Years ago, I remember checking a feature for a print magazine. The reporter had worked internationally and interviewed sensitive sources via a translator. The primary sourcing I got included some photographs of scribbled notes (I had trouble discerning the author’s handwriting) and hours and hours of tape from interviews.

I unintentionally launched Factual in an election year, only to realize that my timing was quite good, to say the least.

Fact-checking was already in the political discourse. Debate moderators are often tasked with fact-checking the statements of presidential and vice presidential candidates live. (As important as this is, I don’t envy that kind of pressure!) And news organizations were quick to debunk statements politicians were making in public statements. (Which is good! We should be holding our elected officials to account.)

There are so many fact-checkers out there in the world, that it can be challenging to know how to pick just one. Whether you are looking to hire a checker yourself, or to hire Factual to do the matchmaking, I urge you to consider the following qualities for a checker.

In pre-publication fact-checking, fact-checkers often begin with the underlying assumption that all “facts” initially presented as such may not be true. Because of my training in science, it was easy for me to view them as hypotheses that needed to be tested. We need to be skeptical about the fact itself, where it comes from, and whether or not the source may have a vested interest in telling us a particular fact.

Whether you are thinking of adding fact-checking to your arsenal of services, or you’re just starting your journey as a fact-checker, here’s a short list of resources and recommended reading.