Identify the assertion
Ask exactly what the record claims, which item or document it concerns, and which questions sit outside its scope.
Verification literacy
Read the record. Read past the label.
A compact guide to sources, status, scope, and the independent checks required before relying on a provenance assertion.
Trace the source
Find the issuer, reviewer, evidence references, dates, and unresolved gaps. An identifier alone is not a source trail.
Check current status
Look for review-pending, disputed, superseded, or revoked states rather than treating an old result as permanent.
Confirm elsewhere
Use authoritative records, contracts, qualified review, and direct inspection wherever the decision requires them.
Practice