Checking Sources and Reports: A Step-by-Step Guide for Health Readers

Maybe a headline made you stop. A friend sent a post saying a supplement ‘cuts your risk,’ or a news story said ‘new study finds’ with no link to the study. You want to know whether it is true, and whether it changes anything for you or someone you care for.

You do not need a research background to check it. You need to know what kind of document you are holding, where the claim started, who paid for the work, and how big and how long the study was. Each step below sends you to a guide that goes deeper.

The honest short answer: most health claims can be checked by tracing them back to the original report, and that tracing does more for you than judging the science yourself. This guide sorts out those steps in order, from your first look to your next move.

Step 1: Work out what kind of source you are holding

Start by naming the document: a study, a guideline, a patient fact sheet, a news story, or a seller’s page. Each one answers a different question, and the same topic can appear in all of them.

A study tests one question, usually in a specific group of people.

News stories squeeze all of this into one headline. Check the headline against five basic facts before you act on it. A useful fact sheet still cannot replace the original report when you need detail.

Sellers and product pages are a third kind of source. They describe what the seller says about a product. The Ingredient Evidence vs. Marketing Claims guide shows how to set a seller’s statement beside the research it cites.

Once you know the document type, you can decide how far to follow it. That is the work of the next step.

Step 2: Trace the claim back to the original report

Ask where the number first came from. A post often quotes a headline, which quotes a press release, which points to a study. Each step can change the meaning a little.

Read the abstract, the short summary at the top of an article, to see the question, the study type, and the headline result. Use the abstract to decide whether to open the full article, but do not stop there. Also check whether you are reading a preprint or a peer-reviewed study: a preprint is posted before outside experts have checked it.

Stopping at a secondhand version is a common shortcut, and it has measurable effects. A 2022 survey of 936 veterinarians treating exotic animals, indexed in PubMed, found that 55.3% sometimes or never searched the original publication for a dosage. Going back to the source is a habit worth building for any health claim.

Once you have the original report, the next question is who put it out and who paid for it.

Step 3: Check who published it, who paid, and when

Look at the people and money behind the report. A named publisher with contact details, a visible review or update date, and a stated audience are signs of a document you can follow up on. If one is missing, treat the claim as unverified until you find it somewhere else.

Look for the funding and conflict-of-interest information in the report itself. Find funding and disclosures in health research shows where to look. For a news story or website summary, check the ‘About Us’ or advertising-disclosure page as well.

A disclosure tells you who had a stake. It does not, by itself, show that the work is wrong. Keep the study’s result separate from the authors’ interpretation: the result is what was measured, and the interpretation is what the authors believe it means.

Supplement claims deserve extra care. A 2023 narrative review indexed in PubMed argues that FDA oversight of over-the-counter dietary supplements is limited, and it counts 79,071 adverse event reports to the FDA’s reporting system from 2004 to 2021. That is the review’s own argument, not a ruling on any one product.

With the publisher and money checked, look at the study itself.

Step 4: Check the study itself, not just the story

Once you have the report, check whether the study did what it says.

Compare the registry with the published paper. The two do not always match, so check for differences between the plan and the report before you rely on the paper’s headline.

Compare observational studies and clinical trials side by side. Also look for any correction or retraction notice on the paper, since these three notices do not all mean the same level of trouble.

For a plain-language walk through the parts of a trial report, the How to Read a Clinical Study guide goes section by section.

A study can be well run and still tell you little about numbers. The next step is reading those numbers.

Step 5: Read the numbers without being fooled by them

Sizes and percentages can look bigger than they are. Ask three things: how many people were studied, how long they were followed, and how big the change was in plain terms.

Here is a worked example with made-up numbers. Suppose a headline says a risk was ‘cut in half.’ If the usual risk was 2 in 100 and fell to 1 in 100, the risk did halve, but the actual difference is 1 person in every 100. A ratio like ‘half’ and a count like ‘1 in 100’ describe the same change and sound very different.

Two more terms are worth looking up in their own guides: a confidence interval and a statistical significance label. Once you know what a single study shows, look at the wider body of research.

Step 6: Weigh the whole body of evidence

One study is one piece. Before you treat a systematic review as the final word, read what it can and cannot answer.

