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.

Follow these 4 steps:

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.

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.

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. 

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.

Cite your Sources

What is a Citation?

• A short description of the source for your information.
• Contains information on who wrote it, what it is (title), and where you found it (book or other resource title).
• Used to give credit to the sources you use in your writing.
• Provides information to help someone find the source.
• Annotated Bibliographies include a paragraph describing each article or book in the reference list.
• Usually uses either APA or MLA style.

Why Cite? 

When you present research, you participate in an informed conversation.

You cite your sources, in order to:

• Give credit to others for their ideas, data, and words.
• Demonstrate due diligence and give weight to your analysis.
• Leave a research path others can follow.

Citation Guide

Find much more on the Holman Library Citation guide: