Fake News, Misinformation, and Pseudoscience

Ten tips from a science journalist about how to detect fake science news from authentic. These tips are short and direct and provide a quick way to determine if the science is real.

The author of this article intends for readers to use it as a "cheat sheet" for determining whether the science is genuine. Her suggestions are thoughtful and her approach is practical and witty, written in an engaging style.

Professor Rory Coker of the Physics Department of the U. of Texas has created this informative and entertaining site. It is written by a scientist and provides the reader with a valuable perspective on how scientists view non-science.

An interesting article from Scientific American written by a philosopher of science that makes the important point that pseudoscience is not necessarily false, it is just not science. Much of pseudoscience works better as theory than science and would be more credible if it were presented that way.

Pseudoscience has a long tradition in american history, as chronicled in this very short but interesting article. Such phenomena as phrenology, spiritualism, creationism, and mesmerism were all widely-held beliefs at one point or another.

This post by a Berkeley psychology professor addresses the issue of how to differentiate pseudoscience from science. Claims must be falsifiable and capable of progressing as a body of knowledge.

Ingrained cognitive bias may cause people to be predisposed to pseudoscience, as can the sunk-cost fallacy. Wish fulfillment may also play a role.

A list of browser extensions that incorporate AI to help you detect fake information.

Nonpartisan site for checking claims related to political facts.

Pulitzer Prize-winning site used by journalists to check on facts in the world of politics and politicians.

Independent site useful for checking the veracity of urban legends, rumors, and hearsay.

A site devoted to uncovering the truth about rumors, hoaxes and urban legends.