Local Monitoring Should Inform Local Solutions: Morphological Assemblages of Microplastics Are Similar within a Pathway, But Relative Total Concentrations Vary Regionally
Abstract
Pathways for microplastics to aquatic ecosystems include agricultural runoff, urban runoff, and treated or untreated wastewater. To better understand the importance of each pathway as a vector for microplastics into waterbodies and for mitigation, we sampled agricultural runoff, urban stormwater runoff, treated wastewater effluent, and the waterbodies downstream in four regions across North America: the Sacramento Delta, the Mississippi River, Lake Ontario, and Chesapeake Bay. The highest concentrations of microplastics in each pathway varied by region: agricultural runoff in the Sacramento Delta and Mississippi River, urban stormwater runoff in Lake Ontario, and treated wastewater effluent in Chesapeake Bay. Material types were diverse and not unique across pathways. However, a PERMANOVA found significant differences in morphological assemblages among pathways ( p < 0.005), suggesting fibers as a signature of agricultural runoff and treated wastewater effluent and rubbery fragments as a signature of stormwater. Moreover, the relationship between watershed characteristics and particle concentrations varied across watersheds (e.g., with agricultural parameters only being important in the Sacramento Delta). Overall, our results suggest that local monitoring is essential to inform effective mitigation strategies and that assessing the assemblages of morphologies should be prioritized in monitoring programs to identify important pathways of contamination.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Studies have demonstrated relatively high levels of microplastics in the Toronto region of the Laurentian Great Lakes, likely as a result of discharges from tributaries that flow through areas of high urbanization and industrial activity, including several manufacturers of plastic items.
“Our study focuses on this region specifically because studies have demonstrated relatively high levels of microplastics in the Toronto region of the Laurentian Great Lakes,35 likely as a result of discharges from tributaries that flow through areas of high urbanization and industrial activity, including several manufacturers of plastic items36–38”
From Microplastics and Anthropogenic Particles in Recreationally Caught Freshwater Fish from an Urbanized Region of the North American Great Lakes (2024) · cites this paper as [35]
Common microplastics found in stormwater include rubbery particles, fibers, fiber bundles, films, foams, fragments, gels, glassy fragments, spheres, and suds.
“Common microplastics found in stormwater include rubbery particles, fibers, fiber bundles, films, foams, fragments, gels, glassy fragments, spheres, and suds (Cherniak et al., 2022; Pramanik et al., 2020; Rochman et al., 2022).”
From Review of emerging contaminants in green stormwater infrastructure: antibiotic resistance genes, microplastics, tire wear particles, PFAS, and temperature (2024) · cites this paper as Rochman et al., 2022
Cites
Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean
Jambeck, J. R., Geyer, R., Wilcox, C., Siegler, T. R., Perryman, M., Andrady, A., Narayan, R., & Law, K. L. (2015) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1260352 · Cited by 13,163 · see citing works
Lost at sea: where is all the plastic?
Thompson, R. C., Olsen, Y., Mitchell, R. P., Davis, A., Rowland, S. J., John, A. W. G., McGonigle, D., & Russell, A. E. (2004) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.1094559 · Cited by 7,765 · see citing works
Predicted growth in plastic waste exceeds efforts to mitigate plastic pollution
Borrelle, S. B., Ringma, J., Law, K. L., Monnahan, C. C., Lebreton, L., McGivern, A., Murphy, E., Jambeck, J., Leonard, G. H., Hilleary, M. A., et al. (2020) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aba3656 · Cited by 3,219 · see citing works
Self-citationLi, J., Liu, H., & Chen, J. P. (2017) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2017.12.056 · Cited by 2,341 · see citing works
Wastewater Treatment Works (WwTW) as a Source of Microplastics in the Aquatic Environment
Murphy, F., Ewins, C., Carbonnier, F., & Quinn, B. (2016) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.5b05416 · Cited by 2,097 · see citing works
Evaluating scenarios toward zero plastic pollution
Lau, W. W. Y., Shiran, Y., Bailey, R. M., Cook, E., Stuchtey, M. R., Koskella, J., Velis, C. A., Godfrey, L., Boucher, J., Murphy, M. B., et al. (2020) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aba9475 · Cited by 1,766 · see citing works
Wear and Tear of Tyres: A Stealthy Source of Microplastics in the Environment
Kole, P. J., Löhr, A., Belleghem, F. V., & Ragas, A. M. J. (2017) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph14101265 · Cited by 1,622 · see citing works
Microplastic in Terrestrial Ecosystems and the Soil?
