SIFT Evaluation Tool

Use the technique of Lateral Reading to Validate Claims and Sources

(click on image to enlarge)

This work is licensed under a creative commons attribution license.

Step 1: Stop

Ask yourself whether you know and trust the author, publisher, publication, or website.

• If you don’t, use the other fact-checking moves that follow, to get a better sense of what you’re looking at.
• In other words, don’t read, share, or use the source in your research until you know what it is, and you can verify it is reliable.

Step 2: Investigate the Source

When investigating a source, fact-checkers read “laterally” across many websites, rather than digging deep (reading “vertically”) into the one source they are evaluating.

• Leave that source and see what others have said about the source.
• Piece together different bits of information from across the web to get a better picture of the source you’re investigating.

Step 3: If needed, find better or more appropriate coverage.

What if the source you find is low-quality, or you can’t determine if it is reliable or not?

• You want to know if it is true or false. You want to know if it represents a consensus viewpoint, or if it is the subject of much disagreement.
• Your best strategy in this case might actually be to find a better source altogether, to look for other coverage that includes trusted reporting or analysis on that same claim. 

Step 4: Track the source back to the original.

What if you feel uncertain about the "full story" of a fact or claim, or you suspect someone might want to mislead you (as when controversial issues are presented)?

• Trace the claim, quote, or media back to the source, so you can see it in its original context and get a sense of whether the version you saw was accurately presented.

Modified from Mike Caulfield's SIFT (Four Moves), which is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Graphic created by Suzanne Sannwald based on Mike Caulfield's work on SIFT. Creative Commons Attribution License.

Not all resources are created equal! There are a number of criteria to consider when determining whether or not a source is reliable (able to be trusted) and appropriate for your academic work.

Authorship

• Who is the author?
• What makes the author an expert in the field they are writing about? What are their qualifications? Do they have education or work experience in the field? Have they published anything else about the subject? (HINT: Do a web search of the author to find this information).
• If there isn't an author listed, is the information authored by a government, corporate, or non-profit agency?  Is the agency or organization recognized in the field in which you are studying, and is it suitable to address your topic? Look them up on the Web.

Point of View or Bias

• Does the source promote one point of view or one agenda?
• Is the information provided as fact or opinion?
• If the information is found online, does the Web site have advertisements? If so, are the ads part of or separate from the rest of the site?

Currency

• Does your topic require current information? If so, how current is this information?
• Does the source include a date of publication or a "last updated" date?

References to Other Sources

• Does the source include a bibliography or links to other web sites?
• What types of sources are cited (primary/ secondary, popular/ scholarly, current/ historical, etc.)

Relevance to Topic and Assignment

• Is the information you found related to and useful for your topic and assignment?
• Is the source the appropriate type for your needs?  For example, do you need a book or a scholarly journal article? Do you need primary or secondary sources of information?
• Is the information too broad or too specific?

Image source:  "Evaluation" by NY is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0