Research Guides: Fake vs. Real: Identifying & Evaluating Information Sources: Evaluating Sources

Evaluating Information

It is crucial to evaluate and verify your sources before sharing them, using them in your assignments or projects or communicating them to others.

S.I.F.T. is one of the methods that can help you evaluate information, especially news or other online media.

Evaluating information from digital sources
SIFT was created by Mike Caulfield. Content related to SIFT is adapted from Caulfield’s materials with a CC BY 4.0 license.
Check, please
A free course consisting of five lessons on fact-checking and source-checking from Mike Caulfield

Try one of these quizzes to see how well you are able to distinguish real news and articles from the fake ones.

Know the difference between Misinformation, Disinformation and Propaganda

Misinformation

/ˌmɪsɪnfəˈmeɪʃ(ə)n/

noun

noun: misinformation

Misinformation is information that is false, but the person who is disseminating it believes that it is true. It is unintentionally false.

synonyms:

disinformation, false information, misleading information, deception;

Disinformation

/ˌdɪsɪnfəˈmeɪʃ(ə)n

noun

noun: disinformation

Disinformation is information that is false, and the person who is disseminating it knows it is false. It is a deliberate, intentional lie.

"the entire Western intelligence system had been systematically manipulated with clever disinformation"

Propaganda

/prɒpəˈɡandə/

noun

noun: propaganda;

information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political cause or point of view.

"he was charged with distributing enemy propaganda"

synonyms:

information, promotion, advertising, advertisement, publicity, advocacy;