CPP Fact-Checking & Reference Verification 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which citation style uses in-text parenthetical citations paired with a 'Works Cited' list rather than footnotes?
- Chicago/Turabian (notes-bibliography style)
- APA (American Psychological Association)
- MLA (Modern Language Association) (Correct answer)
- Bluebook legal citation
Correct answer: MLA (Modern Language Association)
MLA style uses parenthetical in-text citations (Author page) paired with a Works Cited list, which is particularly common in humanities disciplines.
Question 2: When verifying bibliographic information, which element is most frequently found to contain errors?
- The author's name
- The title of the work
- Page numbers and volume/issue numbers (Correct answer)
- The publisher's city of publication
Correct answer: Page numbers and volume/issue numbers
Page numbers and volume/issue numbers are among the most commonly mistyped bibliographic elements due to the precision required and the ease of transposing digits.
Question 3: A document references a study originally published in 2010. What is an important concern a proofreader should flag?
- The study is too recent to be considered authoritative
- The findings may have been superseded, retracted, or updated by more recent research (Correct answer)
- Studies older than five years cannot be cited in professional documents
- The citation format for older studies differs from that of recent publications
Correct answer: The findings may have been superseded, retracted, or updated by more recent research
Older studies may have been retracted, contradicted, or significantly updated, so a proofreader should flag the age of cited research for the author to confirm current relevance.
Question 4: When checking URLs cited in a document, what is a key concern beyond confirming the link is currently active?
- Whether the URL contains uppercase or lowercase letters
- Whether the linked page's content matches the claim being supported in the text (Correct answer)
- Whether the URL uses HTTP rather than HTTPS
- Whether the URL is longer than 100 characters
Correct answer: Whether the linked page's content matches the claim being supported in the text
A URL may be active but lead to content that has changed or no longer supports the claim in the document, making content verification essential, not just link checking.
Question 5: What is the primary difference between a 'Works Cited' list and a bibliography?
- A Works Cited list uses footnotes while a bibliography uses endnotes
- A Works Cited list includes only sources directly cited in the text, while a bibliography may include additional consulted sources (Correct answer)
- A bibliography is used only in scientific documents while a Works Cited list is used in the humanities
- A Works Cited list is alphabetized while a bibliography is arranged chronologically
Correct answer: A Works Cited list includes only sources directly cited in the text, while a bibliography may include additional consulted sources
A Works Cited list contains only sources actually referenced in the body of the document, whereas a bibliography may include sources consulted for background even if not directly cited.
Question 6: In reference verification, what does the Latin abbreviation 'ibid.' indicate?
- The source was published in the same year as the previous citation
- The citation refers to the same source as the immediately preceding footnote or endnote (Correct answer)
- The source has been translated from another language
- The author is the same as in the previous citation but the work is different
Correct answer: The citation refers to the same source as the immediately preceding footnote or endnote
'Ibid.' (from ibidem, meaning 'in the same place') indicates that a citation refers to the same source as the immediately preceding note, saving repetition in footnote-heavy documents.
Question 7: Which resource is most appropriate for verifying a claim about current scientific consensus on a medical topic?
- A popular science magazine article from the past year
- Peer-reviewed journals such as those indexed in PubMed or MEDLINE (Correct answer)
- A health information website written for general consumers
- A university professor's personal academic webpage
Correct answer: Peer-reviewed journals such as those indexed in PubMed or MEDLINE
Peer-reviewed journals indexed in authoritative databases like PubMed or MEDLINE represent the gold standard for verifying scientific and medical claims, as they undergo rigorous expert review.
CPP Fact-Checking & Reference Verification 2
Which citation style uses in-text parenthetical citations paired with a 'Works Cited' list rather than footnotes?