Fact Checking and Proper Notation

Fact checking is an important part of responsible nonfiction writing. If you do not get your facts correct, then you lose credibility as a nonfiction writer and you soon become someone that editors and publishers are not interested in publishing. Not getting your facts correct is different than an error in your facts. Attributing the wrong author to a book or song is not getting your facts correct and is considered an inexcusable practice. Quoting the wrong page number in a book or referencing the wrong edition of a title is considered an error and forgivable.

Although errors in your facts are forgivable, they represent additional work to the editor or their staff and it behooves you to build a relationship with your editor in which the editor feels assured that your facts are accurate. Accuracy in your work helps to build good relations with your editor and editorial staff. Inaccuracy in your facts may not get you into the editor's circular file (a.k.a. the trash can), but neither will it endear you to him. From the editor's point of view, you will have labor written all over your face when the editor speaks with you in person. Do yourself a huge favor and avoid appearing to your editor as labor.



Here are some tips to help you check your content facts:

• Your dictionary and thesaurus are still good friends to keep, use them.


• If you quote an author, then pick up that book from the library. When you check your facts, if you find you made an error, then you can easily adjust the text or make a correction by referring to the author's book and making a direct quote or footnote.


• If you quote an artist or a songwriter, be sure to know where to go to quickly look up his or her material to check the exact wording. A quote or reference is no good if it is not exact; it just looks sloppy.


• If you have referred to or quoted government statistics, make sure that you include a tangible reference book, website, or government publication. Do not simply refer to "government statistics show that... blah, blah, blah" without referencing your source. If you leave off the source or if you are too lazy to look it up in the government research, then you are an unreliable nonfiction writer and the entire content of what you have written will be discounted by the reader (and, if discovered, by your editor).


• The quickest way to check your content facts that do not come from books or other publications is to check through various facts resources online on the Internet. Some online facts resources are more reliable than others. Know which ones you can count on for accuracy.


• Do not be afraid to use your reference desk at your local or university libraries. Your reference librarian knows how to find facts that you write about and he or she knows how to find them much quicker than you. Take a pen and paper when you visit the librarian and be sure to copy the exact information you need for properly notating the reference material.
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