It is important to determine the credibility and validity of anything you read, whether it's an Instagram post or a medical journal article.
What is the PURPOSE of this article?
Who is the intended audience of this article?
Who wrote this article:
- Are they getting paid?
-Is this their opinion?
-Has this been peer-reviewed or checked for credibility?
Is this article and the publication current and reliable?
Lateral reading is the act of verifying what you are reading by conducting simultaneous research on things like the author and publication.
You are evaluating the resources you are finding and deepening your knowledge about your topic, and who is invested in your topic.
Your professors may require that you include scholarly journal articles in your research. A scholarly article is an article that is written by a scholar, or professional. Many scholarly articles must be peer-reviewed in order to be published by a credible journal.
When an article has been peer-reviewed, the information has been vetted and validated by the peers of the author in that area of study. This helps ensure that information is valid.
ProQuest Research Companion is a free online course designed to help students learn more about the research project.
Use of RIT resources is reserved for current RIT students, faculty
and staff for academic and teaching purposes only.
Please contact your librarian with any questions.
