Selected articles

Misinformation

• Altay, S. †, Berriche, M. †, & Acerbi, A. (2023). Misinformation on Misinformation: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges. Social Media + Society. 🎥

• Altay, S., Hacquin, AS. & Mercier, H. (2022) Why do so Few People Share Fake News? It Hurts Their Reputation. New Media & Society.  🎥

• Altay, S., Kleis Nielsen, R., & Fletcher, R. (2022). Quantifying the “infodemic”: People turned to trustworthy news outlets during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media. 🎥

Chatbots

• Altay, S., Schwartz, M., Hacquin, AS., Allard, A., Blancke, S. & Mercier, H. (2022) Scaling up Interactive Argumentation by Providing Counterarguments with a Chatbot. Nature Human Behavior.

• Altay, S., Hacquin, A., Chevallier, C. †, & Mercier, H †. (2021). Information Delivered by a Chatbot Has a Positive Impact on COVID-19 Vaccines Attitudes and Intentions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. 

Peer-reviewed articles

Working papers  

• Ejaz, W., Altay, S., & Ittefaq, M. (Under review) How Effective Are Fact-checks in Pakistan and Who Engages with Them?

• Altay, S. (Under review) Who Is Concerned About Misinformation and Why? Evidence From 46 Countries Between 2018 and 2023.

• Altay, S. & Gilardi, F. (Under review) Headlines Labeled as AI-Generated Are Less Likely to Be Believed and Shared, Even When True or Human-Generated. 

• Altay, S. (Under review). How Effective Are Interventions Against Misinformation?

• Altay, S. †, De Angelis, D. †, & Hoes, E. † (Under revision) Beyond Skepticism: Framing Media Literacy Tips to Promote Reliable Information.

• Pfänder, J., & Altay, S.  (Under revision) Spotting Fake News and Doubting True News: A Meta-Analysis of News Judgements.

• Altay, S. †, Lyons, B. †, & Modirrousta-Galian, A. (Under revision) Exposure to Higher Rates of False News Erodes Media Trust and Fuels Overconfidence

2024

• Ejaz, W., Altay, S., Fletcher, R., & Kleis Nielsen, R. (2024). Trust Is Key: Determinants of Belief in Misinformation about Climate Change in Eight Countries.  New Media & Society. 

• Altay, S., Fletcher, R., & Kleis Nielsen, R. (2024). News Participation Is Declining: Evidence From 46 Countries Between 2015 and 2022.  New Media & Society. 

2023

• Simon, F. †, Altay, S. †, & Mercier, H. † (2023). Misinformation Reloaded? Fears about the Impact of Generative AI on Misinformation are Overblown. HKS Misinformation Review. 

• Altay, S.,  Berriche, M.,  Farkas, J., Heuer, H., & Rathje, H. (2023) A Survey of Expert Views on Misinformation: Definitions, Determinants, Solutions, and Future of the Field.  HKS Misinformation Review. 

• Schmid, P., Altay, S. & Scherer, L. (2023) The Psychological Impacts and Message Features of Planetary Health Misinformation. European Psychologist.

• Ejaz,  W., Altay, S., & Naeem, G. (2023) Smartphone use and well-being in Pakistan: Comparing the effect of self-reported and actual smartphone use. Digital Health.

• Altay, S., Nera, K., Ejaz,  W., Schöpfer, C. & Tomas, F. (2023) Conspiracy Believers Underuse Social Information (Like Everyone Else). British Journal of Social Psychology.

• Altay, S.,  Majima, Y. & Mercier, H. (2023) Happy Thoughts: The Role of Communion in Accepting and Sharing (Mis)Beliefs. British Journal of Social Psychology. 🎥

• Herrera-Masurel, A †, Altay, S † & Mercier, H.  (2023) Does nuclear energy produce neodymium? Negative perception of nuclear energy drives the assumption that it is polluting. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied.

• Marie, A., Altay, S. & Strickland, B.  (2023) Moralization and Attitude Extremity Amplify “Myside” Sharing. PNAS Nexus.

• Altay, S. & Acerbi, A. (2023). People believe misinformation is a threat because they assume others are gullible. New Media & Society.

• Altay, S. †, Berriche, M. †, & Acerbi, A. (2023). Misinformation on Misinformation: Conceptual and Methodological Challenges. Social Media + Society.

• Altay, S.,  Nielsen, RK. & Fletcher, R. (2023) News Can Help! The Impact of News Media and Digital Platforms on Awareness of and Belief in Misinformation. The International Journal of Press/Politics. 

2022

• Altay, S., Kleis Nielsen, R., & Fletcher, R. (2022). Quantifying the “infodemic”: People turned to trustworthy news outlets during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media.

• Liu, S †, Altay, S † & Mercier, H. (2022) Being green or being nice?  People are more likely to share nicer but potentially less impactful green messages. Climatic Change.

• Altay, S., Schwartz, M., Hacquin, AS., Allard, A., Blancke, S. & Mercier, H. (2022) Scaling up Interactive Argumentation by Providing Counterarguments with a Chatbot. Nature Human Behaviour.

