Ruth Shalit Barrett (/ʃəˈliːt/; born 1971) is an American freelance writer and journalist whose work has appeared in The New Republic, The Wall Street Journal, ELLE, New York Magazine and The Atlantic. In 1999 she resigned from The New Republic following claims of plagiarism and inaccuracy. In 2020, The Atlantic retracted an article she wrote for them after it emerged that she had lied to the magazine's fact-checking department. As of 2020, Shalit lives in Westport, Connecticut, with her husband and two children.