CSU Extension

Research help for CSU Extension faculty/staff.

Different Types of Publications

Below are some general guidelines to help you differentiate between different types of publications. These are not hard and fast rules since some publications contain multiple types of articles.

 

Is this journal Scholarly/Peer Reviewed?

If you want to check to see if the journal is scholarly or peer-reviewed, search the journal title in Ulrich's Periodicals Directory.

Question: Is Ecology a scholarly/peer reviewed journal?

Look it up in Ulrich's and this is what you find...

Ecology Journal in Ulrichs

 Answer: Yes, Ecology is a refereed journal.

Evaluating Information - SIFT Method

The SIFT method is a series of actions to take when encountering claims and sources on the web. Each letter in "SIFT" corresponds to an action, or "move."

Stop. Investigate the source. Find better coverage. Trace claims, quotes, and media to the original context.

Click through the tabs in this box to learn more about each move.

Acknowledgement

The SIFT Method is from "Check, Please!" by Mike Caulfield. The canonical version of "Check, Please!" exists at http://lessons.checkplease.cc (CC-BY). As the authors of the original version have not reviewed any other copy's modifications, the text of any site not arrived at through the above link should not be sourced to the original authors.

stop iconStop

The first move is the simplest. STOP reminds you of two things.

First, when you first hit a page and start to read it — STOP. Ask yourself whether you know and trust the website or source of the information. If you don't, use the other moves to get a sense of what you're looking at. Don't read it or share it until you know what it is.

Second, after you begin the process and use the moves it can be too easy to go down a rabbit hole, chasing after more and more obscure facts or getting lost in a "click cycle". If you feel yourself getting overwhelmed in your fact-checking efforts, STOP and take a second to remind yourself what your goal is. Adjust your strategy if it isn't working. Make sure you approach the problem at the right amount of depth for your purpose.

Here's why you need to STOP:

Investigate iconInvestigate the Source

The key idea is to know what you're reading before you read it.

This doesn't mean you have to do a Pulitzer prize-winning investigation into a source before you engage with it. But if you're reading a piece on economics by a Nobel prize-winning economist, you should know that before you read it. Conversely, if you're watching a video on the many benefits of milk consumption that was put out by the dairy industry, you probably want to know that as well.

This doesn't mean the Nobel economist will always be right and that the dairy industry can't ever be trusted. But knowing the expertise and agenda of the source is crucial to your interpretation of what they say. Taking sixty seconds to figure out where it is from before reading will help you decide if it is worth your time, and if it is, help you to better understand its significance and trustworthiness.

find iconFind trusted coverage

Sometimes you don't care about the particular article that reaches you. You care about the claim the article is making. You want to know if it is true or false. You want to know if it represents a consensus viewpoint, or if it is the subject of much disagreement.

In this case your best strategy is to ignore the source that reached you and look for other trusted reporting or analysis on the claim. In other words, if you receive an article that says koalas have just been declared extinct from the Save the Koalas Foundation, the winning strategy may be to open up a new tab and find the best source you can that covers this, or, just as importantly, scan multiple sources to see what the consensus seems to be. In these cases, we encourage you to "find trusted coverage" that better suits your needs — more trusted, more in-depth, or maybe just more varied. 

Do you have to agree with the consensus? Absolutely not! But understanding the context and history of a claim will help you better evaluate it.

Trace iconTrace claims, quotes, and media back to the original context

A lot of things you find on the internet have been stripped of context. Maybe there's a video of a fight between two people. But what happened before that? Who started it? What was clipped out of the video and what stayed in? Maybe there's a picture that seems real but the caption is dubious at best. Maybe a claim is made about a new medical treatment supposedly based on a research paper — but you're not certain if the paper supports it.

In these cases we'll have you trace the claim, quote, or media back to the source, so you can see it in its original context and get a sense if the version you saw was accurately presented.

 

Ask a Librarian

Profile Photo
CSU Librarians
Ask a Research Question

Chat for Quick Help

Ask Us About:

  • Finding articles, books, & more
  • Using library resources
  • Citing your sources
Subjects: Accounting, Aerospace & Military Science, Agricultural & Resource Economics, Agricultural Biology, Agriculture (all), Agriculture & Natural Resources, Animal & Equine Science, Anthropology, Apparel & Merchandising, Art & Art History, Atmospheric Science, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Biological & Physical Sciences, Biology, Biomedical Sciences, Business (all), Business (Company), Business (Finance), Business (Industry), Business (International), Business (Marketing), Chemistry, Citation Style Guides, Communication & Journalism, Communication Studies, Composition & Communication, Computer Science, Construction Management, Counseling & Career Development, Criminology, Dance, Design, Diversity & Inclusion, Ecology, Economics, Education, Engineering, Engineering & Math, English Language & Literature, Environmental & Radiological Health Sciences, Ethnic Studies, Family & Consumer Sciences, Fermentation Science & Technology, Film Studies, Fish, Wildlife, & Conservation Biology, Food Science & Human Nutrition, Forest & Rangeland Stewardship, Geography, Geology, Government (U.S.), Health & Exercise Science, History, Horticulture & Landscape Architecture, Hospitality & Tourism Management, Human Development & Family Studies, Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Interdisciplinary Liberal Arts, Journalism & Media Communication, Languages, Literatures, & Cultures, Legal Studies, Library & Information Science, Mathematics, Music, Natural Resources, Occupational Therapy, Organizational Leadership & Human Resources, Philosophy & Religion, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Public Health, Public Policy & Administration, Social Sciences/Human Studies, Social Work, Sociology, Soil & Crop Sciences, Sport Management, Statistics & Data Science, Sustainability, Veterinary Medicine, Water, Women's & Gender Studies

24/7 Library Help

24/7 Library Help

Connect with library staff via chat, email, phone or text.

URL: https://libguides.colostate.edu/extension | Print Page