How do you know what information online is trustworthy? Do what fact checkers do, and use Lateral Reading.
Open a new tab in your browser.
Search the name of the unfamiliar source.
Check what trustworthy sites say about it.
If the source seems untrustworthy, don't waste your time on it. Find a better source.
from Lateral Reading Poster developed by Civic Online Reasoning & Stanford History Education Group
Before using a Web site for your academic research, you must evaluate it. Does it pass the CRAAP test?
Currency: Is the site up-to-date and edited regularly?
Relevancy: Who is the intended audience for this information and is the information unique?
Authority: Who is the author and what are his or her credentials? Is there contact information? Is it a company/organization/university?
Accuracy: Where does this information come from? Are there sources listed? Are there typos or spelling or grammar errors?
Purpose: Why was this site created? Is it intending to sell a product? What is the domain name (.edu, .gov, .com, .org)?
After considering all of the above measurements, you will have a good idea whether or not a site is valuable to your academic research.