Rillig, M. C. (2012) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es302011r · Cited by 1,619 · see citing works
Steinmetz, Z., Wollmann, C., Schaefer, M., Buchmann, C., David, J., Tröger, J., Muñoz, K., Frör, O., & Schaumann, G. E. (2016) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.01.153 · Cited by 1,588 · see citing works
Mintenig, S. M., Int-Veen, I., Löder, M. G. J., Primpke, S., & Gerdts, G. (2016) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2016.11.015 · Cited by 1,490 · see citing works
Eutrophication of Chesapeake Bay: historical trends and ecological interactions.
Kemp, W., Boynton, W., Adolf, J., Boesch, D., Boicourt, W., Brush, G., Cornwell, J., Fisher, T., Glibert, P., Hagy, J., et al. (2005) · Marine Ecology Progress Series · doi:10.3354/meps303001 · Cited by 1,468 · see citing works
Rethinking microplastics as a diverse contaminant suite
Rochman, C. M., Brookson, C., Bikker, J., Djuric, N., Earn, A., Bucci, K., Athey, S., Huntington, A., McIlwraith, H., Munno, K., et al. (2019) · Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry · doi:10.1002/etc.4371 · Cited by 1,258 · see citing works
Self-citationPlastic rain in protected areas of the United States
Brahney, J., Hallerud, M., Heim, E., Hahnenberger, M., & Sukumaran, S. (2020) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.aaz5819 · Cited by 1,205 · see citing works
Polystyrene Spherules in Coastal Waters
Carpenter, E. J., Anderson, S. J., Harvey, G. R., Miklas, H. P., & Peck, B. B. (1972) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.178.4062.749 · Cited by 1,115 · see citing works
Coastal eutrophication near the Mississippi river delta
Turner, R. E., & Rabalais, N. N. (1994) · Nature · doi:10.1038/368619a0 · Cited by 779 · see citing works
Plastic Debris in 29 Great Lakes Tributaries: Relations to Watershed Attributes and Hydrology
Baldwin, A. K., Corsi, S. R., & Mason, S. A. (2016) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/acs.est.6b02917 · Cited by 739 · see citing works
Synthetic fibers as an indicator of land application of sludge
Zubris, K. A. V., & Richards, B. K. (2005) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2005.04.013 · Cited by 723 · see citing works
Microplastics in Four Estuarine Rivers in the Chesapeake Bay, U.S.A.
Yonkos, L. T., Friedel, E. A., Perez-Reyes, A. C., Ghosal, S., & Arthur, C. (2014) · Environmental Science & Technology · doi:10.1021/es5036317 · Cited by 671 · see citing works
Primpke, S., Wirth, M., Lorenz, C., & Gerdts, G. (2018) · Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry · doi:10.1007/s00216-018-1156-x · Cited by 584 · see citing works
Assessment of the sources and inflow processes of microplastics in the river environments of Japan
Kataoka, T., NIHEI, Y., Kudou, K., & Hinata, H. (2018) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2018.10.111 · Cited by 536 · see citing works
Comparison of microplastic pollution in different water bodies from urban creeks to coastal waters
Luo, W., Su, L., Craig, N. J., Du, F., Wu, C., & Shi, H. (2018) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2018.11.081 · Cited by 504 · see citing works
Alvarenga, P., Mourinha, C., Farto, M., Santos, M. T., Palma, P., Sengo, J., Morais, M.-C., & Cunha‐Queda, C. (2015) · Waste Management · doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2015.01.027 · Cited by 457 · see citing works
Hidden plastics of Lake Ontario, Canada and their potential preservation in the sediment record
Corcoran, P. L., Norris, T., Ceccanese, T., Walzak, M. J., Helm, P. A., & Märvin, C. H. (2015) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2015.04.009 · Cited by 429 · see citing works
Self-citationA catchment‐scale perspective of plastic pollution
Windsor, F. M., Durance, I., Horton, A. A., Thompson, R. C., Tyler, C. R., & Ormerod, S. J. (2019) · Global Change Biology · doi:10.1111/gcb.14572 · Cited by 420 · see citing works
Microplastics entering northwestern Lake Ontario are diverse and linked to urban sources
Grbić, J., Helm, P., Athey, S., & Rochman, C. M. (2020) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2020.115623 · Cited by 407 · see citing works
Self-citationAll is not lost: deriving a top-down mass budget of plastic at sea
Koelmans, A. A., Kooi, M., Law, K. L., & van Sebille, E. (2017) · Environmental Research Letters · doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aa9500 · Cited by 396 · see citing works
Werbowski, L. M., Gilbreath, A. N., Munno, K., Zhu, X., Grbic, J., Wu, T., Sutton, R., Sedlak, M. D., Deshpande, A. D., & Rochman, C. M. (2021) · ACS ES&T Water · doi:10.1021/acsestwater.1c00017 · Cited by 359 · see citing works
Self-citationTyre wear particles: an abundant yet widely unreported microplastic?
