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Be a Research Skeptic

A Crash Course in Source Evaluation

Trace Claims

Finally, we can trace the claims a source makes. This is particularly helpful when a source mentions somewhere else they got their information. Whenever you have the option to look at the original, or someone else talking about it, find the original. Some sources will include a formal citation for this kind of reference, a link, or only a textual clue. When you trace claims, ask questions like:

  • Is there a source this source relies on for most of it's information?
  • Is there a longer video? A photo with more contextual information?

Politifact

Politifact is a tool that can be helpful when tracing political claims. Politifact is a non-partisan fact checking website that is transparent about it's funding. They fact check statements made by politicians for about political topics.

Snopes

Snopes is a similar tool, but aimed at fact checking urban legends and hoaxes.

TinEye

TinEye is a reverse image search. You provide the site with either a URL of an image or upload an image file. TinEye will show you where on the internet similar images exist.

Consider this source

Consider the article "New Study Shows Coffee Health Benefits"​ by the Prostate Cancer Foundation Blog. You can use the link below to visit the article. Use the information in the article to trace it's claims. When you're ready, expand the panel below to see my thoughts.

This blog post opens with the good news: drinking more coffee could lead to a longer life! It also quickly mentions two studies- which is a great hint to go find those studies. Let's see what information we know about these studies. They were likely published in 2017 (the blog publication date) or before. They were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. One author of the European study is named Marc Gunter. Veronica Wendy Setiawan is one of the authors of the American study. Is that enough information to find the original source? You bet!

One option we have is to use Shapiro Library's Publication Finder This link opens in a new window tool. We can search for the name of the journal in this tool to see where we have full text access. Our full text coverage ends in 2006, but we can still choose a database and search for coffee AND (gunter OR setiawan). If we're lucky, we can read an abstract and request the article through Interlibrary Loan.

Alternatively, we can search the free web. I added the name of the journal to my search above, and found a detailed summary This link opens in a new window on the publication's website. When the full text of the article isn't available on a publisher's website for free, come back to the library where you can request it through interlibrary loan.