If you leave learnaboutyourhealth.org and the websites it includes, use these tips to find out if the website you visit is a good one.

Questions to ask yourself:

1. Is this website trying to sell you something?
2. Is this a message board?

If either of these is true, the information is likely not good.

Other tips to see if the information on a website is good:

• You have found bad information before on the website
• Other websites don’t have that information.
• It promises a medical miracle cure.
• Website has a strange ending: .ru or .co instead of .com, .edu, .org, or .gov

Other questions to ask about the website to see if it is good:

• Accuracy: Is all the information on the website correct?
• Authority: Can you determine who wrote it?  Does the person who wrote it an expert on the information?
• Bias: Does the author present information in a way that only looks from their point of view?  Is only one side considered?
• Currency: How long ago was this information created and/or updated?  Is this information new?
• Coverage: Is the information complete?  Does it keep out key details, like side effects?

Evaluating Health Websites [MedlinePlus]

https://medlineplus.gov/webeval/webeval.html (Not available on iPhone)

Citations:

How Stuff Works – 10 Ways to Spot Fake News Story – http://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth

NNLM NTO: From Snake Oil to Penicillin: Evaluating Consumer Health Information on the Internet, https://news.nnlm.gov/region_5/nnlm_online_classes/