Lateral reading techniques
Not all lateral reading techniques will apply to every source. Use any that may be useful in helping you decide if a source is reliable and appropriate for your study (and beyond the classroom - in life!).
Open a New tab in your browser
You need to leave the source itself to independently check it.
Check author/publisher in Wikipedia
Wikipedia can be a handy starting point to check out the reliability of a source.
For example, consider these organisations:
American Academy of Pediatrics
American College of Pediatricians
Their names are very similar and, at first glance, they might seem to be similar organisations. However, Wikipedia describes each very differently. Consider their purpose, membership numbers, potential for bias, etc:
American Academy of Pediatrics on Wikipedia versus American College of Pediatricians on Wikipedia
Look for consensus
Do a search on the same topic to see what other sources are saying and providing as evidence.
While consensus can vary, depending on the topic, if other sources give conflicting information/the source seems to be an outlier, this may be a red flag about the reliability of your source.
Fact check
Check for the title or publisher using one of our recommended fact checkers, or a media bias checker.
Some websites may present mis/disinformation or fake news. There are a number of fact-checking sites that are dedicated to seeing if the claims in a source are based on fact, e.g. FactCheck.org, Google Fact Check Explorer, PolitiFact
Likewise, news sources may show varying degrees of bias: Media Bias/Fact Check
See more fact checkers (Berkeley Library, 2023).
Find the original source
If the item you are reading, e.g. a newspaper article, is referring to another source, e.g. a research article, see if you can access the original article.
One source reporting on another source is not necessarily a problem. However, to make sure the original information has been quoted accurately, you are best to go to the original source, if possible. Searching the Open Polytechnic Library may be a good way to find access to the original information.
Return to Evaluating sources