These crucial categories of facts are given in Editing Canadian English (ECE):

• names
• job titles
• dates
• addresses
• phone numbers
• URLs
• email addresses
• monetary figures
• directions
• geographic locations
• instructions and steps

How to Check the Facts

How should you check them? Follow the steps, map the directions, type in the URLs, call the phone numbers, look up the dates, call the sources to check their names and job titles. Go right to the source. Query any discrepancies, since the author may have got it right, fixing a widespread error:

“Change ok? Per company webpage.”

Also flag anything that seems debatable or that a reader might take issue with.

Potentially libelous material needs extra care. “Anything that could leave you or the client open to legal action should be referred to a lawyer,” says ECE. For instance, leave a comment saying “Cleared with legal?” beside any instance of calling an event “an act of terrorism.” Include these concerns in the transmittal note to the project manager.

The editor’s responsibility is to flag these items, and suggest corrections where available. The author and publisher are responsible for the content of their product.