Research Process Guide

When using Internet resources, you must carefully evaluate the source of your information before utilizing its content. Evaluate your websites using the following criteria: 

Domain - the quality of information and the type of URL are interrelated. A ".gov" or ".edu" URL is more trustworthy than a ".com" or ".net". A ".org" URL will require deeper investigation, as it then depends on the type of organization. 

Authority - Is the author's name visible? What are the author's credentials? Is contact information for the author available?

Currency - Is the website up to date? Websites with information that is updated regularly are preferable to those that are left out-of-date or recycled too often. 

Bias - Since anyone can create informational content online, the Internet is often used as a sounding board for thoughts and opinions. Look out for a works cited list and advertisements to evaluate the bias and possible inaccuracies in the information. 

Origin - How did you find this source? Was it recommended by a faculty member, cited in a scholarly journal article, or was it linked by another trustworthy website? Where you got this information can indicate how reliable it might be. 

Functionality - If the website contains broken links, is difficult to navigate and malfunctions often, then it reflects poorly on the credibility of the information. 

The SIFT method is an evaluation strategy developed by digital literacy expert, Mike Caulfield, to help determine whether online content can be trusted for credible or reliable sources of information. All SIFT information on this page is adapted from his materials with a CC BY 4.0 license.

Stop

Before you read or share an article or video, STOP!​

Be aware of your emotional response to the headline or information in the article. Headlines are often meant to get clicks, and will do so by causing the reader to have a strong emotional response.

Before sharing, consider:

What you already know about the topic. ​

What you know about the source. Do you know it's reputation?

Before moving forward or sharing, use the other three moves: Investigate the Source, Find Better Coverage, and Trace Claims, Quotes, and Media back to the Original Context.

Investigate the Source

The next step before sharing is to Investigate the Source.

Take a moment to look up the author and source publishing the information.

• What can you find about the author/website creators? ​
• What is their mission? Do they have vested interests? ​Would their assessment be biased?
• Do they have authority in the area?​

Use lateral reading. Go beyond the 'About Us' section on the organization's website and see what other, trusted sources say about the source.​ You can use Google or Wikipedia to investigate the source.

Find Better Coverage

The next step is to Find Better Coverage or other sources that may or may not support the original claim.

Again, use lateral reading to see if you can find other sources corroborating the same information or disputing it.​

What coverage is available on the topic? 

Keep track of trusted news sources.

Many times, fact checkers have already looked into the claims. These fact-checkers are often nonpartisan, nonprofit websites that try to increase public knowledge and understanding by fact checking claims to see if they are based on fact or if they are biased/not supported by evidence.

• FactCheck.org​
• Snopes.com​
• Reuters.com/fact-check/

Trace Claims, Quotes, and Media to their Original Context

The final step is to Trace Claims, Quotes, and Media to their Original Context.

When an article references a quote from an expert, or results of a research study, it is good practice to attempt to locate the original source of the information.​ Click through the links to follow the claims to the original source of information. Open up the original reporting sources listed in a bibliography if present.

• Was the claim, quote, or media fairly represented?
• Does the extracted information support the original claims in the research? ​
• Is information being cherry-picked to support an agenda or a bias?​
• Is information being taken out of context?​

Remember, headlines, blog posts, or tweets may sensationalize facts to get more attention or clicks. ​Re-reporting may omit, misinterpret, or select certain facts to support biased claims. If the claim is taken from a source who took it from another source, important facts and contextual information can be left out. Make sure to read the claims in the original context in which they were presented.

Lateral reading is helpful to evaluate websites and social media posts. It evaluates sources by opening new tabs in the browser to investigate the sources and its claims and compare them to other sources. It's a way to verify information, identify potential weaknesses, and contextualize information. 

How to practice lateral reading:

1. Use fact-checking sites like Snopes, FactCheck.org, or PolitiFact
2. Trace claims, quotes, and media back to the original context
3. Compare and contrast the information you read
4. Search for the name of the source you're reading in a search engine
5. Open new tabs to research other sources
6. Look for bias or messaging associated with the source
7. Look for hyperlinks or citations to other sources

Questions you’ll want to ask include these:

• Who funds or sponsors the site where the original piece was published? What do other authoritative sources have to say about that site?
• When you do a search on the topic of the original piece, are the initial results from fact-checking organizations?
• Have questions been raised about other articles the author has written?
• Does what you’re finding elsewhere contradict the original piece?
• Are credible news outlets reporting on (or perhaps more important, not reporting on) what you’re reading?

Watch this video to learn more:

Popular periodicals, usually referred to as magazines and newspapers,  are probably most familiar to you. Examples include titles such as,

• The New York Times

• Newsweek

• National Geographic

• Psychology Today

• Wall Street Journal

Magazines and newspapers are written by journalists or staff who often write about a broad range of topics without necessarily being an expert on that topic. Outside of an editor making sure the article is well written and some basic fact checking, there is little oversight for what information gets published. This is not to say a magazine or newspaper can't be trusted or isn't factually accurate, but that you need to evaluate each source to determine if it is credible.