• Altay, S., Hacquin, AS. & Mercier, H. (2022) Why do so Few People Share Fake News? It Hurts Their Reputation. New Media & Society.  🎥

• Altay, S., de Araujo, E. & Mercier, H. (2022) “If this account is true, it is most enormously wonderful”: Interestingness-if-true and the sharing of true and false news. Digital Journalism.  🎥

• Hoogeveen, S., Haaf, J. M., Bulbulia, J., Ross, R. M., McKay, R., Altay, S., … van Elk, M. (2022). The Einstein effect: Global evidence for scientific source credibility effects and the influence of religiosity. Nature Human Behaviour.

• Acerbi, A †, Altay, S † & Mercier, H. (2022) Research note: Fighting misinformation or fighting for information? HKS Misinformation Review.

• Hacquin, AS.,  Altay, S.,  Aarøe, L. & Mercier, H. (2022) Fear of contamination and public opinion on nuclear energy. Journal of Environmental Psychology.

2021

• Altay, S., Hacquin, A., Chevallier, C. †, & Mercier, H †. (2021). Information Delivered by a Chatbot Has a Positive Impact on COVID-19 Vaccines Attitudes and Intentions. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. 

• de Araujo, E. †, Altay, S. †, Bor, A., & Mercier, H. (2021) Dominant Jerks: People infer dominance from the utterance of challenging and offensive statements. Social Psychological Bulletin.

2020

• Altay, S., Claidière, N. & Mercier, H. (2020) It Happened to a Friend of a Friend: Inaccurate Source Reporting In Rumour Diffusion. Evolutionary Human Sciences.  🎥

• Altay, S., Majima. Y. & Mercier, H. (2020) It’s My Idea! Reputation Management and Idea Appropriation. Evolution & Human Behavior.

• Berriche, M. & Altay, S. (2020) Internet users engage more with phatic posts than with health misinformation on Facebook. Palgrave Communications. 

• Altay, S. & Mercier, H. (2020) Framing Messages for Vaccination Supporters. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. 

• Marie, A., Altay, S. & Strickland, B. (2020) The Cognitive Foundations of Misinformation on Science. EMBO reports. 

• Altay, S. & Lakhlifi, C. (2020) Are Science Festivals a Good Place to Discuss Heated Topics? Journal of Science Communication.

• Altay, S., & Mercier, H. (2020) Relevance Is Socially Rewarded, But Not at the Price of Accuracy. Evolutionary Psychology.  

• Hacquin, AS. †,  Altay, S. †,  de Araujo, E. †, Chevallier, C. & Mercier, H. (2020) Sharp rise in vaccine hesitancy in a large and representative sample of the French population: reasons for vaccine hesitancy. PysArXiv.

Non peer-reviewed articles

• Hoes, E., Altay, S, & Bermeo, J. (2023) Leveraging ChatGPT for Efficient Fact-Checking. PysArXiv.

• Mercier, H. & Altay, S. (2022) Do cultural misbeliefs cause costly behavior? In Musolino, J., Hemmer, P. & Sommer, J. (Eds.) The Science of Beliefs. Cambridge University Press. [Book chapter]

• Altay, S., & Mercier, H. (2020) Rationalizations primarily serve reputation management, not decision making. Behavioral and Brain Sciences.  [Comment] 

• Hacquin, AS. †,  Altay, S. †,  de Araujo, E. †, Chevallier, C. & Mercier, H. (2020) Sharp rise in vaccine hesitancy in a large and representative sample of the French population: reasons for vaccine hesitancy. PysArXiv.

Invited talks at international conferences

•  Keynote talk: Rethinking the problem of misinformation. TSHD Digital Humanities Symposium. Tilburg, The Netherlands. (2023)

• Scaling up Interactive Argumentation by Providing Counterarguments with a Chatbot. Deliberation4Good. University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. (2022)

• Understanding the spread of fake news. University of Haifa, Israel. (2021)  🎥

Invited talks at lab meetings & local conferences

• Is there a Big Disinfo problem? Big Disinfo workshop. Manchester, United Kingdom. (2024)

• Rethinking the problem of misinformation. GPR-Psych seminar, Global Priorities Institute. University of Oxford, United Kingdom. (2024)

• Rethinking the problem of misinformation. Disinformation in times of crisis. Deutsche Welle Akademie, Berlin, Germany. (2024)

• Reframing the problem of misinformation. Kent Social Psychology Group meet. Kent, United Kingdom. (2023)

• Reframing the problem of misinformation. Symposium: Democracy in the 21st Century, h21. Prague, Czech Republic. (2023) 🎥

• Reframing the problem of misinformation. Workshop on the Regulation of Disinformation. Frankfurt, Germany. (2023)  

• Rethinking the problem of misinformation. JECIS. Nice, France. (2023)

• Rethinking the problem of misinformation. CeSCuP, Bruxelles. (2023)

