Was your article published in an online site or a site that forms part of an information platform that publishes a print version such as a magazine or newspaper

Scientific Article on Cancer.

Instructions:  Go online and search for a recent article on cancer research or treatment. Try sites like MedlinePlus, PubMed or the Canadian Cancer Society. 

Please cite the URL of your article and then answer the questions below. 

URL: insert here

1. Was your article published in an online site or a site that forms part of an information platform that publishes a print version such as a magazine or newspaper?

2. Was the article a “lifestyle” article or a scientific paper that discussed new treatments or diagnosis procedures?

3. Did the article talk about statistics used in the study? What was the sample size of the test group?  Does is make sense to base an announcement on the number of people in the study?

4. Was the study financed by a drug company or was it done by an independent group?  Did the writer of the article talk at all about that?

5. Did you think that the conclusions that the writer reached made sense given what was revealed in the article? What were the conclusions that the writer reached? 

6. Would you trust this article given the answers to the above questions or do you think more research is needed to support the assertions in the article you read?

7. Look at the environment the article is presented in.  Does it look like a commercial site with lots of banners, advertisements and pop-ups for miracle cures? Or does it have a more austere and professional look of a university, government or scientific site? Does that or should that make a difference to the credibility of the article?