Transparency in Information Verification
Open Book Protocol
Data Sources & Methodology
Transparency in Information Verification
The Open Record is committed to providing accurate, unbiased fact-checking services. This page details exactly how we gather, process, and categorize information to help you make informed decisions.
🔍 Primary Data Sources
Google Fact Check Tools API
Our primary source for fact-checking data is Google’s Fact Check Tools API, which aggregates fact-checks from verified organizations worldwide.
What this includes:
- Snopes.com – Independent fact-checking organization
- PolitiFact.com – Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checker
- FactCheck.org – University of Pennsylvania project
- AFP Fact Check – Agence France-Presse verification service
- Full Fact – UK-based fact-checking charity
- 100+ other verified fact-checking organizations globally
How it works: When you submit a claim, we search Google’s database of published fact-checks. If multiple fact-checkers have analyzed the same claim, we show all available results.
📊 Source Classification System
We categorize all sources into four transparent tiers to help you evaluate information quality:
🔍 Dedicated Fact-Checkers
Organizations whose primary mission is fact-checking and verification
Why we trust them: These organizations follow International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN) standards, have transparent methodologies, and focus exclusively on verification.
📰 Independent News Sources
Established news organizations with strong editorial independence and minimal political bias
Bias Classification: We use AllSides.com ratings to identify sources with “Center” or “Lean Left/Right” classifications that maintain strong factual accuracy.
🏛️ Government & Educational Sources
Official agencies and academic institutions with access to authoritative data
Educational: Universities, research institutions, peer-reviewed studies
Important note: While these sources often have the most authoritative data, they may reflect institutional biases or policy agendas. We present them transparently so you can factor this into your evaluation.
⚠️ Politically Leaning Sources
Reputable news outlets with clear political orientations
Right-leaning: Fox News, New York Post, Wall Street Journal editorial content
Bias Classification: Based on AllSides.com ratings. We clearly label the political lean and recommend considering multiple perspectives.
⚖️ External Bias Assessment
To maintain objectivity, we do not make our own determinations about media bias. Instead, we rely on established, independent organizations:
AllSides.com Media Bias Ratings
AllSides.com provides our primary bias classifications. They use a combination of:
- Editorial review by people across the political spectrum
- Third-party academic research
- Community feedback and challenges
- Regular rating updates and reviews
When AllSides doesn’t have a rating: We classify sources manually using their published methodology and flag them as “pending external verification.”
🔄 How Our System Works
Step 1: Claim Analysis
When you submit text, our system extracts verifiable factual claims and searches for existing fact-checks.
Step 2: Database Search
We search Google’s Fact Check Tools API for published analyses of your claim. This happens in real-time.
Step 3: Source Categorization
All results are automatically sorted into our four-tier system based on source type and bias ratings.
Step 4: Transparent Display
We show you all available information with clear labeling of source reliability and potential bias.
🛡️ Quality Assurance
Real-time vs. Sample Data
We clearly label whether results come from:
- 🔴 LIVE DATA: Real-time results from fact-checking APIs
- 📊 DEMO DATA: Enhanced sample database (when no live fact-checks exist)
Status Determination
We use fact-checkers’ original language to determine claim status:
- FALSE: “False,” “Not true,” “Incorrect,” “Misleading,” “No evidence”
- MIXED: “Partially true,” “Missing context,” “Needs context”
- TRUE: “True,” “Correct,” “Accurate”
⚠️ Limitations & Disclaimers
What We Can’t Do
- Original fact-checking: We aggregate existing fact-checks, not create new ones
- Complete coverage: New or uncommon claims may not have fact-checks available
- Real-time updates: Fact-checks reflect information available when published
- Opinion verification: We focus on factual claims, not subjective opinions
Important Notes
- Fact-checkers can disagree – we show all available perspectives
- Context matters – a claim true in one situation may be false in another
- Information evolves – scientific understanding and facts can change over time
- We recommend checking multiple sources for important decisions
🔗 External Dependencies
Our service relies on several external APIs and services:
- Google Fact Check Tools API: Primary fact-checking data
- AllSides.com: Media bias classifications
- Plausible Analytics: Privacy-focused usage analytics
If any external service experiences issues, we clearly communicate the impact to users.
🔒 Privacy & Data Use
We follow an “Open Book Protocol” – complete transparency about data collection:
- What we track: Usage patterns, claim search frequency, source clicks
- What we don’t track: Personal information, claim content, browsing history
- Data retention: 24 months maximum for usage analytics
- Your control: Contact us anytime for data deletion
See our full Privacy Policy for details.
📧 Feedback & Suggestions
Help us improve!
Found a source that should be classified differently? Discovered a fact-check we missed? Have suggestions for our methodology?
Contact us: contact@theopenrecord.org
We review all feedback and update our classifications regularly.
🔄 Updates & Changes
This methodology page is updated whenever we:
- Add new data sources or APIs
- Change classification criteria
- Update bias rating services
- Modify our processing algorithms
All changes are logged with dates and explanations.
Listed below are feeds we currently access directly from the publicly available data in addition to Google. Part of our funding will include adding those we are missing to ensure the most widely available information and comparisons.
✅ Free, Working RSS Feeds:
- Lead Stories: Atom feed ✅
- BBC Reality Check: RSS ✅
- Snopes: RSS ✅
- PolitiFact: RSS ✅
- Full Fact: RSS ✅
- Health Feedback: RSS ✅
❌ Feeds That Don’t Work (No Free RSS):
- AP: JSON API only (paid)
- Reuters: Restricted/changed
- AFP: Turned off RSS (as you found earlier)
- Washington Post: Terms restrict automated access
🚀 You Have Excellent Coverage Without Them:
Your 6 working feeds give you:
- International perspective (BBC, Full Fact)
- US political coverage (PolitiFact, Lead Stories)
- General fact-checking (Snopes)
- Health/medical (Health Feedback)
- Historical content (Archive.org)
