Fact-Checking and Evidence
Quote Verification Record
Confirm quotation wording, speaker identity, attribution, context, consent, source location, edits, approval terms, and any material conflict or limitation.
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The downloaded file contains the same fields in editable Markdown.
Speaker and source
- Quote ID
- [Stable identifier]
- Speaker name
- [Verified preferred form]
- Role at statement date
- [Exact role]
- Organization or affiliation
- [Relevant relationship]
- Conflict or material interest
- [If applicable]
- Interview or source date
- [YYYY-MM-DD]
- Consent and status
- [On record, background, or agreed terms]
- Original source
- [Recording, transcript, document, speech, or message]
- Exact location
- [Timestamp, page, paragraph, or URL]
Wording and context
- Original wording
- [Exact relevant passage]
- Question or surrounding context
- [What prompted and qualified it]
- Draft quotation
- [Text proposed for publication]
- Edits made
- [Trimming, ellipsis, brackets, translation, or None]
- Meaning check
- [Why the edit preserves meaning]
- Related factual claim
- [What still needs independent verification]
- Planned attribution
- [Exact published form]
- Reuse locations
- [Body, caption, pull quote, social, or metadata]
Approval checks
- Name, role, organization, and statement date are correct.
- Original wording and source location were checked.
- Context does not reverse or materially qualify the selected passage.
- Edits follow policy and preserve certainty and intent.
- Translations were reviewed by a qualified person.
- Promised review was sent and responses were documented.
- Facts inside the quotation were independently assessed where needed.
- Short promotional reuses preserve essential context.
How to use this template
- Assign a quote ID and confirm the speaker, role, affiliation, consent, and attribution agreement.
- Locate the exact original passage and preserve sufficient surrounding context.
- Compare draft wording, ellipses, brackets, translation, and edits against the original meaning.
- Complete promised quotation review and document requests plus editorial decisions.
- Check every reuse of the quotation and obtain final fact-check approval.
Verify identity and source location
Confirm the speaker's preferred name, pronouns where relevant, role at the time of the statement, organization, and authority to speak on the topic. Record the original recording, transcript, document, or message plus timestamp, page, paragraph, or date. If another publication supplies the quote, cite that source and do not imply you conducted the interview. Check whether the statement was public, on record, background, or under another agreed condition before deciding attribution.
Preserve wording and meaning
Compare the draft quote character by character with the original. Limited edits for length or clarity must follow your policy and may not alter meaning, certainty, chronology, or emotional tone. Never combine separated passages into one continuous quotation without transparent notation. Include enough surrounding context to test whether the speaker was answering a different question, quoting someone else, speaking hypothetically, using irony, or correcting an earlier point. A polished transcript generated automatically requires review against the audio.
Record approval and editorial decisions
If quotation review was promised, state exactly what was sent, when, the response deadline, changes requested, and what the editor accepted. A speaker can correct wording or clarify meaning without necessarily controlling the article's independent framing. Record conflicts of interest and relevant organizational relationships. When evidence is incomplete, paraphrase with confirmation or omit the quote; never manufacture confidence from a damaged recording or ambiguous note. Recheck captions, pull quotes, social cards, and metadata because context is often lost there.
See the fields in context
Fictional example: neighborhood archive interview
Mira Sol and the Bracken Archive are invented. The quotation and approval trail are illustrative.
- Original: “For the first month, we scanned only index cards, because the photographs required a separate permission review.”
- Draft: “For the first month, we scanned only index cards.”
- Context decision: The omitted reason materially explains scope, so the editor restores the full fictional sentence.
- Attribution: Mira Sol, the invented archive coordinator at the time of the project.
- Approval: Exact quotation and role sent for review; spelling corrected, with no broader draft approval promised.
Frequently asked questions
Can filler words be removed from a quotation?
Follow your policy. Even small edits must preserve voice and meaning. If substantial cleanup is needed, an accurate paraphrase may be safer and clearer.
Does sending a quote for review give the source veto power?
Not unless that was the agreement. Define review scope in advance and record how factual corrections, wording changes, and editorial disagreements are handled.
How should translated quotes be presented?
Preserve the original, translator or method, and reviewed translation. Consider noting that the quotation was translated, following your publication's practice.
Can a social card use part of a verified quote?
Only if the shortened wording remains accurate and the card retains necessary attribution and context. Verify each reuse separately.