Lateral Reading
Version 1.0.0 · Updated 2026-07-30
CORE DEFINITION
A professional verification technique proposed by Stanford University. When encountering an unfamiliar website or information source, do not read its content vertically (in-depth); instead, open a new browser tab and search laterally (sideways) for evaluations, background, and funding sources of the site.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
The first step in fraud prevention. When encountering shocking news, the first action is not to read the news but to search 'who published the news'. If the source itself is untrustworthy, no matter how logically rigorous the content is, it is still garbage.
Anchor fast decisions
A verification technique proposed by Stanford: when encountering an unfamiliar website or information source, do not read its content vertically in-depth, but open a new tab to search laterally for evaluations, background, and funding sources of the source. The first step in fraud prevention is to check the source rather than read the content.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/4Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- libguides.princeton.eduhttps://libguides.princeton.edu/medialiteracy/lateralreadingverified
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