Fact-Check an AI Draft With a Claim Ledger

Create one record for each consequential factual claim in the draft. Include the exact statement, its manuscript location, the source that supports it, the source date, and a verification status. Check the evidence yourself. A fluent explanation or a plausible-looking citation is not evidence that the claim is true.

Identify claims that need evidence

Look for numbers, dates, quotations, causal explanations, procedural requirements, and statements about what an organization allows. Prioritize claims that could materially affect a reader's decision or safety. General transitions and clearly labeled personal preferences usually need a different kind of review.

Copy the exact claim into the ledger before summarizing it. Small wording differences matter. Often works, always works, and is required make different assertions. If you record only the general topic, you may find a source that discusses the subject without supporting the statement your book actually makes.

Find the best available primary source

Trace a claim to the organization, original research, official documentation, or other appropriate primary material. A secondary explanation can help you locate evidence, but it may omit conditions or repeat an error. Read the relevant passage in context.

For a statement about a KDP setting, use current KDP guidance rather than an old forum answer. For a quoted study result, locate the study and check what was measured. Record where the source supports the statement and where it does not. Do not treat the existence of a link as a completed verification.

Distinguish support from uncertainty

Use statuses such as supported, needs qualification, contradicted, and unresolved. A source may support a narrower version of the claim. In that case, revise the wording instead of keeping the broad statement and adding a citation that does not justify it.

If evidence is unavailable, choose whether to remove the claim, describe the uncertainty, or continue researching. Do not ask another AI model to declare the original statement correct and treat agreement as independent confirmation. Models can repeat the same unsupported information or produce another plausible explanation without new evidence.

Make verification reproducible

Record a source title, URL or publication reference, relevant section, access date, and a short note explaining the result. Keep quotation checks separate from paraphrase checks. Someone reviewing your work should be able to understand how the evidence relates to the sentence.

For mutable rules, record when they were verified and plan a final check before publication.

• Preserve the exact claim and location.
• Identify the primary supporting material.
• Check scope, conditions, and date.
• Record uncertainty instead of hiding it.
• Link the correction to the manuscript revision.

Close the loop in the edited manuscript

After changing a claim, verify that the corrected wording appears in the current draft and that surrounding text still makes sense. Check examples, summaries, captions, and FAQ-style sections that may repeat the original assertion.

Keep the ledger with the source archive and release files. It is useful when you revise the book or a reader questions a statement later. The ledger does not make the manuscript infallible, but it makes the evidence review visible and prevents uncertain claims from being mistaken for completed research.

Continue with this topic

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