Keep the source beside the summary
Open the original document and the summary at the same time. Confirm that the tool used the correct version and had access to the full material you intended. A summary of an excerpt should not be treated as an account of a whole report.
Identify the summary's main claims before reading for style. Mark names, dates, quantities, recommendations and statements of cause. These are the details most likely to affect a decision, and they should be traceable to a specific part of the source.
Do not accept a citation or page number merely because it looks precise. Open the cited passage and read enough around it to understand the context. A real reference can still be attached to a claim it does not support.
Check numbers with their labels attached
Compare each important figure with the original table or paragraph. Keep the unit, time period and population together. A percentage may describe a subgroup, a change from a baseline or a share of a total; dropping that label changes the meaning.
Watch for rounding and for comparisons between unlike periods. If the source reports an estimate or range, the summary should not turn it into a single certain value. If a chart is involved, inspect its axes and notes rather than relying on the tool's description.
Recalculate simple arithmetic when it matters. The purpose is not to audit every comma, but to catch a number that would lead a reader toward a different conclusion.
Look for missing conditions
Find words in the source that limit the claim: may, in this sample, under these conditions, preliminary or subject to further review. A concise summary can accidentally remove those qualifications and make a cautious finding sound settled.
Check whether the source distinguishes observation from explanation. A report that two things occurred together may not claim that one caused the other. The summary should preserve that distinction rather than supplying a convenient causal story.
Read the conclusion and limitations sections yourself. Then compare them with the summary's emphasis. A document can devote many pages to a result while still warning that it applies only in a narrow setting.
Also inspect what is absent. If the original presents several options or a material disagreement, a summary that selects only one may be incomplete even if every sentence it includes is technically accurate.
Use questions to expose uncertainty
Ask the tool to identify the exact passages supporting a claim or to list points it could not establish from the source. Those responses can guide your review, but they are not independent verification. Check the passages yourself.
NIST's generative-AI risk guidance describes confidently presented errors and fabricated logic or citations. Asking the same tool whether its first answer is correct does not remove that possibility. The original evidence remains the reference.
If the document is long, prioritize the claims you will act on and sample the remaining sections. For a high-consequence decision, read the relevant original material fully or obtain an appropriate expert review rather than relying on a compressed account.
Keep a checked version
Correct the summary in your own copy and note the source version or date. Preserve links or page references that let another reader repeat the check. Separate your interpretation from what the source explicitly says.
A useful summary saves navigation and reading time while retaining the source's meaning. It should make it easier to return to the evidence, not persuade you that the evidence no longer needs to be opened.
