Library: Criminal Justice Databases: Evaluating Sources

SIFT to Verify Sources and Claims on the Web

There are 4 easy steps you can take to verify sources and claims on the web.

1. Stop. Pause before you share or use. What is your emotional response to the information? What biases do you have? Also, consider what you already know about the topic and the source. Do you know and trust the website or source of the information? If not, use the other moves to get a sense of what you're looking at. If you find yourself falling down the rabbit hole of fact-checking STOP and recall your goal. Approach the problem at the right amount of depth for your purpose.

2. Investigate the Source. You can usually do this with a quick web or Wikipedia search. Taking 60 seconds to figure out its origin before reading will help you decide if it is worth your time, and if it is, help you to better understand its significance and trustworthiness.

3. Find Trusted Coverage. Look for other trusted reporting or analysis on the topic. Has a source you consider authoritative covered the same news or topic? Has it has been fact-checked or rebutted? Scan multiple sources to see what the consensus seems to be. Find coverage that better suits your needs—more trusted, more in-depth, or maybe just more varied.

4. Trace Claims, Quotes, and Media Back to the Original Context. Stuff you see on the web is often commentary on the re-reporting of re-reporting on some original story or piece of research. Is your original source describing it accurately or misrepresenting the original? Here's an example of how to trace this.

Additionally, a lot of things you find on the internet have been stripped of context. Looking for the context can help inform you of the source's reliability.

Adapted from https://hapgood.us/2019/06/19/sift-the-four-moves/ by Mike Caulfield

Types of Periodicals

Scholarly Journals

Trade Publications

Popular Magazines

Newspapers

Examples

Social Psychology Quarterly

Advertising Age

Time

New York Times

Content

Primary account of original research (i.e. research papers); In-depth analyses of issues in the field; Articles often include abstract, method, discussion, tables, conclusion, and references/bibliography; May include editorials or commentaries

Current news, trends, or products in an industry or professional organization; Statistics, forecasts, employment and career information; Ads

Current events and news; General information with purpose to entertain or inform; Analyses of popular culture; Secondary account of someone else's research that may include opinion; Ads

Current events and news that may be local, regional, national or international; Editorials; Primary source for information on recent events; Ads

Audience

Researchers, scholars, professors, etc.

Practitioners and professionals

General population

Language

Academic, specialized jargon that uses the language of the discipline; Requires some relevant expertise

Specialized jargon or terminology of the field

Easily understandable, non-technical language

Authors

Researchers, scholars, professors, etc.

Practitioners in the field, industry professionals, or journalists with subject expertise

Journalists or staff writers

Editorial Process

Volunteer editorial board and usually peer review

Paid editors

Paid editors; Editorial review may be minimal for breaking news

References

Always includes references, footnotes, or bibliographies

Sometimes includes references in text or short bibliographies

References are rare

Rarely cite sources in full

Publishers

Universities, scholarly presses, or academic organizations; Commercial publishers

Commercial publishers; Trade and professional organizations

Commercial publishers

Example Databases

JSTOR, Sociological Abstracts

Business Premium, Business Source Premier

Readers Guide, Academic Search Complete

Newspaper Source Plus

What is peer-review?
The rigorous process that articles undergo before they are published. Scholars in the author's field or discipline review and evaluate the article for quality and validity. If lacking, the article may be rejected. Reviewers often offer suggestions for revision as a condition of acceptance. Watch Peer Review in 3 Minutes (NCSU) for more details.

This chart is adapted from Northwestern University's Evaluating Articles page.

Overview of Scholarly Publishing Process

Peer Review

What is peer-review?
Peer review is a rigorous process most scholarly articles undergo before publication. Scholars in the author's field evaluate the article for quality and validity. If these scholarly peers determine that the article is of low quality, the publication may reject it. Reviewers often offer suggestions for revision as a condition of acceptance.