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INT 51: Team Internships

Use SIFT to Verify Online Information

Lateral reading helps you determine whether a source is trustworthy by examining an author’s credibility, intent, and biases. You can do this by examining the reputation of the publication/website, searching for articles on the same topic by other writers (to see how they are covering it), and searching for other articles by the author you’re investigating. That’s what professional fact-checkers do!

yellow arrow pointing to the right Lateral Reading (SIFT): fact-checking by examining other sources and internet fact-checking tools.

SIFT

Stop

Investigate the source

Find better coverage

Trace claims to the original context
  • Check your emotions before engaging
  • Do you know and trust the author, publisher, publication, or website?
    • If not, use the following fact-checking strategies before reading, sharing, or using the source in your research
  • Don’t focus on the source itself for now
  • Instead, read laterally:
    • Learn about the source’s author, publisher, publication, website, etc. from other sources, such as Wikipedia
  • Focus on the information rather than getting attached to a particular source
  • If you can’t determine whether a source is reliable, trade up for a higher quality source
  • Professional fact checkers build a list of sources they know they can trust
  • Identify whether the source is original or re-reporting
  • Consider what context might be missing in re-reporting
  • Go “upstream” to the original source
    • Was the version you saw accurate and complete?

Online Verification Skills Playlist via CTRL-F Youtube

The SIFT method was created by Mike Caulfield under a CC BY 4.0 International License. For more on the definition and lateral reading, you can take a look at the News Literacy Project.

Use PICK to evaluate information for your needs

PICK

Purpose / Genre / Type

  • Determine the type of source (book, article, website, social media post, etc.)
    • Why and how it was created? How it was reviewed before publication?
  • Determine the genre of the source (factual reporting, opinion, ad, satire, etc.)
  • Consider whether the type and genre are appropriate for your information needs

Information Relevance / Usefulness

  • Consider how well the content of the source addresses your specific information needs
    • Is it directly related to your topic?
    • How does it help you explore a research interest or develop an argument?

Creation Date

  • Determine when the source was first published or posted
    • Is the information in the source (including cited references) up-to-date?
  • Consider whether newer sources are available that would add important information

Knowledge-Building

  • Consider how this source relates to the body of knowledge on the topic
    • Does it echo other experts’ contributions? Does it challenge them in important ways?
    • Does this source contribute something new to the conversation?
  • Consider what voices or perspectives are missing or excluded from the conversation
    • Does this source represent an important missing voice or perspective on the topic?
    • Are other sources available that better include those voices or perspectives?
  • How does this source help you to build and share your own knowledge?

Creative Commons License SIFT & PICK by Ellen Carey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Last updated 4/11/23.

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