fact-verification

# Fact Verification ## Purpose Systematically verify factual claims using evidence retrieval, source evaluation, and logical reasoning. ## Key Datasets - **PolitiFact** (Jinyan1/PolitiFact): Political statements rated on 6-level truth scale (True, Mostly True, Half True, Mostly False, False, Pants on Fire) - **Climate-FEVER** (tdiggelm/climate_fever): Climate claims labeled SUPPORTS/REFUTES/NOT_ENOUGH_INFO with evidence sentences ## Protocol 1. **Claim decomposition** — Break complex claims into atomic verifiable statements 2. **Evidence retrieval** — Search authoritative sources for each sub-claim 3. **Source evaluation** — Assess source credibility and potential bias 4. **Evidence-claim alignment** — Determine if evidence supports, refutes, or is insufficient 5. **Verdict synthesis** — Aggregate sub-verdicts into overall assessment ## Verification Categories - **Scientific claims**: Published findings, statistical assertions, causal claims - **Political statements**: Policy claims, historical assertions, statistical citations - **Environmental claims**: Climate data, pollution metrics, biodiversity assertions - **Health claims**: Treatment efficacy, risk factors, epidemiological data ## Verdict Scale - **VERIFIED**: Multiple independent high-quality sources confirm - **LIKELY TRUE**: Evidence supports but limited independent confirmation - **MIXED**: Partially true with important caveats or context - **LIKELY FALSE**: Evidence contradicts but some ambiguity remains - **FALSE**: Clear evidence contradicts the claim - **UNVERIFIABLE**: Insufficient evidence to determine ## Rules - Always cite specific evidence for each verdict - Distinguish between factual errors and misleading framing - Check for cherry-picked statistics or out-of-context quotes - Consider temporal context (claim may have been true when made)