• Fighting misinformation or fighting for information?  Cambridge Social Decision-Making Lab. (2022)

• Fighting misinformation or fighting for information?  MIT. Human Cooperation Laboratory. (2022)

• How Effective Are Interventions Against Misinformation? University of Bristol (TeDCog group), United Kingdom. (2022)

• Challenging alarmist narratives on misinformation and questioning the effectiveness of interventions against misinformation. University of Zurich, Switzerland. (2022) 

• Understanding the spread of fake news. TINT: Centre for Philosophy of Social Science, University of Helsinki, Finland. (2021)

• The psychology of fake news and COVID-19. Applied cognitive science webinar series, Jean Nicod Institute, Paris, France. (2022) 

• Understanding and fighting misinformation. Montpellier Advanced Knowledge Institute on Transitions, Toulouse, France. (2021)

• The psychology of fake news sharing. CEVIPOF, Sciences Po, Paris, France. (2020)

• Fake News & Misinformation. UM6P, Collective intelligence Webinar. (2020) 

• Everything you want to know about Registered Reports. A researcher in 2019, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France. (2019)  🎥

Conference Presentations

•  Altay, S. & Pfänder, J. (2024) Spotting False News and Doubting True News: A Meta-Analysis of News Judgments. EDMO, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Talk.

• Altay, S. (2022) How Effective Are Interventions Against Misinformation? MISDOOM. Boise, US. Talk.

• Altay, S.,  Nielsen, RK. & Fletcher, R. (2022) Quantifying the “infodemic”:  People turned to trustworthy news outlets during the 2020 pandemic. American Political Science Association (APSA), Montréal, Canada. Talk.

• Altay, S. (2022) How Effective Are Interventions Against Misinformation? Conference on Online Hostility and Bystanders. Aarhus, Denmark. Talk.

• Altay, S., Hacquin, AS. & Mercier, H. (2021) Why do so Few People Share Fake News? ItHurtsTheir Reputation. MISDOOM, Oxford Internet Institut (OII), Oxford, UK. Talk.

• Altay, S., Hacquin, AS. & Mercier, H. (2021) Why do so Few People Share Fake News? ItHurtsTheir Reputation. International Conference on Thinking (ICT), Paris, France. Talk.

• Altay, S. & Mercier, H. (2021) Happy Thoughts: The Role of Communion in Accepting and Sharing Epistemically Suspect Beliefs. Human Behavior & Evolution Society (HBES), Palm Springs, United States. Talk.

• Altay, S., Claidière, N. & Mercier, H. (2021) It Happened to a Friend of a Friend: Inaccurate Source Reporting In Rumor Diffusion. Cultural Evolution Society (CES), Sapporo, Japan. Talk.

• Altay, S., Hacquin, AS. & Mercier, H. (2021) Why do so Few People Share Fake News? It Hurts Their Reputation. Annual Evolutionary Psychology Preconference (SPSP convention). Data Blitz Talk.

• Altay, S., Claidière, N. & Mercier, H. (2021) It Happened to a Friend of a Friend: Inaccurate Source Reporting In Rumor Diffusion. European Human Behavior and Evolution Association (EHBEA). Speed Talk.

• Altay, S., Claidière, N. & Mercier, H. (2020) It Happened to a Friend of a Friend: Inaccurate Source Reporting In Rumor Diffusion. RTP Evolutionary Human Sciences. Very Short Talk & Staff.

• Altay, S., Claidière, N. & Mercier, H. (2020) It Happened to a Friend of a Friend: Inaccurate Source Reporting In Rumor Diffusion. California Workshop on Evolutionary Social Science (C-WESS), California, United States. Poster.

• Altay, S. (2020) Fake News & Rumors. Short talk. Coronavirus stole HBES 2020 (HBES)

• Altay, S., Majima. Y. & Mercier, H. (2020) It’s My Idea! Reputation Management and Idea Appropriation. Annual Evolutionary Psychology Preconference (SPSP convention), New Orleans, United States. Data Blitz Talk.

• Altay, S., Hacquin, AS. & Mercier, H. (2020) Why do so Few People Share Fake News? It Hurts Their Reputation. Research on Online Political Hostility (ROPH), Aarhus, Denmark. Poster.

• Altay, S. & Mercier, H. (2019). How to sound competent? The role of epistemic reputation in communication. European Human Behavior and Evolution Association (EHBEA), Toulouse, France. Poster.

• Altay, S. & Mercier, H. (2019). Framing Messages for Vaccination Supporters. International Convention of Psychological Science (ICPS), Paris, France. Poster.

• Fitouchi, L. & Altay, S. (2018). A cognitive and evolutionary look at cultural diffusion. Comparative mythology, population genetics, linguistic phylogenetics, and cognitive patterns: Studies in the new science of cultural diffusion, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France. Talk & Organization.

• Altay, S. & Mercier, H. (2018). Framing Vaccine Communication to Increase Transmission. New Perspectives & Methods on Social Cognition, Aegina, Greece. Poster & Presentation.