Check a claim · four quick moves
Check a claim
Four quick moves for a claim in front of you: stop, look into who's saying it, see what better sources say, and trace it back to the original. Adapted from Mike Caulfield's SIFT method.
- Purpose
- When you need it
- How to do it
- Try it
- Common mistakes
- Limits
- Related
- Sources & further reading
The four moves, in order
4 of 4 written- 1 Stop Before You ShareBefore you believe or pass on a claim, pause for a few seconds: notice how it makes you feel, ask what you know about where it came from, and decide how much checking it deserves.
- 2 Investigate the SourceBefore you read a source closely, leave it and see what others say about it: who runs it, who pays for it, and what it's known for. Professional fact-checkers call this lateral reading.
- 3 Find Better CoverageWhen the claim matters more than the post it came in, set the post aside and look for what the best available sources say about the same claim. If they agree, you have your answer fast.
- 4 Follow the Citation ChainMost claims reach you secondhand. Follow each one back, link by link, until you reach the source that produced it, then compare what it says with what you were told.