Knight, L. J., Parker-Jurd, F. N. F., Al-Sid-Cheikh, M., & Thompson, R. C. (2020) · Environmental Science and Pollution Research · doi:10.1007/s11356-020-08187-4 · Cited by 336 · see citing works
Occurrence of tire and bitumen wear microplastics on urban streets and in sweepsand and washwater
Järlskog, I., Strömvall, A., Magnusson, K., Gustafsson, M. E. R., Polukarova, M., Galfi, H., Aronsson, M., & Andersson‐Sköld, Y. (2020) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138950 · Cited by 287 · see citing works
Baensch-Baltruschat, B., Kocher, B., Kochleus, C., Stock, F., & Reifferscheid, G. (2020) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141939 · Cited by 266 · see citing works
Source tracking microplastics in the freshwater environment
Fahrenfeld, N. L., Arbuckle-Keil, G. A., Beni, N. N., & Bartelt‐Hunt, S. L. (2018) · TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry · doi:10.1016/j.trac.2018.11.030 · Cited by 227 · see citing works
A temporal sediment record of microplastics in an urban lake, London, UK
Turner, S. D., Horton, A. A., Rose, N. L., & Hall, C. (2019) · Journal of Paleolimnology · doi:10.1007/s10933-019-00071-7 · Cited by 225 · see citing works
Matthes, J. H., Detto, M., Sonnentag, O., Deverel, S. J., Verfaillie, J., & Baldocchi, D. (2012) · Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment · doi:10.1016/j.agee.2012.01.009 · Cited by 208 · see citing works
Dynamic probabilistic material flow analysis of rubber release from tires into the environment
Sieber, R., Kawecki, D., & Nowack, B. (2019) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113573 · Cited by 196 · see citing works
Levee Failures and Social Vulnerability in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Area, California
Burton, C. G., & Cutter, S. L. (2008) · Natural Hazards Review · doi:10.1061/(asce)1527-6988(2008)9:3(136 · Cited by 194 · see citing works
Chen, H., Jia, Q., Zhao, X., Li, L., Nie, Y.-H., Liu, H., & Ye, J. (2020) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2020.116073 · Cited by 176 · see citing works
Improving microplastics source apportionment: a role for microplastic morphology and taxonomy?
Helm, P. A. (2017) · Analytical Methods · doi:10.1039/c7ay90016c · Cited by 151 · see citing works
Self-citationThe “plastic cycle”: a watershed‐scale model of plastic pools and fluxes
Hoellein, T. J., & Rochman, C. M. (2021) · Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment · doi:10.1002/fee.2294 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
Self-citationMicroplastic contamination in Great Lakes fish
Munno, K., Helm, P. A., Rochman, C., George, T., & Jackson, D. A. (2022) · Conservation Biology · doi:10.1111/cobi.13794 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
Self-citationMicroplastics and other anthropogenic particles in the surface waters of the Chesapeake Bay
Bikker, J., Lawson, J., Wilson, S., & Rochman, C. M. (2020) · Marine Pollution Bulletin · doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111257 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Self-citationErdle, L. M., Parto, D. N., Sweetnam, D., & Rochman, C. M. (2021) · Frontiers in Marine Science · doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.777865 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Self-citationIntegrated analysis of ecosystem interactions with land use Change: The Chesapeake Bay watershed
Goetz, S. J., Jantz, C. A., Prince, S. D., Smith, A. J., Varlyguin, D. L., & Wright, R. K. (2004) · Geophysical monograph · doi:10.1029/153gm20 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
What Are the Components of a Plasticulture Vegetable System?
