Libguides First Year Writing Research Guide The Sift Method

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Dec 5, 2025, 10:28 PM

libguides first year writing research guide the sift method

The SIFT Method, created by Mike Caulfield, is a way to determine if resources are credible. There is so much information available to us at our fingertips, especially with social media and websites. Establishing the credibility of information can be challenging, but the SIFT method was created to help analyze information that you come across, especially news or other online media. Below is an explanation of each step as well as videos created by Caulfield that explain each strategy. Practice SIFTing while you learn the method by completing this worksheet. Are you familiar with the website or information source where you're currently reading this information?

What do you know about the reputation of the website or the truthfulness of the claim being made? Don't read or share media until you know what it is! Whether you're scrolling through social media, checking out the latest news, or researching for a class assignment, it is important to make sure the information you encounter is from trusted, credible, and reliable sources,... Chances are you were taught to move through a checklist of criteria when evaluating information online: While sometimes useful, this checklist not enough because it relies on superficial markers of credibility and authority. Instead of relying on these sort of checklists, consider using the S.I.F.T.

method. S.I.F.T. is an acronym to help you remember four simple but effective steps you can take to help determine what information to keep and what information to toss. S.I.F.T. stands for: STOP, INVESTIGATE, FIND, and TRACE. The SIFT method was created by Mike Caulfield.

In the videos on this research guide, Mike Caulfield will walk you through each step of S.I.F.T. EO/AA Statement | Privacy Statement | 103 Libraries Complex Crabbe Library Richmond, KY 40475 | (859) 622-1790© "I keep hearing the term "peer-review" - but what is it?" Peer review is like quality control for academic writing. When a researcher writes an article and is getting it published in a scholarly journal it is first sent to other experts in the same field who review the article to check: That's why professors often ask you to use peer-reviewed sources - they're considered some of the most trustworthy and rigorous types of information available in academic research.

One of our favorite ways to evaluate information is by using the SIFT method. What is SIFT (Infographic) This link opens in a new window The SIFT information presented has been adapted from materials by Mike Caulfield with a CC BY 4.0 This link opens in a new window license. Check out Shapiro Library's Emily Evaluates series! Emily Evaluates with SIFT is a 6 part narrative series of 1-2 minute videos in which a college student named Emily investigates accusations of fraud made against one of her professors using the SIFT... Follow along as Emily applies the SIFT steps in a real world scenario!

SIFT is a source evaluation methodology created by Mike Caulfield, a misinformation researcher. SIFT is a four-step method that helps you quickly evaluate online information by focusing your attention on what matters. The four moves—Stop, Investigate the source, Find better coverage, and Trace claims to the original context—guide you in identifying reliable sources, avoiding misinformation, and amplifying accurate content. By applying these moves with simple web techniques, you can become a more discerning consumer of information and resist the pull of clickbait. The SIFT method is especially helpful for evaluating news, social media, or other online media. The SIFT Method of evaluating information was developed by Mike Caulfield at Washington State University at Vancouver.

The infographic below outlines the steps of SIFT, which will help you evaluate the information you encounter in a proper context. (Inforgraphic created by Annie Zeidman-Karpinski, University of Oregon Libraries) If you have any questions or wish to contact the CCCS Online Librarians, please use the contact information on the Library page. The SIFT method is an evaluation strategy developed by digital literacy expert, Mike Caulfield, to help determine whether online content can be trusted for credible or reliable sources of information. All SIFT information on this page is adapted from his materials with a CC BY 4.0 license. Determining if resources are credible is challenging.

Use the SIFT method to help you analyze information, especially news or other online media. Before you read or share an article or video, STOP! Be aware of your emotional response to the headline or information in the article. Headlines are often meant to get clicks, and will do so by causing the reader to have a strong emotional response. Mike Caulfield, Washington State University digital literacy expert, has helpfully condensed key fact-checking strategies into a short list of four moves, or things to do to quickly make a decision about whether or not... It is referred to as the “SIFT” method:

Amazon tribe makes first contact with outside world - The Guardian Using the article above here is an Example of using SIFT and/or Lateral Reading This LibGuide page adapted from Introduction to College Research by Walter D. Butler; Aloha Sargent; and Kelsey Smith, and from Hapgood.US. Both are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. Free to Share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and Adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially).

We thank the authors for their generosity of freely sharing cultural material. The SIFT Method, created by Mike Caulfield, is a way to determine if resources are credible. There is so much information available to us at our fingertips, especially with social media and websites. Establishing the credibility of information can be challenging, but the SIFT method was created to help analyze information that you come across, especially news or other online media. Below is an explanation of each step as well as videos created by Caulfield that explain each strategy. The SIFT method was created by Mike Caulfield.

All SIFT information on this page is adapted from his materials with a CC BY 4.0 license. Hapgood: Mike Caulfield explains SIFT in his own words on his blog. Web Literacy for Student Fact-Checkers: Mike Caulfield offers more in-depth information about using S.I.F.T. in his freely available ebook. Check, Please! Starter Course: Mike Caulfield's free five-part course on fact-checking and source-checking.

Get Help: Remember, you can always as a librarian for help with evaluating information! The SIFT method was created by Mike Caulfield. All SIFT information in this guide is adapted from his materials with a CC BY 4.0 license. Resource evaluation is a huge part of successful research. Using a method like SIFT gives us a structure of what to look for, and how to find it. Learning to read information like a fact checker will save you time and energy, and give you the best results when doing research for your future assignments!

Use the box below to learn more about each step of the SIFT method! When researching, it can sometimes be hard to tell if a website or article is accurate. To help start the SIFT process, the best thing to do is STOP! Think before you share, and ask yourself these questions: If you feel you need to investigate the source further, follow the rest of the SIFT process! In 2017, two Stanford University Graduate School of Education students did a study that put students, Ph.D.

historians, and professional fact-checkers in front of two sources, and they had 5 minutes to figure out which source would be the better source. Many of the students and Ph.D. historians got it wrong, but 100% of the fact-checkers got it right, and got it right quickly! Stopping and using the SIFT system helped the fact checkers succeed in the study! “What the bad actors want is your attention,” he said. “They believe that the longer they can get you to stay on the page, the easier it is to suck you into their vortex.” Sam Wineburg, founder of the SHEG and the study's lead...

Libguides First Year Writing Research Guide The Sift Method

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