Just the facts, ma'am: while everyone is entitled to make a mistake, a series of errors in your publication chips away at your credibility.

Not long ago I was driving along, listening to the car radio, when the DJ announced the title of the previous song, as well as the name of the album. He said that the album was released in 1981.

It's one thing to realize that you've been listening to the same songs for nearly 25 years (which in itself is somewhat alarming), but another to know for certain that the album in question wasn't released in 1981. Why did I know? Because I specifically remember buying the new album when I was a junior in high school, and that wasn't in 1981. Driving at 60 miles per hour, I wasn't about to call the radio station to argue, but I was annoyed enough to confirm my suspicions on the Web when I got home. (Sadly, the old record albums have been relegated to a box in the basement, and the turntable no longer works.)

More to the point, though, I immediately switched the station. A listener lost.

You've probably had similar experiences in which you've read or heard something from a supposed authority that didn't sound quite right. While everyone is entitled to make a mistake, an error in your publication chips away at your credibility. A series of mistakes, say, to the tune of having to print a string of corrections in every issue, tells your readers that yours isn't a serious publication. Unless you're editing a supermarket tabloid, that's probably not the reputation you want.

I'm not talking about errors on the scale of The New York Times' Jayson Blair fiasco (in which the reporter, Blair, was found to have fabricated details of some of his stories), though those do happen. I'm talking about the little things--names, dates, pop culture references--that catch a reader's attention.

The lost art of fact-checking

There was a time when fact-checking played a bigger role in the publication process than it does now. Of course, some magazines do insist on it, asking writers to provide source materials and contact information for people quoted or referenced in the article, and then having an editor ensure that everything is correct. But among some smaller publications, especially corporate or custom ones, fact-checking has fallen by the wayside, with editors relying on their writers to get the facts right the first time. If fact-checking does occur, it's often cursory--names and titles, key dates and contact information such as phone numbers and web site addresses. The key concepts in the story might not get the treatment they deserve, which can mean confusion for the reader when the story jumps from point A to point D without adequate explanation. And those pop culture references, from Harry S (period or no?) Truman to the Rolling Stones, that aren't critical to the story but that give it its unique voice don't seem to show up on many editors' radar screens. Yet, if inaccurate, those references will distract many readers from the point of the article.

With the Web, fact-checking is easier than ever. Rarely does one have to visit the public library or consult a variety of reference books anymore, though those are still valuable resources to have available. But for all its benefits, the Web is still rife with misinformation. Out-of-date articles are posted for all to see. Blogs allow people to post opinions rather than facts. And conflicting information abounds.

Here are a few tips for making sure the articles in your publication are as accurate as possible.

1 Ask your writers, whether in-house or freelance, to include contact information for people quoted or mentioned in the article, as well as any other sources, such as books, magazine articles or web sites, they consulted. Then follow up by calling or e-mailing those folks. You don't have to interview them again, but make sure their answers jibe with what you have.

2 Call those phone numbers, click through those URLs. Nothing kills credibility more than incorrect contact information. A dropped .html at the end of a web address might lead to a 404 Information Not Found error. Enough of those and you'll find readers not found, too.

3 Check the Web for basic information. If your writer hasn't provided background materials, do your own research, making sure that at least two sources corroborate the information. Say the article is about heart disease, and you want to be sure that the number of deaths attributed to heart disease is correct. The logical starting point might be, in the U.S., at least, the American Heart Association's web site, or perhaps the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Or you can type keywords into a search engine. Look for sites from organizations that are considered authorities in their field. And remember, just because a web page has a .edu tag (meaning it's part of a university web site) doesn't mean it's an official university page. Scroll down and look for a date that the page was posted as well as who the author is.

4 Be on the lookout for hidden facts. Is Carlos Beltran really a member of the New York Mets? I asked that question recently when I was editing an article on personal finance. Not integral to the story, but in context, it added to the author's voice and to the overall flavor of the article. (At this writing, the answer is yes, he is.)

5 If a mistake does make it into print, publish a correction in the next possible issue. If yours is an online publication, correct the mistake immediately and repast the article.

If something can't be confirmed, then maybe it's worth taking out. Remember, readers expect to learn something when they read your publication, so make sure you've got your facts straight. You'll be providing a valuable service.

Get out the popcorn ...

Don't feel compelled to take your work home with you, but if you're looking for a few good movies about publishing (and fact-checking), try these.

* Shattered Glass (2003): This is the true story of a young journalist (Hayden Christensen) at The New Republic magazine who was found to have fabricated dozens of stories.

* The Paper (1994): An overworked editor (Michael Keaton) juggles a big story and the specter of cutbacks at his financially strapped newspaper--on deadline.

* Bright Lights, Big City (1988): An aspiring magazine writer (Michael J. Fox) battles booze and drugs in late '80s New York City.

* Absence of Malice (1981): A reporter (Sally Field) prints a false story, forcing an innocent man (Paul Newman) to struggle to regain his reputation.

* All the President's Men (1976): Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) investigate the Watergate scandal with the help of Deep Throat.

Sue Khodarahmi is managing editor of Communication World and a stickler for facts.