Research Guides: Resources for Reporting: Fact Checking

Tools for Fact Checking

SourceWatch
"Well-documented information about corporate public relations (PR) campaigns, including corporate front groups, people who "front" corporate campaigns, and PR operations."
Internet Archive
Internet Archive includes texts, audio, moving images, and software as well as archived web pages. This tool can be used to see previous versions of a website which can reveal possible a possible underlying agenda.
WHOIS
Search by domain name to get the owner's contact information
FactCheck.org
Monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases.
SciCheck
FactCheck.org’s SciCheck feature focuses exclusively on false and misleading scientific claims that are made by partisans to influence public policy.
Retraction Watch
A blog that monitors scientific publishing for research that has been retracted. Use this tool for performing a background check on a researcher.

Foundation Directory Online This link opens in a new window
Look up non-profit organizations to find major foundation donors.

Tineye Reverse Image Search
Upload an image to see where that image appears on the internet. This helps to find other versions of an image that might have been doctored.

All Sides
A search engine that organizes news stories by political leanings.
The Breaking News Consumer Handbook
Some tips for how, in the wake of a big, tragic story, you can sort good information from bad. From On the Media
Politifact
PolitiFact is an independent fact-checking journalism website aimed at bringing you the truth in politics.
Poynter Fact-checking
A series of articles from Poynter Institute.
Tips and advice for fact checking
Advice from Africa Check, a non-profit organisation set up in 2012 to promote accuracy in public debate and the media in Africa.
Polling fundamentals and concepts
An overview of evaluating polls for journalists

Verification Handbook
Authored by leading journalists from the BBC, Storyful, ABC, Digital First Media and other verification experts, the Verification Handbook provides the tools, techniques and step-by-step guidelines for how to deal with user-generated content (UGC) during emergencies.

What kind of information am I encountering?
- Who wrote it? Who published it? When was it published?
- Why was it written? To inform, entertain, or persuade?
- Is this information appropriate for the context of how I am using it?
Is the information complete? Are there events, facts, or viewpoints missing?
Who or what are the sources? Are they believable?
- Could the source know what they claim to know?
What evidence is presented, and how was it tested?
- When was the data gathered? Was the sample large enough and comprehensive?
What might be an alternate understanding or perspective?