When individuals have questions about scientific issues, they often search the Internet. Evaluating sources of information and claims they find has become more difficult in the post-truth era. Students are often taught source evaluation techniques, but the proliferation of “fake news” has resulted in a misinformation arms race. As searchers get more sophisticated identifying misleading information, so do purveyors of information who intend to mislead. We draw on a theoretical model of plausibility judgments and current theory and research in source evaluation to suggest that the post-truth era elevates the need for critical evaluation of online information about scientific issues. We argue that explicitly reappraising plausibility judgments may be a crucial addition to evaluating the connections between sources of information and knowledge claims. Individuals who search for and read a scientific article online should ask themselves: Is this explanation plausible, and how do I know?

当个人对科学问题有疑问时，他们通常会搜索Internet。在后真理时代，评估信息来源和他们发现的主张变得更加困难。通常会向学生讲授源评估技术，但是“假新闻”的泛滥导致了误导军备竞赛。随着搜索者获得更复杂的识别误导性信息，打算提供误导信息的信息提供者也将获得同样的信息。我们使用合理性判断的理论模型以及当前的理论和源评估研究来表明，后真理时代提高了对有关科学问题的在线信息进行严格评估的必要性。我们认为，明确重新评估合理性判断可能是评估信息来源与知识主张之间的联系的重要补充。这种解释合理吗，我怎么知道？