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URL of this page: https://medlineplus.gov/webeval/infoquality2.html

Evaluating Internet Health Information Tutorial

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Information Quality—Part 2 of 4

You learned from earlier clues that a drug company sponsors the Institute's website. It's possible that this company writes information for the website in order to promote itself and the products it sells. If this is the case, the information provided is biased and could be misleading.

Even if experts review the information that is posted on a site, you should continue to ask questions.

Look to see if the site clearly tells you where the information came from. Good sites should rely on medical research, not opinions. So, check to see if they give you the source of any research they mention.

It should also be clear who wrote the content.

Screenshot of the 'About this Site' page for the IHH. A red box outlines the text '...the support of HeartDrugz, a company that produces high-quality vitamins and medication.'
This example says the site is getting support from a drug company, showing why reviewing the site information is important.


Let's compare what these websites tell you about where they get their content.

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