studies or research quoted in other people's stories that seem perfect for your article, do you get copies of the actual studies or abstracts and/or the researchers' phone numbers to give to the editor?  
Yes    No  

5. When you talk with experts, do you confirm the spelling of names, titles, degrees, and other credentials?
Yes    No  

6. Do you prepare interview sources for the probability that someone from the magazine may contact them during the fact-checking process?
Yes    No  

7. Do you let editors know of any potentially difficult situations or special instructions regarding sources?  
Yes    No  

8. Are you careful to let editors know whether experts you've interviewed about a product have financial interests in the products or companies producing them?  
Yes    No

9. Do you make a fully annotated version of each article indicating where all information came from with phone numbers for all sources?  
Yes    No  

10. Do you send copies of backup material with your completed manuscript?  
Yes    No