Lamont, W. J. (1996) · HortTechnology · doi:10.21273/horttech.6.3.150 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Zhu, X., Munno, K., Grbić, J., Werbowski, L. M., Bikker, J., Ho, A., Guo, E., Sedlak, M., Sutton, R., Box, C., et al. (2021) · ACS ES&T Water · doi:10.1021/acsestwater.0c00292 · Cited by 71 · see citing works
Self-citationThe ecological history of Lake Ontario according to phytoplankton
Estepp, L. R., & Reavie, E. D. (2015) · Journal of Great Lakes Research · doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2015.06.005 · Cited by 60 · see citing works
A new thermoanalytical method for the quantification of microplastics in industrial wastewater
Mallow, O., Spacek, S., Schwarzböck, T., Fellner, J., & Rechberger, H. (2019) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113862 · Cited by 43 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Bodus, B., O'Malley, K., Dieter, G., Gunawardana, C., & McDonald, W. (2024) · Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167195 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
The transport and vertical distribution of microplastics in the Mekong River, SE Asia.
Mendrik, F., Hackney, C., Cumming, V. M., Waller, C., Hak, D., Dorrell, R., Nguyen, H. N., & Parsons, D. R. (2024) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.136762 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Baraza, T., & Hasenmueller, E. A. (2023) · Water Research · doi:10.1016/j.watres.2023.120204 · Cited by 42 · see citing works
Self-citationLiu, D., Yang, Z., Gong, Y., Song, D., & Chen, Y. (2024) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.135254 · Cited by 39 · see citing works
Hasenmueller, E. A., Baraza, T., Hernandez, N. F., & Finegan, C. R. (2023) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.164690 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Self-citationSource-specific categorization of microplastics in nearshore surface waters of the Great Lakes
Yu, J. T., Helm, P. A., & Diamond, M. L. (2024) · Journal of Great Lakes Research · doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2023.102256 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
Self-citationBaraza, T., Hernandez, N. F., Sebok, J. N., Wu, C., Hasenmueller, E. A., & Knouft, J. H. (2022) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2022.119852 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Self-citationHataley, E. K., McIlwraith, H. K., Roy, D., & Rochman, C. M. (2023) · Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences · doi:10.1139/cjfas-2023-0023 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Self-citationQi, F., An, C., Chen, Z., Lee, K., & Wang, Z. (2023) · Environmental Pollution · doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2023.122014 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Microplastics in subsurface water and zooplankton from eight lakes in British Columbia
Klasios, N., & Tseng, M. (2023) · Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences · doi:10.1139/cjfas-2022-0293 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Milne, M. H., Helm, P. A., Munno, K., Bhavsar, S. P., & Rochman, C. M. (2024) · Environmental Health Perspectives · doi:10.1289/ehp13540 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“Our study focuses on this region speci fi cally because studies have demonstrated relatively high levels of microplastics in the Toronto region of the Laurentian Great Lakes, 35 likely as a result of discharges from tributaries that fl ow through areas of high urbanization and industrial activity, including several manu…”
Self-citationHamilton, B. M., Jantunen, L. M., & Rochman, C. M. (2025) · Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry · doi:10.1093/etojnl/vgae040 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Self-citationFaltynkova, A., Deschênes, C. E., Zolich, A., Wagner, M., Johansen, T. A., & Johnsen, G. H. (2024) · Marine Pollution Bulletin · doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116214 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Weir, E. M., Kidd, K. A., Hamilton, B. M., Wu, J., Servos, M. R., Bartlett, A. J., Tetreault, G. R., & Gillis, P. L. (2024) · Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry · doi:10.1002/etc.5836 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Langknecht, T., Pelletier, M. C., Robinson, S., Burgess, R. M., & Ho, K. T. (2024) · Marine Pollution Bulletin · doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116393 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Hamilton, B. M., Harris, L. N., Provencher, J. F., & Rochman, C. M. (2024) · Arctic Science · doi:10.1139/as-2023-0041 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Self-citationTian, X., Xu, H., & Pei, H. (2025) · Journal of environmental chemical engineering · doi:10.1016/j.jece.2025.119576 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Hernandez, N. F., & Hasenmueller, E. A. (2024) · Environmental Engineering Science · doi:10.1089/ees.2024.0106 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Self-citationShafi, M., Lodh, A., Akhoon, R. H., Gani, K. M., & Goel, S. (2025) · Environmental Science Advances · doi:10.1039/d5va00201j · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Covernton, G. A., Metherel, A. H., McMeans, B. C., Bucci, K., Langenfeld, D., McNamee, R. A., Veneruzzo, C., Hoffman, M. J., Orihel, D. M., Paterson, M. J., et al. (2024) · Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences · doi:10.1139/cjfas-2024-0149 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Self-citationInteraction of micro and nanoplastics (MNPs) with agricultural stored products and their pests
Shah, S., Ilyas, M., Liu, Z., Zhang, D., Wu, G., Huang, Q., Elgizawy, K. K., & Yang, F. (2025) · The Science of The Total Environment · doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.178534 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
A Novel Approach for Characterization of Microplastic Pollution in the Chesapeake Bay
Fan, C., Bhatt, S., Goswami, D., & Taylor, T. (2025) · Microplastics · doi:10.3390/microplastics4030053 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Quantifying microplastic fluvial flux from a coastal watershed—A microplastic rating curve approach
Murphy-Hagan, C., Gray, A. B., Singh, S., Hapich, H., & Cowger, W. (2025) · Journal of Environmental Management · doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.127445 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Boleydei, H., Walker, T. R., Bougie, F., & Vaneeckhaute, C. (2026) · Water Air & Soil Pollution · doi:10.1007/s11270-025-09071-y · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Microplastic Chemostasis and Homogeneity During a Historic Flood on the Mississippi River
Hasenmueller, E. A., & Ritter, A. N. (2024) · Environmental Engineering Science · doi:10.1089/ees.2024.0133 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Self-citationAthey, S. N., Adams, J. K., Jantunen, L. M., Helm, P. A., Stern, G. A., Finkelstein, S. A., & Diamond, M. L. (2025) · ACS ES&T Water · doi:10.1021/acsestwater.5c00080 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Self-citationMa, H., Guo, S., Tian, K., & Zhang, Z.-H. (2025) · Physics and Chemistry of the Earth Parts A/B/C · doi:10.1016/j.pce.2025.104222
Hernandez, N. F., Youmans, D., Brander, S. M., & Hasenmueller, E. A. (2025) · Atmospheric Environment · doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2026.122294
Self-citationSnow, M., Walter, S., Louison, M. J., Sloan, J. J., & Baraza, T. (2026) · Journal of Environmental Quality · doi:10.1002/jeq2.70200
- Authors
- Rochman, C. M., Grbic, J., Earn, A., Helm, P. A., Hasenmueller, E. A., Trice, M., Munno, K., De Frond, H., Djuric, N., Santoro, S., Kaura, A., Denton, D., & Teh, S.
- Affiliations
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3B2, Canada
- Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks (CA)
- Saint Louis University (US)
- Maryland Department of Natural Resources (US)
- Environmental Protection Agency (US)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Corresponding author
- Rochman, Chelsea M.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2022-06-22
- Volume
- 56
- Issue
- 13
- Pages
- 9367-9378
- ISSN
- 0013-936X (ISSN-L)
- 1520-5851
- OpenAlex
- W4283310751
- Cited by
- 29
- References
- 46
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 1.60
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Environmental Science & Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Cedar Tree Foundation
- Environment and Climate Change Canada
- Canadian Network for Research and Innovation in Machining Technology, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Society for Conservation Biology
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Engineering › Urban Stormwater Management Solutions
- Keywords
- microplastics, agricultural runoff, urban stormwater runoff, treated wastewater effluent, microplastic fibers, catchment characteristics, local monitoring, microplastic mitigation, Mississippi River, Lake Ontario, Chesapeake Bay
- MeSH terms
- Microplastics, Environmental Monitoring, Plastics, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Ecosystem, Wastewater
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
