DecMetrics: Structured Claim Decomposition Scoring for Factually Consistent LLM Outputs

Abstract

Claim decomposition plays a crucial role in the fact-checking process by breaking down complex claims into simpler atomic components and identifying their unfactual elements. Despite its importance, current research primarily focuses on generative methods for decomposition, with insufficient emphasis on evaluating the quality of these decomposed atomic claims. To bridge this gap, we introduce \textbf{DecMetrics}, which comprises three new metrics: \texttt{COMPLETENESS}, \texttt{CORRECTNESS}, and \texttt{SEMANTIC ENTROPY}, designed to automatically assess the quality of claims produced by decomposition models. Utilizing these metrics, we develop a lightweight claim decomposition model, optimizing its performance through the integration of these metrics as a reward function. Through automatic evaluation, our approach aims to set a benchmark for claim decomposition, enhancing both the reliability and effectiveness of fact-checking systems.