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Evaluate Sources

lateral reading

Lateral Reading

Lateral reading is "the act of verifying what you're reading as you're reading it" (Heich, 2020). As you read, you should know the context of what you are reading; who wrote it, and what position they wrote it from. The idea of lateral reading comes from a web-based perspective, where you should be opening tabs (lateral to the one you are reading), to verify information as you go. We can rely on the resource we are reading solely to verify the information within, we have to check it against other sources.

Consider the prompts and questions from the ADLER Test when considering whether or not to use an article in your research.

ADLER Test

Authority

  • Who is the author?
  • What is their authority to speak on this subject?
  • What are their credentials?
  • What else have they written?

DEIA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Accessibility)

  • Are diverse perspective and population included?
  • Who is or is not included in the methodology?
  • Is it being written from an insider or outsider perspective on the population or problem?
  • Is the content accessible?
  • Who has access to this information?
  • What biases exist in this source?
  • Are the authors explicit about their biases and positionalities?

Logic

  • Does the evidence support the argument?
  • Are there logical fallacies?
  • Can the claims be supported by alternate sources?

Evidence

  • Is the evidence current?
  • Is the evidence reputable?
  • Does this source cite other reputable sources?

Relevance

  • Is this source relevant to your research?
  • Is it suitable for your audience?
  • Is this source outdated?

Adapted from Microsoft Co-Pilot GPT 4.0.