SIFT Evaluation Tool

Use the technique of Lateral Reading to Validate Claims and Sources

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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.

Use different information resources to find different kinds of information.

Reference book articles, or academic encyclopedias, are a great place to start. Go to reference for background knowledge, theoretical terms, an overview of the history of a subject or issues, key players - and leads to more information.

example of sources 

Reference book articles, or academic encyclopedias, are a great place to start. Read reference for: background knowledge theoretical terms an overview of the history of a subject or issues key players leads to more information.
Read books, book chapters, and essays in anthologies for: in-depth analysis history opinion theory multiple perspectives
Read newspaper articles for: a daily account of events and issues on a local, regional, national or international scale analysis of current issues editorial and opinion pieces business, environment and science news
Read magazine articles for: more in-depth discussion of current events and issues in the news longer articles written for an interested audience in lay-person language on technology, health, science, business and more illustrations: charts, pictures and graphs
View and listen to multimedia for: documentaries on current science, engineering and business topics informed discussion and analysis case studies & personal accounts background information
Read trade articles to learn about: news briefs or overviews of current research and tools current trends and updates in the profession professional terminology opinion on governmental policy, current issues, and more professional development to find leads to more information on your subject
Read scholarly articles and books to learn about: current research in-depth analysis metareviews of the literature professional terminology find data, statistics, charts, and other factual information to get a sense of the scope of the scholarly conversation on your subject to find leads to more information on your subject