Maintenance
Part of Magazine copy editing: a practical guide to clean, accurate copy
Prepublication accuracy checklist: numbers and statistics
Prepublication accuracy checks for numbers: trace each figure to its source, fix units and denominators, read margins of error and recheck headline figures.
What to take away
- Treat every figure as a claimmark it and trace it to its record.
- State units, period, population, and geography beside each number.
- Percent and percentage-point change are different statements.
- A margin of error describes uncertainty from sampling; read it before declaring a difference.
- Recheck figures in headlines, captions, and graphics after late changes.
Trace each figure to its record
Treat every number as a checkable claim. Mark it, then tie it to a specific source, page, timestamp, or direct observation note. Where practical, trace summaries back to the underlying documents.
Claim and Source Record
- Mark every checkable sentence, heading, caption
- Attach specific source, page, timestamp
- Trace summaries to underlying documents
- Understand source identity, authority, motive
- Follow approval rules for anonymous sourcing
- Resolve or disclose conflicting accounts
Numbers hide in more places than the body copy: headings, captions, graphics, and callouts all carry figures, and each one needs its own source note. The source, date and disclosure checks apply to a figure just as they do to a quotation.
The Journalist's Resource guide to critical thinking and research says that knowing the precise meaning of research terms helps a journalist read and evaluate a study instead of repeating its summary. Do that reading before a study's figure enters the text.
Pin down what each number measures
A number without its unit, period and population cannot be checked, so these must be explicit before anything else is. These checks catch the errors that survive a clean proof.
| Check | Question for the figure | What goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Units | Which unit, currency, period and place? | The figure is read in a different unit |
| Percent or points | Is it a percent change or a percentage-point change? | The two are confused |
| Totals | Do totals, subtotals and table labels reconcile? | A subtotal contradicts the headline |
| Baseline | Is the denominator or a useful baseline stated? | A change sounds large with no base |
A percentage with no base invites the wrong reading. Where a small group changes, say so, and give the denominator so readers can judge the size of the move for themselves.
Read survey and sample uncertainty
Survey figures need their sample, method, collection date, weighting and uncertainty reviewed before they are used. A survey reports an estimate drawn from a sample, not a count of everyone.
The U.S. Census Bureau's lesson on understanding margin of error explains that a sample estimate's margin of error describes uncertainty from observing a sample rather than an entire population. When comparing estimates, the checker should inspect the stated uncertainty and methodology before declaring a meaningful difference.
Causation is a separate trap. Do not infer it from correlation or sequence alone, however decisive a figure looks. A fictional statistics fact-check case runs the same tests on a worked example.
Carry the figures through the whole package
Dates, numbers, terms and names must agree from the first paragraph to the last caption. A figure checked in the body can still change in the headline, so run the same checks on every surface that repeats it.
- Headline and deck do not strengthen or simplify the finding beyond the evidence.
- Pull quotes preserve exact wording and attribution.
- Captions identify the correct people, place, date, creator, and context.
- Links open the exact supporting pages and are not mistaken for proof by proximity.
The release checklist covers the wider gate. A figure that appears twice has to be checked twice, and both copies have to match.
Recheck after late changes
Late changes need the required factual and editorial recheck, and numbers are the first thing a trimmed sentence can break. Compare the final proof against the checked manuscript, figure by figure, and send changed lines back through copy editing.
- Re-run the units, period and baseline checks on every changed sentence.
- Compare the final proof against the checked manuscript.
- Preserve source packets, permissions, approvals, and decisions.
- Confirm a public correction route and an internal owner are known.
The reporting stage that comes before this gate has its own feature reporting checklist. The level of corroboration should rise with the claim's harm, dispute, novelty, or difficulty to correct.
Common questions
Who should sign the checklist?
The people responsible for reporting, editing, checking, visuals, production, and final release should sign their assigned parts.
Should low-risk facts be annotated?
Yes, though the depth of checking can be proportionate. Basic errors still damage trust.
Who checks a headline that is reworded at proof?
Send it back to the checker responsible for claim accuracy before release.
Can a percentage stand without its base?
Not safely. Give the denominator and a useful baseline, so readers can judge the size of the change.
