Watch this video by the University of Louisville Libraries, which has Lateral Reading clearly explained.
To summarise,
| Vertical Reading | Lateral Reading |
|---|---|
| Refers to staying on a single site and reading about what the site says about itself. | Advocates leaving the site, opening multiple new tabs on the browser and checking out what other sources say about the site. |
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Lateral Reading is a strategy used by many professional fact-checkers and savvy researchers to judge the credibility of unfamiliar sources. It can provide a big picture view of the site that is being evaluated.