Fact Verification Workflow

Verify in bounded steps

State the exact claim and as-of date, then identify what evidence would confirm, qualify, or disprove it. Retrieve the most direct current source, record provenance, and search deliberately for exceptions or contradictions. Separate what the evidence states from your inference.

For quantities, recompute from the underlying data and record units, denominator, rounding, and time window. For system behavior, reproduce in a safe environment with the named version and configuration. For volatile state, query the system of record immediately before consequential use.

Record a reproducible verification

Use synthetic or redacted examples when a real record contains restricted data. Verification evidence should be sufficient for an authorized reviewer, not a dump of sensitive inputs.

Claim: [ATOMIC CLAIM]
As of: [YYYY-MM-DD]
Consequence if wrong: [LOW | MEDIUM | HIGH]
Confirming evidence: [SOURCE OR TEST ID]
Contradicting evidence sought: [QUERY OR SOURCE]
Reproduction: [VERSION, CONFIGURATION, INPUT CLASS, STEPS]
Calculation: [FORMULA, UNITS, DENOMINATOR]
Observed result: [SAFE RESULT]
Inference: [WHAT FOLLOWS AND WHAT DOES NOT]
Confidence: [HIGH | MEDIUM | LOW WITH REASON]
Disposition: [CONFIRMED | QUALIFIED | DISPROVED | UNKNOWN]
Reviewer and date: [OWNER, YYYY-MM-DD]

Expected evidence and verification

The expected evidence is a reproducible record showing the claim, date, direct evidence, contradiction search, method, result, inference boundary, confidence, and reviewer. Unknown remains a valid result.

Have another person reproduce the calculation or system check without relying on the conclusion. Confirm the source is current and authoritative, inspect edge cases, and rerun after changes to data, model, prompt, retrieval, tool, or application logic. Escalate professional legal, medical, financial, or safety decisions to qualified experts.