Is Fact Checking Part of Proofreading?

As a freelance proofreader or editor, you may sometimes be asked to fact check a document. But is fact checking part of proofreading and editing? And what does it mean to fact check something? In this post, we run you through the basics.

Is Fact Checking Part of Proofreading and Editing?

As we’ve discussed elsewhere, the lines between proofreading and editing are often blurred. However, you would not usually offer a fact checking service as part of proofreading.

There are exceptions to this. If a possible factual error seemed to be the result of a typo, for instance, a proofreader should at least highlight the issue for their client. But a proofreader would not typically check every name, date, and detail of a text for accuracy.

Fact checking can be part of a copy editing service if your client requests it, though. And it is standard to check for factual errors in many forms of substantive editing.

Ultimately, then, whether fact checking is part of editing depends on what your client requests and whether you are willing to provide such a service.

If you do want to offer fact checking as part of editing, though, make sure to confirm the details with each client. And if you do provide this service, make sure to adjust your rates accordingly (checking facts can be a time-consuming process).

What Facts Should You Check?

Common facts that require checking in non-fiction documents include:

• Names of people, places, and businesses.
• Official titles and other honorifics.
• The dates of historical events.
• Physical and email addresses.
• Instructions for performing an action or process.
• Other verifiable events and facts.

This doesn’t include opinions or arguments, only things that are unambiguously correct or incorrect (e.g., we could check the date of the invention of the printing press, but the social consequences of its invention are a matter of debate and thus not subject to fact checking).

In terms of how to approach this process, common methods include:

• Asking your client for a list of sources they used in writing the document.
• Double checking facts against at least two reliable sources.
• Googling names, titles, dates, etc.
• Making sure to check anything that sounds odd or inconsistent.
• After finding an error, checking that it isn’t duplicated elsewhere in the document.

This can vary depending on the job at hand (e.g., specialist publishers may hire subject experts to provide in-depth checking of technical writing). But if you are offering a general fact checking service, these are the kinds of things you’d be expected to check.

Fact Checking Student Writing

While academic writing often needs fact checking, it is important to remember when this is appropriate. For student writing, offering advice on or changing factual information in a document could count as plagiarism, which may have serious consequences.

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Related posts:

Editing Tips: Checking Your Sources Online 3 Tips for Staying Focused While Proofreading Freelance Proofreading Tips: The Client’s Brief