The first book of its kind, The Fact Checker’s Bible is the essential guide to the important but often neglected task of checking facts, whatever their source.

Today, everyone is overwhelmed with information that claims to be factual. But even the most punctilious researcher, writer, student or journalist--not to mention the lazy or deliberately mendacious ones--can sometimes get it wrong. So checking facts has become a more pressing task. But how to go about it?

The Fact Checker’s Bible covers:

*Reading for accuracy
*Determining what to check
*Researching the facts
*Assessing sources: people, newspapers and magazines, books, the Internet, etc.
*Checking quotations
*Understanding the legal liabilities of getting it wrong
*Looking out for and avoiding the dangers of plagiarism

For everyone from students to editors to journalists, the methods and practices outlined in The Fact Checker’s Bible provides both a standard and a working manual for how to get the facts right.


“Expert advice, long overdue. Fact checkers, the battlefield angels of print, save civilization from Babeldom every day. Sarah Harrison Smith should feel chuffed (see inside).” —Richard Rhodes

“This book ought to be carried in the back pocket of every man and woman who is operating under deadline pressure and who needs a refresher course in just how important it is to get it right all the time.” —Av Westin, former Executive Producer of ABC News

“The indispensable guide to the field. Smith’s abundant common sense, her relentless zeal for the truth, not to mention her exquisite sense of fairness, make her book a godsend for researchers and writers alike.” —Jeffrey Toobin