The Research Process: 3d. Lateral Reading

Lateral Reading is an evaluation technique that is used to evaluate the credibility of an information source like an article, website, blog, or so forth. Lateral Reading evaluates information by comparing with other sources to develop a contextual understanding of who created the information and why they created it. Considering a variety of sources and perspectives helps to avoid bias and misinformation!

"Lateral Reading" gets its name because it involves opening multiple tabs on your internet browser in order to find out more information about a source, and the tabs line up "laterally" at the top of the browser!

1. Access the source that you want to evaluate. Keep this tab open as the farthest left tab in your browser for easy organization. 
2. Open a new browser tab. You can start by searching for the author, publication, or topic of the original source that you want to evaluate. 
3. Spend some time reviewing the information that you find. Compare the information to the original source. Does the credibility seem to match?
   • If you are still unsure, open up more browser tabs to search for information that clarifies the new information found through the lateral reading process. 
4. Repeat this process as many times as necessary!

From the Digital Inquiry Group, Civic Online Reasoning. 

Questions about the Author:

• What is the author's background or education?
• Does the author have experience on the topic they are writing about?
• What else have they published?
• Are they affiliated with any interest groups?

Questions about the Website or Publisher of the Source:

• Is it an academic publisher?
• What are the goals of the publisher?
• What other kinds of content do they publish?
• Do they cite sources for the information they use?
  • If they do link to outside sources, do those sources seem credible?