Evaluation Tips: Does the information ROCC?

Read the entire story. Many fake news site authors know that people do not read the entire article. The beginning of the article may sound legitimate, but some of the articles start to get absurd further into the text. Social media claims should also be evaluated and cross-checked for accuracy. Also, use these evaluation criteria in conjunction with the methods shown in the Validation Videos.  Besides evaluating the article or news, you'll also need to investigate the original source itself in external, unbiased sources to gauge whether or not the information is reliable. For example, if you find an article in the Los Angeles Times, you'll want to evaluate the publication, the Los Angeles Times. Find out what unbiased, outside sources say about the publisher or organization by doing an Internet search then move on to the checklist to review the specific article if it seems like the publication is reliable. 

• Reliability: How accurate is the information?
  • Cross-check to see if there are other mainstream sources that are reporting on the same topic. If you do not find other reputable sources reporting on a story that should be making the news, it’s probably false.
  • If sources or studies are mentioned or listed, go to the original primary source and check to see if the facts have been taken out of context or manipulated. Is the source being accurately reported? Verify facts, details, quotes, claims using multiple sources. For more tips on checking reports on science, click on the Bad Science tab on this page.
  • Look for the story on some of the fact-checking, de-bunking web sites listed on the Online Fact-Checkers page.
• Objective: What is the purpose of the information? To inform, entertain, persuade, promote, deceive, sell?
  • Look for a strong bias in the story. News articles should try to be balanced; they should not appeal to your emotions with inflammatory language. They should appeal to your logic with supporting facts and evidence.
  • Try to determine the creator/author's purpose. Is there a conflict of interest? Is the author trying to persuade you to embrace a particular viewpoint? Is he/she trying to sell a product or political candidate?
  • Everyone has a point-of-view and many authors will acknowledge their biases. It is very important to consult a variety of authors and media types to get a balanced range of viewpoints.Don't use one source or one media outlet for your news.
  • If the news source is reporting on an author's research, who funded the research? Does the funder have an ulterior motive for seeking a particular result?
• Creator: Who are the authors and other people responsible for the information?
  • Look for “About Us”, “Contact Us” and “Disclaimer” links to find out information about authors, editors, publishers. What are their affiliations and experience?
  • Is there biographical information about the author(s) that include their credentials as related to the information?
  • Information sources should have been through a review process that increases the likelihood of their reliability. Is there an editorial staff that reviews the information or is this a publication put out by one person? 
  • If the source is a scientific or academic article, has the authors' work been through a peer-review process in which peers from the same discipline evaluate and critique the article before publication in a reputable journal?
• Currency: How current is the information? Does it meet your needs?
  • Check the date to see if you have the most up-to-date information. Look at the top or bottom of webpages for the last update. Information about oil painting does not need to be as up-to-date as information about medical procedures.
  • Look at the citation dates to see when they were published. Are they appropriately current for the topic?