Instructions and covered skills
Read each scenario carefully before selecting a response. Stay focused on the evidence requested rather than relying on visual design or search ranking. Turn off notifications and avoid switching between unrelated tasks while completing the test. Consider who created the information, why it was published, and where its claims originated. Select the response that best supports a well-supported research conclusion. Review your choices for wording that changes a source's context, date, or relationship to a claim.
Key Areas
This test covers the habits used to evaluate information encountered through search engines, social platforms, news sites, organizational webpages, databases, and shared documents. It emphasizes lateral reading: leaving the page to learn about the author, publisher, funder, reputation, and record of the source. Candidates consider whether a website’s stated purpose aligns with evidence available from credible outside reporting, registries, professional profiles, or institutional records.
The test also addresses claim tracing. Researchers should be able to identify when an article summarizes, paraphrases, or links to a report; locate the original study, dataset, filing, transcript, or official statement; and assess whether the original material supports the wording used. Attention is given to publication dates, update histories, methodology, sample definitions, citation chains, and the difference between primary evidence and commentary.
Other key areas include detecting sponsored material, conflicts of interest, circular reporting, impersonating domains, selective quotations, and reused visual media. Candidates evaluate corroboration by asking whether sources obtained their information independently or merely repeat the same unverified account. They also recognize that search placement, social engagement, professional design, and a familiar domain suffix do not establish accuracy.
Recommended Preparation
Practice investigating unfamiliar websites in separate browser tabs. Search for the organization’s name alongside terms such as funding, ownership, corrections, controversy, registration, and review. Compare the site’s claims with reporting from established outlets, official agencies, scholarly publishers, and recognized professional bodies. When a statistic is cited, follow links and references until reaching the report or dataset that produced it, then inspect its date, methods, limitations, and population.
Review examples of native advertising, press releases, opinion writing, news reporting, and research summaries to notice labeling and sourcing differences. Use reverse image search tools and archived versions of webpages when visual context or past wording matters. Finally, make a habit of recording source URLs, publication dates, authors, supporting evidence, and unresolved questions so conclusions can be checked and updated later.