A ten-claim pass reveals whether the report's central assertions are traceable before a team spends time polishing every citation and sentence.
Choose claims by consequence
Begin with claims that change a recommendation, estimate, comparison, legal interpretation, or reader decision. Include numbers, named causal statements, broad market descriptions, and any sentence that compresses several sources into one conclusion. Do not select only the easiest claims to verify. The sample should cross the executive summary, body, figure captions, and final recommendation.
Assign a stable identifier to each claim and copy the exact sentence with its section and version. Record whether the statement is factual, interpretive, predictive, or a recommendation. That classification matters because a citation can support a historical fact without proving a forecast or judgment. The author should see which layer is source-backed and which layer remains accountable reasoning.
Read the cited passage in context
Open the source, locate the relevant passage, and record page, section, table, or stable anchor. Check publication date, author or institution, population, geography, measurement period, and stated limitations. NIST's information-quality standards emphasize utility, objectivity, integrity, source transparency, limitations, and review. Those are useful review dimensions, not a universal score for truth.
Mark each claim supported, partially supported, contradicted, uncited, or judgment required. Partial support often means the source covers a narrower population, earlier period, different definition, or weaker causal statement. Quote only the minimum phrase needed in the internal ledger and preserve the full source location so the author can inspect the context rather than trusting the reviewer's paraphrase.
Turn dispositions into release decisions
For supported claims, confirm the citation points to the correct source and carries the required metadata. For partial or contradictory claims, suggest the smallest faithful repair and state what meaning would change. For uncited claims, request an authorized source or remove factual specificity. For judgment calls, frame the question and name the accountable person rather than silently rewriting the conclusion.
Evidence Gate performs this pass through Reality Contact, LLC after secure intake. The ten-claim sheet is an editorial diagnostic, not legal, investment, medical, accounting, or scientific peer review. The report owner chooses the priority claims, supplies authorized sources, resolves contested interpretations, and decides whether the resulting draft may be released.
Where the service stops
Reality Contact, LLC performs editorial quality assurance and evidence reconciliation but does not provide legal, investment, accounting, medical, or scientific peer-review advice; originate unrequested findings; decide contested judgments for the author; or certify that a report is true, complete, or fit for every use. The accountable author supplies the governing brief and authorized sources, resolves listed judgment calls, approves any substantive change, and accepts, holds, or withdraws the release candidate. This quality-assurance service does not replace legal, investment, accounting, medical, scientific, client, or publication review. The buyer supplies authorized sources, resolves substantive judgment calls, approves revisions, and controls release.
Sources: NIST Information Quality Standards; Crossref best practices for references.