Sometimes the research simply is not settled. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA’s drug checking page) says it funds research to determine whether drug checking helps reduce harms such as overdose. That is an honest statement of an open question, and it is the kind of answer you should expect to find.

Study quality varies, too. A 2017 systematic review of 26 published dietary supplement studies on heart rhythm found that most were well performed, but eight reported a significant change in the QT interval, a measure of the heart’s electrical reset. For what a ‘not enough evidence’ label means, read what insufficient evidence means.

Once you know how solid the evidence is, the last question is whether it applies to you.

Step 7: Apply it to you, and take the open questions to a clinician

Even a solid study may not match your age, health history, or situation. Check who was in the study before you assume the result carries over. A clinician can tell you whether a finding applies to you and what to do about it.

Write down what you could not confirm. Keeping an open-questions list helps you bring the right points to an appointment. Tracking questions at a routine visit makes it easier to come back to them later.

Questions about CRAAP, checklists, and source lists

How do you evaluate sources? Use the steps above: name the document, trace it to the original, check the publisher and funding, then read the numbers. This guide does not use the CRAAP acronym. The steps cover the same ground in health terms, from what kind of source it is to how the claim was tested.

If your class taught the CRAAP test, ask your librarian for its current version and for its known criticisms. For a health question, there is no fixed list of ten sources that works for every topic. The most useful list is the reference list at the end of the original article, which shows what the study built on.

Among the sources above, original studies with a named publisher, a date, and a visible funding line are the easiest to check. A seller’s page is the hardest, because it describes what the seller says.

Your next step

1. Name the document in front of you: study, guideline, fact sheet, news story, or seller page.
2. Find the original report, and the registry record if it is a trial.
3. Note the publisher, the date, and the funding line.
4. Ask for the starting risk and the number of people, not only the percentage.
5. Check whether one study or a review is making the claim.
6. Bring the source and your open questions to a clinician.
7. If a seller or report looks like a scam, USAGov’s scam tool lists where to report it.

Every guide on this topic

Reading a headline or claim

• How to Read a Health News Headline: five facts to check before you act.
• Trace a Health Claim to Its Original Source: following the claim back step by step.
• How to Read a Health Study Abstract: what the summary tells you and what it does not.
• When a Health Fact Sheet Is Not Enough: when you need the original report.
• Questions When Health Information May Not Apply: checking fit before acting.

Document type and publisher

• Study, Guideline, and Fact Sheet Differences: naming the document you have.
• Check Who Published and Updated a Fact Sheet: a three-point check.
• Preprint or Peer-Reviewed Study?: whether outside experts checked it.
• What a Systematic Review Can and Cannot Answer: what a review of many studies covers.
• What Insufficient Evidence Means: reading a ‘not enough data’ label.

Funding and authorship

• Find Funding and Conflict Disclosures: where disclosures appear.
• Study Result vs. Author Interpretation: keeping measurement and opinion apart.

The study and its registry

• Read a ClinicalTrials.gov Record: what the registry entry shows.
• Why a Protocol and Published Report May Not Match: comparing the plan with the paper.
• Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions: what each notice means.
• Observational Study vs. Clinical Trial: how the design limits the claim.
• Why the Study’s Outcome Measure Matters: what the study actually counted.
• Composite Endpoints: Which Events Drove the Claim: when several events are combined.
• Surrogate Outcomes vs. Patient Outcomes: stand-in measures and what they miss.
• Reading a Health Test Accuracy Claim: what accuracy numbers mean.

The numbers

• Relative Risk vs. Absolute Risk: turning percentages into people.
• Number Needed to Harm and Time Period: why baseline risk matters.
• Confidence Intervals in Plain Language: the range around a result.
• Statistical Significance and Practical Importance: significance is not the same as importance.
• What Study Size Can and Cannot Tell You: how many people is enough.
• Why the Study Population Matters: who was in the study.

Weighing the evidence

• Recommendation Strength and Evidence Certainty: how guidelines grade advice.

Applying it and learning to read research

• Keep an Open-Questions List: what to bring to a clinician.
• Questions Before Sharing Home Notes With a Care Team: what to check first.
• Track Questions at a Routine Health Visit: following up over time.
• Study Methods for Reading Medical Research: building the habit of reading studies.

Everyday Prevention Evidence is an independent publication. These guides are for education and do not replace care from a qualified professional.

By the Everyday Prevention Evidence Team