Lesson 3 of 7 Free account 4 min read
Research and Fact-Checking for Non-fiction (Including AI Drafts)
How to find and judge sources, keep notes you can trace, interview people, cite your work, and check AI-assisted drafts for fabricated facts and quotes.
Key takeaways
- Prefer primary sources, and know which kind of source each claim in your book rests on.
- A note system is only useful if every note can be traced back to exactly where it came from.
- Interviews need preparation, recording with permission, and careful handling of quotes.
- AI tools can produce confident, specific and entirely invented facts, citations and quotes, so verify every one against a source you have opened yourself.
Non-fiction readers extend you a kind of trust that fiction readers don't. They assume the facts are true, the quotes are real and the numbers add up. One error a reader can spot, a wrong date or a misattributed quote, makes them wonder what else is wrong. Research and fact-checking are how you keep that trust.
What counts as a good source for a non-fiction book?
Sort your sources into three tiers and know which tier each important claim rests on:
- Primary: the original thing. A study's published paper, a court opinion, government data, a letter, an interview you conducted, your own records.
- Secondary: someone's account or analysis of primary material. Journalism, books, review articles, reputable reference works.
- Tertiary: summaries of summaries. Encyclopedias, listicles, social posts, most search result snippets. Useful for finding your way to better sources, not for citing.
Keep reading with a free account
The first lesson of every course is open to everyone. Sign up free to read the rest of this lesson, its exercise and every other lesson in the Writers Academy.